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Title: CONSTRAINTS ON IONIZING PHOTON PRODUCTION FROM THE LARGE-SCALE Lyα FOREST

Abstract

Recent work has shown that the z ≅ 2.5 Lyα forest on large scales encodes information about the galaxy and quasar populations that keep the intergalactic medium photoionized. We present the first forecasts for constraining the populations with data from current and next-generation surveys. At a minimum, the forest should tell us whether galaxies or, conversely, quasars dominate the photon production. The number density and clustering strength of the ionizing sources might be estimated to sub-10% precision with a DESI-like survey if degeneracies (e.g., with the photon mean-free-path, small-scale clustering power normalization, and potentially other astrophysical effects) can be broken by prior information. We demonstrate that when inhomogeneous ionization is correctly handled, constraints on dark energy do not degrade.

Authors:
;  [1];  [2];  [3]
  1. Department of Physics and Astronomy, University College London, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT (United Kingdom)
  2. Institute for Advanced Study, 1 Einstein Drive, Princeton, NJ 08540 (United States)
  3. ICREA and ICC, Institut de Ciencies del Cosmos, Universitat de Barcelona (IEEC-UB), Marti i Franques 1, Barcelona 08028 (Spain)
Publication Date:
OSTI Identifier:
22365058
Resource Type:
Journal Article
Journal Name:
Astrophysical Journal Letters
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Volume: 792; Journal Issue: 2; Other Information: Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); Journal ID: ISSN 2041-8205
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
79 ASTROPHYSICS, COSMOLOGY AND ASTRONOMY; ACCURACY; ASTROPHYSICS; COSMOLOGY; GALAXIES; LIMITING VALUES; MEAN FREE PATH; NONLUMINOUS MATTER; PARTICLE PRODUCTION; PHOTOIONIZATION; PHOTONS; POTENTIALS; QUASARS; STARS; UNIVERSE

Citation Formats

Pontzen, Andrew, Peiris, Hiranya, Bird, Simeon, and Verde, Licia. CONSTRAINTS ON IONIZING PHOTON PRODUCTION FROM THE LARGE-SCALE Lyα FOREST. United States: N. p., 2014. Web. doi:10.1088/2041-8205/792/2/L34.
Pontzen, Andrew, Peiris, Hiranya, Bird, Simeon, & Verde, Licia. CONSTRAINTS ON IONIZING PHOTON PRODUCTION FROM THE LARGE-SCALE Lyα FOREST. United States. https://doi.org/10.1088/2041-8205/792/2/L34
Pontzen, Andrew, Peiris, Hiranya, Bird, Simeon, and Verde, Licia. 2014. "CONSTRAINTS ON IONIZING PHOTON PRODUCTION FROM THE LARGE-SCALE Lyα FOREST". United States. https://doi.org/10.1088/2041-8205/792/2/L34.
@article{osti_22365058,
title = {CONSTRAINTS ON IONIZING PHOTON PRODUCTION FROM THE LARGE-SCALE Lyα FOREST},
author = {Pontzen, Andrew and Peiris, Hiranya and Bird, Simeon and Verde, Licia},
abstractNote = {Recent work has shown that the z ≅ 2.5 Lyα forest on large scales encodes information about the galaxy and quasar populations that keep the intergalactic medium photoionized. We present the first forecasts for constraining the populations with data from current and next-generation surveys. At a minimum, the forest should tell us whether galaxies or, conversely, quasars dominate the photon production. The number density and clustering strength of the ionizing sources might be estimated to sub-10% precision with a DESI-like survey if degeneracies (e.g., with the photon mean-free-path, small-scale clustering power normalization, and potentially other astrophysical effects) can be broken by prior information. We demonstrate that when inhomogeneous ionization is correctly handled, constraints on dark energy do not degrade.},
doi = {10.1088/2041-8205/792/2/L34},
url = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/22365058}, journal = {Astrophysical Journal Letters},
issn = {2041-8205},
number = 2,
volume = 792,
place = {United States},
year = {Wed Sep 10 00:00:00 EDT 2014},
month = {Wed Sep 10 00:00:00 EDT 2014}
}