skip to main content
OSTI.GOV title logo U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Title: Cross-correlating 21cm intensity maps with Lyman Break Galaxies in the post-reionization era

Journal Article · · Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics
;  [1];  [2];  [3];  [4]
  1. INAF—Osservatorio Astronomico di Trieste, Via Tiepolo 11, 34143, Trieste (Italy)
  2. Astrophysics Department, University of Oxford, DWB, Keble Road, Oxford OX1 3RH (United Kingdom)
  3. Department of Physics, Presidency University, 86/1 College Street, Kolkata -700073 (India)
  4. Institute of Theoretical Astrophysics, University of Oslo, P.O. Box 1029 Blindern, N-0315 Oslo (Norway)

We investigate the cross-correlation between the spatial distribution of Lyman Break Galaxies (LBGs) and the 21cm intensity mapping signal at z∼[3–5]. At these redshifts, galactic feedback is supposed to only marginally affect the matter power spectrum, and the neutral hydrogen distribution is independently constrained by quasar spectra. Using a high resolution N-body simulation, populated with neutral hydrogen a posteriori, we forecast for the expected LBG-21cm cross-spectrum and its error for a 21cm field observed by the Square Kilometre Array (SKA1-LOW and SKA1-MID), combined with a spectroscopic LBG survey with the same volume. The cross power can be detected with a signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) up to ∼10 times higher (and down to ∼ 4 times smaller scales) than the 21cm auto-spectrum for this set-up, with the SNR depending only very weakly on redshift and the LBG population. We also show that while both the 21cm auto- and LBG-21cm cross-spectra can be reliably recovered after the cleaning of smooth-spectrum foreground contamination, only the cross-power is robust to problematic non-smooth foregrounds like polarized synchrotron emission.

OSTI ID:
22525939
Journal Information:
Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics, Vol. 2015, Issue 03; Other Information: Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 1475-7516
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English