Was there an early reionization component in our universe?
A deep understanding of the Epoch of Reionization is still missing in our knowledge of the universe. While future probes will allow us to test the precise evolution of the free electron fraction from redshifts between $$z\simeq 6$$ and $$z\simeq 20$$, at present one could ask what kind of reionization processes are allowed by present Cosmic Microwave Background temperature and polarization measurements. An early contribution to reionization could imply a departure from the standard picture where star formation determines the reionization onset. BBy considering a broad class of possible reionization parameterizations, we find that current data do not require an early reionization component in our universe and that only one marginal class of models, based on a particular realization of reionization, may point to that. In addition, the frequentist Akaike Information Criterion (AIC) provides strong evidence against alternative reionization histories, favoring the most simple reionization scenario, which describes reionization by means of only one (constant) reionization optical depth $$\tau$$.
- Authors:
-
[1]
; [1]
; [2]
; [1]
- Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), Valencia (Spain). Univ. of Valencia (UV), Inst. de Fisica Corpuscular
- Univ. of Chicago, IL (United States); Fermi National Accelerator Lab. (FNAL), Batavia, IL (United States)
- Publication Date:
- Report Number(s):
- FERMILAB-PUB-17-605-A; arXiv:1712.02807
Journal ID: ISSN 1475-7516; 1642197
- Grant/Contract Number:
- AC02-07CH11359
- Type:
- Accepted Manuscript
- Journal Name:
- Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics
- Additional Journal Information:
- Journal Volume: 2018; Journal Issue: 04; Journal ID: ISSN 1475-7516
- Publisher:
- Institute of Physics (IOP)
- Research Org:
- Fermi National Accelerator Lab. (FNAL), Batavia, IL (United States)
- Sponsoring Org:
- USDOE Office of Science (SC), High Energy Physics (HEP) (SC-25)
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
- Subject:
- 79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS
- OSTI Identifier:
- 1431582
Villanueva-Domingo, Pablo, Gariazzo, Stefano, Gnedin, Nickolay Y., and Mena, Olga. Was there an early reionization component in our universe?. United States: N. p.,
Web. doi:10.1088/1475-7516/2018/04/024.
Villanueva-Domingo, Pablo, Gariazzo, Stefano, Gnedin, Nickolay Y., & Mena, Olga. Was there an early reionization component in our universe?. United States. doi:10.1088/1475-7516/2018/04/024.
Villanueva-Domingo, Pablo, Gariazzo, Stefano, Gnedin, Nickolay Y., and Mena, Olga. 2018.
"Was there an early reionization component in our universe?". United States.
doi:10.1088/1475-7516/2018/04/024.
@article{osti_1431582,
title = {Was there an early reionization component in our universe?},
author = {Villanueva-Domingo, Pablo and Gariazzo, Stefano and Gnedin, Nickolay Y. and Mena, Olga},
abstractNote = {A deep understanding of the Epoch of Reionization is still missing in our knowledge of the universe. While future probes will allow us to test the precise evolution of the free electron fraction from redshifts between $z\simeq 6$ and $z\simeq 20$, at present one could ask what kind of reionization processes are allowed by present Cosmic Microwave Background temperature and polarization measurements. An early contribution to reionization could imply a departure from the standard picture where star formation determines the reionization onset. BBy considering a broad class of possible reionization parameterizations, we find that current data do not require an early reionization component in our universe and that only one marginal class of models, based on a particular realization of reionization, may point to that. In addition, the frequentist Akaike Information Criterion (AIC) provides strong evidence against alternative reionization histories, favoring the most simple reionization scenario, which describes reionization by means of only one (constant) reionization optical depth $\tau$.},
doi = {10.1088/1475-7516/2018/04/024},
journal = {Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics},
number = 04,
volume = 2018,
place = {United States},
year = {2018},
month = {4}
}