PROBING THE EPOCH OF REIONIZATION WITH THE Lyalpha FOREST AT z approx 4-5
- Department of Astrophysical Sciences, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544 (United States)
- Canadian Institute for Theoretical Astrophysics, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON M5S 3H8 (Canada)
- Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, Cambridge, MA 02138 (United States)
The inhomogeneous cosmological reionization process leaves tangible imprints in the intergalactic medium (IGM) down to z approx 4-5. The Lyalpha forest flux power spectrum provides a potentially powerful probe of the epoch of reionization. With the existing Sloan Digital Sky Survey I/II quasar sample, we show that two cosmological reionization scenarios, one completing reionization at z = 6 and the other at z = 9, can be distinguished at approx7sigma level by utilizing Lyalpha forest absorption spectra at z = 3.9-4.1 in the absence of other physical processes that may also affect the Lyalpha flux power spectrum. The difference may not be distinguishable at such high significance after marginalization over other effects, but, in any case, one will need to consider this effect in order to correctly interpret the power spectrum in this redshift range. The redshift range z = 4-5 may provide the best window because there are still enough transmitted flux and quasars to measure precise statistics of the flux fluctuations, and the IGM still retains a significant amount of memory of reionization.
- OSTI ID:
- 21378162
- Journal Information:
- Astrophysical Journal (Online), Vol. 706, Issue 1; Other Information: DOI: 10.1088/0004-637X/706/1/L164; ISSN 1538-4357
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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