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Title: WEIGHING NEUTRINOS WITH COSMIC NEUTRAL HYDROGEN

Journal Article · · Astrophysical Journal
;  [1];  [2]
  1. INAF—Osservatorio Astronomico di Trieste, Via G.B. Tiepolo 11, I-34143 Trieste (Italy)
  2. Institute of Theoretical Astrophysics, University of Oslo, P.O. Box 1029 Blindern, NO-0315 Oslo (Norway)

We investigate the signatures left by massive neutrinos on the spatial distribution of neutral hydrogen (H i) in the post-reionization era by running hydrodynamic simulations that include massive neutrinos as additional collisionless particles. We find that halos in massive/massless neutrino cosmologies host a similar amount of neutral hydrogen, although for a fixed halo mass, on average, the H i mass increases with the sum of the neutrino masses. Our results show that H i is more strongly clustered in cosmologies with massive neutrinos, while its abundance, Ω{sub H} {sub i}(z), is lower. These effects arise mainly from the impact of massive neutrinos on cosmology: they suppress both the amplitude of the matter power spectrum on small scales and the abundance of dark matter halos. Modeling the H i distribution with hydrodynamic simulations at z > 3 and a simple analytic model at z < 3, we use the Fisher matrix formalism to conservatively forecast the constraints that Phase 1 of the Square Kilometre Array will place on the sum of neutrino masses, M{sub ν} ≡ Σ m{sub ν}. We find that with 10,000 hr of interferometric observations at 3 ≲ z ≲ 6 from a deep and narrow survey with SKA1-LOW, the sum of the neutrino masses can be measured with an error σ(M{sub ν}) ≲ 0.3 eV (95% CL). Similar constraints can be obtained with a wide and deep SKA1-MID survey at z ≲ 3, using the single-dish mode. By combining data from MID, LOW, and Planck, plus priors on cosmological parameters from a Stage IV spectroscopic galaxy survey, the sum of the neutrino masses can be determined with an error σ(M{sub ν}) ≃ 0.06 eV (95% CL)

OSTI ID:
22521841
Journal Information:
Astrophysical Journal, Vol. 814, Issue 2; Other Information: Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0004-637X
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English