Related papers: Quasar Ionization Front Ly{\alpha} Emission in an …
The observed large-scale scatter in Lyman $\alpha$ opacity of the intergalactic medium at $z<6$ implies large fluctuations in the neutral hydrogen fraction that are unexpected long after reionization has ended. A number of models have…
Cosmic (hydrogen) reionization marks one of the major phase transitions of the universe at redshift z >= 6. During this epoch, hydrogen atoms in the intergalactic medium (IGM) were ionized by Lyman continuum (LyC) photons. However, it…
Lyman-alpha emission from high-redshift galaxies may be a powerful probe of the ionization history of the IGM at z>6: the observed Lyman-alpha emission line is sensitive to the neutral fraction of IGM hydrogen in the range 0.1-1. We present…
We perform a systematic study of how the inhomogeneities in the Inter-Galactic Medium (IGM) affect the observability of Lyman Alpha Emitters (LAEs) around the Epoch of Reionization. We focus on the IGM close to the galaxies as the detailed…
The large cross-section of the Lyman alpha (Lya) line makes it a sensitive probe of the ionization state of the intergalactic medium (IGM). Here we present the most complete study to date of the IGM Lya opacity, and its application to the…
Recent observations of interplanetary medium (IPM) atomic hydrogen Lyman-{\alpha} (Ly{\alpha}) emission in the outer solar system, made with the Alice ultraviolet spectrograph on New Horizons (NH), are presented. The observations include…
Lyman-alpha (Lya) photons that escape the interstellar medium of star-forming galaxies may be resonantly scattered by neutral hydrogen atoms in the circumgalactic and intergalactic media, thereby increasing the angular extent of the…
We propose use of the thickness of the ionisation front as a discriminant between alternative modes of reionisation in the early universe, by stars or by miniquasars. Assuming a photoionisation-recombination balance, we find that for…
Narrowband observations have detected no Ly-alpha emission within a 70 pMpc^3 volume centered on the z = 2.168 quasar PKS 0424-131. This is in contrast to surveys of Ly-alpha emitters in the field at similar redshifts and flux limits, which…
Lyman alpha galaxies at high redshifts offer a powerful probe of both the formation of galaxies and the reionization of the intergalactic medium. Lyman alpha line emission is an efficient tool for identifying young galaxies at high…
We describe the initial results of a deep long-slit emission line search for redshifted (2.7<z<4.1) Lyman-alpha. These observations are used to constrain the fluorescent Ly-alpha emission from the population of clouds whose absorption…
Observations of resolved HeII Lyman alpha absorption in spectra of two QSO's suggest that the epoch of helium ionization occurred at z~3. Proximity zones in the spectra of the quasars (z=3.18, 3.285) at 304 A resemble Stromgren spheres,…
We study the signatures of reionization and ionizing properties of the early galaxies in the cross-correlations between the 21cm emission from the spin-flip transition of neutral hydrogen (HI) and the underlying galaxy population, in…
We investigate the precision with which the Lyman-$\alpha$ damping wing signature imprinted on the spectra of high-redshift quasars (QSOs) by the foreground neutral intergalactic medium (IGM) can measure the history of cosmic reionization.…
Estimates of the metagalactic hydrogen ionization rate from the Lyman-alpha forest opacity in QSO absorption spectra depend on the complex density distribution of neutral hydrogen along the line-of-sight. We use a large suite of high…
When modelling the ionisation of gas in the intergalactic medium after reionisation, it is standard practice to assume a uniform radiation background. This assumption is not always appropriate; models with radiative transfer show that…
We present a detailed calculation of the propagation of AGN-like ionizing radiation through the intergalactic space. We model the ionization state of absorbing clouds, and show that the universe will be more opaque above $4\,$Ryd than…
The intergalactic medium (IGM) acts like a calorimeter recording energy injection by cosmic structure formation, shocks and photoheating from stars and active galactic nuclei. It was recently proposed that spatially inhomogeneous…
Understanding the sources responsible for reionizing the Universe is a key goal of observational cosmology. A discrepancy has existed between the metagalactic hydrogen ionization rate, Gamma_HI, predicted by early hydrodynamical simulations…
We investigate the implications of our measurement of the Lyman-alpha forest opacity at redshifts 2<z<4.2 from a sample of 86 high-resolution quasar spectra for the evolution of the cosmic ultraviolet luminosity density and its sources. The…