Related papers: Eliminating the optical depth nuisance from the CM…
The optical depth $\tau$ is the least well determined parameter in the standard model of cosmology, and one whose precise value is important for both understanding reionization and for inferring fundamental physics from cosmological…
Massive neutrinos modify the expansion history of the universe and suppress the structure formation below their free streaming scale. Cosmic microwave background (CMB) observations at small angular scales can be used to constrain the total…
Upcoming measurements of the high-redshift 21 cm signal from the Epoch of Reionization (EoR) are a promising probe of the astrophysics of the first galaxies and of cosmological parameters. In particular, the optical depth $\tau$ to the last…
We present constraints on the reionization optical depth, $\tau$, obtained using several independent methods. First, we perform a non-parametric reconstruction of the reionization history, using Lyman-$\alpha$ constraints on the evolution…
The standard cosmological model, with its six independent parameters, successfully describes our observable Universe. One of these parameters, the optical depth to reionization $\tau_\mathrm{reio}$, represents the scatterings that Cosmic…
As a result of our limited data on reionization, the total optical depth for electron scattering, $\tau$, limits precision measurements of cosmological parameters from the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB). It was recently shown that the…
Spectroscopic studies of high-redshift objects and increasingly precise data on the cosmic microwave background (CMB) are beginning to independently place strong complementary bounds on the epoch of hydrogen reionization. Parameter…
We study the possibility of measuring the optical depth at reionization, $\tau$, without relying on large-scale Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) polarization. Our analysis is driven by the need to obtain competitive measurements that can…
21cm emission from residual neutral hydrogen after the epoch of reionization can be used to trace the cosmological power spectrum of density fluctuations. Using a Fisher matrix formulation, we provide a detailed forecast of the constraints…
We introduce a new statistical technique for extracting the inhomogeneous reionization signal from future high-sensitivity measurements of the cosmic microwave background temperature and polarization fields. If reionization is…
Recent studies report a mild discrepancy between baryon acoustic oscillation (BAO) and cosmic microwave background (CMB) measurements within the $\Lambda$CDM framework. This discrepancy could be explained if the optical depth $\tau$…
Cosmic reionization is driven by the formation of sources of ultraviolet photons, and hence it is an intrinsically asymmetric process, where its earlier stages occur at a slower pace relative to its later stages. Yet most modern cosmic…
The optical depth to reionization, $\tau$, is the least constrained parameter of the cosmological $\Lambda$CDM model. To date, its most precise value is inferred from large-scale polarized CMB power spectra from the ${\it Planck}$…
Current data of high-redshift absorption-line systems imply that hydrogen reionization occurred before redshifts of about 5. Previous works on reionization by the first stars or quasars have shown that such scenarios are described by a…
We study constraints on allowed reionization histories by comparing predictions of a physical semi-numerical model with secondary temperature and polarization anisotropies of the cosmic microwave background (CMB). Our model has four free…
Recently, it was pointed out that invoking a large value of the CMB optical depth, $\tau_{\rm CMB} = 0.09$, could help resolve tensions between DESI DR2 BAO data and the CMB. This is larger than the value of $\tau_{\rm CMB} = 0.058$…
There is growing interest in using 3-dimensional neutral hydrogen mapping with the redshifted 21 cm line as a cosmological probe, as it has been argued to have a greater long-term potential than the cosmic microwave background. However, its…
Cosmic Reionization imprints its signature on the temperature and polarization anisotropies of the cosmic microwave background (CMB). Advances in CMB telescopes have already placed a significant constraint on the history of reionization. As…
Inhomogeneous reionization gives rise to angular fluctuations in the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) optical depth tau(n) to the last scattering surface, correlating different spherical harmonic modes and imprinting characteristic…
Patchy reionization leaves a number of imprints on the small-scale cosmic microwave background (CMB) temperature fluctuations, the largest of which is the kinematic Sunyaev-Zel'dovich (kSZ), the Doppler shift of CMB photons scattering off…