Related papers: Enhanced direct collapse due to Lyman alpha feedba…
Primordial black holes (PBHs) are theorized objects that may make up some - or all - of the dark matter in the universe. At the lowest allowed masses, Hawking radiation (in the form of photons or electrons and positrons) is the primary tool…
We use a semi-analytic model, ${\it Delphi}$, that jointly tracks the dark matter and baryonic assembly of high-redshift ($z \simeq 4-20$) galaxies to gain insight on the number density of Direct Collapse Black Hole (DCBH) hosts in three…
We revisit the role of primordial black holes (PBHs) as potential dark matter (DM) candidates, particularly focusing on light asteroid-mass PBHs. These PBHs are expected to emit particles through Hawking evaporation that can generate cosmic…
The estimate of the ionizing UV background through the proximity effect analysis is discussed. Taking into account the correct bending of the column density distribution which appears in high resolution high s/n data, a value of the UV…
We derive new constraints on models of decaying and annihilating dark matter (DM) by requiring that the energy injected into the intergalactic medium (IGM) not overheat it at late times, when measurements of the Lyman-$\alpha$ forest…
Cosmological constraints from the cosmic microwave background (CMB) anisotropies rely on accurate theoretical calculations of the cosmic recombination history. Recent work has emphasized the importance of radiative transfer calculations due…
Recent observations show that a large number of Lyman-alpha emitters (LAEs) at high redshift z >= 3 have unusually high Lya equivalent widths (EW > 400 angstrom). However, the origin of these high EWs is an open question. Here, we…
We propose that cooling outflows from star-forming dwarf galaxies that are spatially correlated with but unbound to bright galaxies may account for the low column QSO Ly$\alpha$ forests, providing an explanation for both the heavy elements…
One possible scenario for the formation of massive black holes (BHs) in the early Universe is from the direct collapse of primordial gas in atomic-cooling dark matter haloes in which the gas is unable to cool efficiently via molecular…
Numerical simulations suggest that the first galaxies are formed in protogalactic halos with virial temperatures >= 10^4 K. It is likely that such halos are polluted with trace amounts of metals produced by the first generation of stars.…
During the epoch of reionization, the formation of radiation sources is accompanied by the growth of a H- photodissociating flux. We estimate the impact of this flux on the formation of molecular hydrogen and cooling in the first galaxies,…
Quasars are the visible signatures of super-massive black holes in the centres of distant galaxies. It has been suggested that quasars are formed during ``major merger events'' when two massive galaxies collide and merge, leading to the…
The first billion years in the evolution of the Universe mark the formation of the first stars, black holes and galaxies. The radiation from the first galaxies plays an important role in determining the final state of primordial gas…
The global 21-cm signal from the cosmic dawn is affected by a variety of heating and cooling processes. We investigate the impact of heating due to Lyman-$\alpha$ (Ly~$\alpha$) photons on the global 21-cm signal at cosmic dawn using an…
We study how the evaporation of primordial black holes (PBHs) can affect the production of dark matter (DM) particles through thermal processes. We consider fermionic DM interacting with Standard Model particles via a spin-1 mediator in the…
In primordial gas, molecular hydrogen forms primarily through associative detachment of H- and H, thereby destroying the H-. The H- anion can also be destroyed by a number of other reactions, most notably by mutual neutralization with…
Ly$\alpha$ photons scattered by neutral hydrogen atoms in the circumgalactic media or produced in the halos of star-forming galaxies are expected to lead to extended Ly$\alpha$ emission around galaxies. Such low surface brightness…
Interest in the idea that primordial black holes (PBHs) might comprise some or all of the dark matter has recently been rekindled following LIGO's first direct detection of a binary-black-hole merger. Here we revisit the effect of accreting…
High-redshift luminous quasars powered by accreting supermassive black holes (SMBHs) with mass $\gtrsim 10^9 M_\odot$ constrain their formation pathways. We investigate the formation of heavy seeds of SMBHs through gas collapse in the…
Primordial black holes (PBHs) are able to produce light dark matter (DM) particles via Hawking radiation, and yield a flux of boosted DM that can be probed at underground DM direct detection experiments. We analyze both galactic and…