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Related papers: Studying the Lyman-$\alpha$ optical depth fluctuat…

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We use a large set of hydrodynamical simulations, combined with measurements of the Lyman alpha opacity of the IGM taken from the literature, to obtain robust estimates for the photoionization rate per hydrogen atom at z=5 and 6. We find…

Astrophysics · Physics 2009-11-13 James S. Bolton , Martin G. Haehnelt

The latest measurements of CMB electron scattering optical depth reported by Planck significantly reduces the allowed space of HI reionization models, pointing toward a later ending and/or less extended phase transition than previously…

Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics · Physics 2019-04-30 J. Oñorbe , J. F. Hennawi , Z. Lukić , M. Walther

Recent observations have shown that the scatter in opacities among coeval segments of the Lyman-alpha forest increases rapidly at z > 5. In this paper, we assess whether the large scatter can be explained by fluctuations in the ionizing…

Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics · Physics 2018-02-27 Anson D'Aloisio , Matthew McQuinn , Frederick B. Davies , Steven R. Furlanetto

We measure the intergalactic medium (IGM) opacity in the Ly$\alpha$ as well as in the Ly$\beta$ forest along $19$ quasar sightlines between $5.5\lesssim z_{\rm abs}\lesssim 6.1$, probing the end stages of the reionization epoch. Owing to…

Astrophysics of Galaxies · Physics 2019-08-14 Anna-Christina Eilers , Joseph F. Hennawi , Frederick B. Davies , Jose Oñorbe

In this paper, we explore the constraints on the reionization history that are provided by current observations of the Lyman-alpha forest and the CMB. Rather than using a particular semi-analytic model, we take the novel approach of…

Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics · Physics 2015-05-14 Jonathan R. Pritchard , Abraham Loeb , J. Stuart B. Wyithe

The epoch of reionization represents a major phase transition in cosmic history, during which the first luminous sources ionized the intergalactic medium (IGM). However, the small-scale physics governing ionizing photon sinks - particularly…

Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics · Physics 2025-10-31 Tirthankar Roy Choudhury , Anirban Chakraborty

We present new results from the widest narrow band survey search for Lyman-alpha (Lya) emitters at z=5.7, just after reionization. We survey a total of 7 deg$^2$ spread over the COSMOS, UDS and SA22 fields. We find over 11,000 line…

Astrophysics of Galaxies · Physics 2016-08-31 Sérgio Santos , David Sobral , Jorryt Matthee

The amplitude of the ionizing background that pervades the intergalactic medium (IGM) at the end of the epoch of reionization provides a valuable constraint on the emissivity of the sources which reionized the Universe. While measurements…

Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics · Physics 2018-03-28 Frederick B. Davies , Joseph F. Hennawi , Anna-Christina Eilers , Zarija Lukić

We present a new suite of late-end reionization simulations performed with ATON-HE, a revised version of the GPU-based radiative transfer code ATON that includes helium. The simulations are able to reproduce the Ly$\alpha$ flux distribution…

Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics · Physics 2024-09-12 Shikhar Asthana , Martin G. Haehnelt , Girish Kulkarni , Dominique Aubert , James S. Bolton , Laura C. Keating

We calculate the reionization history in Cold Dark Matter (CDM) models. The epoch of the end of reionization and the Thomson scattering optical depth to the cosmic microwave background depend on the power spectrum amplitude on small scales…

Astrophysics · Physics 2008-11-26 Christopher A. Onken , Jordi Miralda-Escude

Modelling reionization often requires significant assumptions about the properties of ionizing sources. Here, we infer the total output of hydrogen-ionizing photons (the ionizing emissivity, $\dot{N}_\textrm{ion}$) at $z=4-14$ from current…

Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics · Physics 2019-09-12 Charlotte A. Mason , Rohan P. Naidu , Sandro Tacchella , Joel Leja

We present the first constraints on the electron optical depth to reionization, $\tau_{\mathrm{e}}$, from the Lyman-$\alpha$ forest alone for physically motivated reionization models that match the reionization's end-point, $z_{\rm{end}}$,…

Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics · Physics 2025-10-02 Olga Garcia-Gallego , Vid Iršič , Martin G. Haehnelt , James S. Bolton

We have modelled the process of reionization of the IGM by photoionization by galaxies, in order to predict the epoch of reionization. We use a sophisticated semi-analytic model to track the formation of galaxies. Our study represents a…

Astrophysics · Physics 2009-11-11 A. J. Benson , Naoshi Sugiyama , Adi Nusser , C. G. Lacey

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…

Astrophysics · Physics 2009-10-31 Aparna Venkatesan

We present moderate resolution Keck spectroscopy of quasars at z=5.82, 5.99 and 6.28, discovered by the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS). We find that the Ly Alpha absorption in the spectra of these quasars evolves strongly with redshift. To…

Recent observations have positioned the endpoint of the Epoch of Reionisation (EoR) at redshift $z \sim 5.3$. However, observations of the Lyman-$\alpha$ forest have not yet been able to discern whether reionisation occurred slowly and…

Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics · Physics 2024-08-22 Benedetta Spina , Sarah E. I. Bosman , Frederick B. Davies , Prakash Gaikwad , Yongda Zhu

Recently, NIRSpec PRISM/CLEAR observations by JWST have begun providing rest-frame UV continuum measurements of galaxies at $z\gtrsim7$, revealing signatures of Ly$\alpha$ damping-wing (DW) absorption by the intergalactic medium (IGM). We…

We present evidence that a region of high effective Ly$\alpha$ optical depth at $z\sim5.7$ is associated with an underdense region at the tail end of cosmic reionization. We carried out a survey of Lyman-break Galaxies (LBGs) using Subaru…

Astrophysics of Galaxies · Physics 2020-01-08 Daichi Kashino , Simon J. Lilly , Takatoshi Shibuya , Masami Ouchi , Nobunari Kashikawa

A late end to reionisation at redshift $z\simeq 5.3$ is consistent with observed spatial variations in the Ly$\alpha$ forest transmission and the deficit of Ly$\alpha$ emitting galaxies around extended Ly$\alpha$ absorption troughs at…

We present the statistical properties of Ly$\alpha$ emission in 586 galaxies at $z=4.5-14.2$, observed by multiple JWST/NIRSpec spectroscopy projects, including JADES, GLASS, CEERS, and GO/DDT programs. We obtain Ly$\alpha$ equivalent width…