Related papers: Reionization and galaxy inference from the high-re…
The physical conditions of the intergalactic medium (IGM) during the final stages of cosmic reionization ($z\sim5.0-6.0$) are not yet fully understood. Recent reports of unexpectedly large-scale ($\ge 150 h^{-1}\mathrm{cMpc}$) correlation…
Lyman $\alpha$ (Ly$\alpha$) emission is one of few observable features of galaxies that can trace the neutral hydrogen content in the Universe during the Epoch of Reionization (EoR). To accomplish this we need an efficient way to survey for…
We publicly release a new sample of $34$ medium resolution quasar spectra at $5.77\leq z_{\rm em}\leq6.54$ observed with the Echellette Spectrograph and Imager (ESI) on the Keck telescope. This quasar sample represents an ideal laboratory…
The visibility of the Lyman-$\alpha$ (Ly$\alpha$) emission from reionization-epoch galaxies depends sensitively on the extent of the intrinsic \lya emission redwards of 1215.67~\AA. The prominent red peak resulting from resonant radiative…
$\require{mediawiki-texvc}$Given the sensitivity of the resonant Lyman-$\mathrm{\alpha}$ (Ly$\mathrm{\alpha}$) transition to absorption by neutral hydrogen, observations of Ly$\mathrm{\alpha}$ emitting galaxies (LAEs) have been widely used…
We examine large-scale fluctuations in the HeII Lyman-alpha forest transmission during and after HeII reionization. We use a simple Monte Carlo model to distribute quasars throughout a large volume and compute the resulting radiation field…
It is generally taken for granted that reionization has completed by z=6, due to the detection of flux in the Lyman alpha forest at redshifts z<6. However, since reionization is expected to be highly inhomogeneous, much of the spectra pass…
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…
Using radiative transfer calculations and cosmological simulations of structure formation, we study constraints that can be placed on the nature of the cosmic ultraviolet (UV) background in the redshift interval 2.5< z <5. Our approach…
The Lyman-$\alpha$ forest opacity fluctuations observed from high-redshift quasar spectra have been proven to be extremely successful in order to probe the late phase of the reionization epoch. For ideal modeling of these opacity…
We investigate the cosmic reionization history by comparing semi-analytical models of the Lya forest with observations of high-z quasars and gamma ray bursts absorption spectra. In order to constrain the reionization epoch z_rei, we…
We model the transmission of the Lyman-alpha line through the circum- and intergalactic media around dark matter haloes expected to host Lyman-alpha emitters (LAEs) at z > 5.7, using the high-dynamic-range Sherwood simulations. We find very…
We present new measurements of the temperature of the intergalactic medium (IGM) derived from the Lyman-alpha forest over 2.0 < z < 4.8. The small-scale structure in the forest of 61 high-resolution QSO spectra is quantified using a new…
Absorption spectra of high redshift quasars exhibit an increasingly thick Ly-alpha forest towards z~6. However, the interpretation of these spectra is complicated by the fact that the Ly-alpha optical depth is already large for neutral…
We investigate the large-scale inhomogeneities of the hydrogen ionizing radiation field in the Universe at redshift z=3. Using a raytracing algorithm, we simulate a model in which quasars are the dominant sources of radiation. We make use…
We present a new, high resolution HST/GHRS spectrum of quasar Q0302-003, and use the HeII Lyman-$\alpha$ absorption, together with a high resolution Keck spectrum of the HI Lyman-$\alpha$ forest, to probe the distribution and ionization…
The redshift at which the universe was reionized is currently unknown. We examine the optimal strategy for extracting this redshift, z_{reion}, from the spectra of early sources. For a source located at a redshift z_s beyond but close to…
A long (110 cMpc/$h$) and deep absorption trough in the Ly$\alpha$ forest has been observed extending down to redshift 5.5 in the spectrum of ULAS J0148+0600. Although no Ly$\alpha$ transmission is detected, Ly$\beta$ spikes are present…
Observations of the Lyman-alpha (Ly-$\alpha$) forest may allow reionization to complete as late as $z \sim 5.5$, provided the ionization state of the intergalactic medium (IGM) is sufficiently inhomogeneous at these redshifts. In this case,…
We investigate the implications of the intergalactic opacity for the evolution of the cosmic UV luminosity density and its sources. Our main constraint is our measurement of the Lya forest opacity at redshifts 2<z<4.2 from 86…