Related papers: Cosmological Reionization
We simulate a plausible cosmological model in considerable physical and numerical detail through the successive phases of reheating (at 10<z<20), formation of Pop III stars at z=15 (due to molecular hydrogen cooling), with subsequent…
The cosmic reionization of hydrogen was the last major phase transition in the evolution of the universe, which drastically changed the ionization and thermal conditions in the cosmic gas. To the best of our knowledge today, this process…
Theoretical studies and current observations of the high-redshift intergalactic medium (IGM) indicate that at least two cosmic transitions occur by the time the universe reaches gas metallicities of about $10^{-3}$ of solar values. These…
The interstellar medium (ISM) can be thought of as the galactic atmosphere which fills the space between stars. When clouds within the ISM collapse, stars are born. When the stars die, they return their matter to the surrounding gas.…
A remarkable result of the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) observations is that the universe was significantly reionized at large redshifts. The standard explanation is that massive stars formed early and reionized the universe…
The epoch of reionization probes the state of our universe when the very first stars formed and ionized the hydrogen atoms in the surrounding medium. Since the epoch has not yet been probed observationally, it is often called the "final…
The cosmological background of ionizing radiation has been dominated by quasars once the Universe aged by ~2 billion years. At earlier times (redshifts z>3), the observed abundance of bright quasars declined sharply, implying that cosmic…
The first stars are believed to have formed a few hundred million years after the big bang in so-called dark matter minihalos with masses ~10^6 M_sun. Their radiation lit up the Universe for the first time, and the supernova explosions that…
The transition between the nearly smooth initial state of the Universe and its clumpy state today occurred during the epoch when the first stars and low-luminosity quasars formed. For Cold Dark Matter cosmologies, the radiation produced by…
The history of the transition from a neutral intergalactic medium to one that is almost fully ionized can reveal the character of cosmological ionizing sources. In this talk I will discuss the implications for rival reionization scenarios…
At redshifts between 5 and 20, stars and `subgalaxies' created the first heavy elements; these same systems (together perhaps with `miniquasars') generated the UV radiation that ionized the IGM, and maybe also the first magnetic fields. The…
When, and how, did the first galaxies and supermassive black holes (SMBH) form, and how did they reionization the Universe? First galaxy formation and cosmic reionization are among the last frontiers in studies of cosmic structure…
Recent observations have set the first constraints on the epoch of reionization (EoR), corresponding to the formation epoch of the first luminous objects. Studies of Gunn-Peterson (GP) absorption, and related phenomena, suggest a…
The first structures in the Universe formed at z>7, at higher redshift than all currently known galaxies. Since GRBs are brighter than other cosmological sources at high redshift and exhibit simple power-law afterglow spectra that is ideal…
The presence of ultra-high energy cosmic rays in the universe in the pre-ionization epoch enhances significantly H$_2$ kinetics in virialized halos. It results in more efficient radiative cooling and decreases the lower mass limit of the…
I present a review by epoch of baryons in the intergalactic medium (IGM), from the first star until today. Recent observations indicate a protracted period of reionization, suggesting multiple populations of reionizers; detection of these…
The dark age of the universe, when no luminous object had existed, ended with the birth of the first stars, galaxies, and blackholes. This epoch is called cosmic dawn. Cosmic reionization is the major transition of the intergalactic medium…
We investigate reheating of the universe by early formation of stars and quasars in the hierarchical clustering scheme of cold dark matter scenario, with perturbation fluctuations normalized by the COBE data. It is found that ionizing uv…
The modeling of galaxy formation and reionization, two central issues of modern cosmology, relies on the accurate follow-up of the intergalactic medium (IGM). Unfortunately, owing to the complex nature of this medium, the differential…
I use cosmological simulations that incorporate a physically motivated approximation to three-dimensional radiative transfer that recovers correct asymptotic ionization front propagation speeds for some cosmologically relevant density…