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Related papers: How Neutral is the Intergalactic Medium at z ~ 6?

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We use hydrodynamic cosmological simulations in a 9.6 Mpc box to explore the evolution of the intergalactic medium (IGM) transmissivity from z=2 through the epoch of reionization. Reionization is achieved through an ultraviolet background…

Astrophysics · Physics 2009-11-10 Pascal Paschos , Michael L. Norman

The observed scatter in intergalactic Lyman-$\alpha$ opacity at $z \lesssim 6$ requires large-scale fluctuations in the neutral fraction of the intergalactic medium (IGM) after the expected end of reionization. Post-reionization models that…

Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics · Physics 2018-08-22 George D. Becker , Frederick B. Davies , Steven R. Furlanetto , Matthew A. Malkan , Elisa Boera , Craig Douglass

JWST provides a unique dataset to study reionization's earliest stages, promising insights into the first galaxies. Many JWST/NIRSpec prism spectra reveal smooth Lyman-alpha breaks in z>5 galaxies, implying damping wing scattering by…

Astrophysics of Galaxies · Physics 2026-01-14 Charlotte A. Mason , Zuyi Chen , Daniel P. Stark , Ting-Yi Lu , Michael Topping , Mengtao Tang

Using the CoDa II simulation, we study the Ly$\alpha$ transmissivity of the intergalactic medium (IGM) during reionization. At $z>6$, a typical galaxy without an active galactic nucleus fails to form a proximity zone around itself due to…

We use state-of-the-art hydrodynamical simulations combined with a 1D radiative transfer code to assess the extent to which the highly ionized regions observed close to z~6 quasars, which we refer to as near-zones, can constrain the…

Astrophysics · Physics 2008-11-26 James S. Bolton , Martin G. Haehnelt

The role played by the intergalactic medium (IGM) in the X-ray absorption towards high-redshift sources has recently drawn more attention in spectral analysis studies. Here, we study the X-ray absorption towards 15 flat-spectrum radio…

High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena · Physics 2018-09-05 R. Arcodia , S. Campana , R. Salvaterra , G. Ghisellini

As Lyman-alpha photons are scattered by neutral hydrogen, a change with redshift in the Lyman-alpha equivalent width distribution of distant galaxies offers a promising probe of the degree of ionization in the intergalactic medium and hence…

Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics · Physics 2015-05-20 Daniel P. Stark , Richard S. Ellis , Masami Ouchi

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…

Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics · Physics 2015-05-14 Andrei Mesinger

We investigate the possibility of constraining the ionization state of the intergalactic medium (IGM) close to the end of reionization (z ~ 6) by measuring the size of the HII regions in high-z quasars spectra. We perform a combination of…

Astrophysics · Physics 2008-11-26 A. Maselli , S. Gallerani , A. Ferrara , T. R. Choudhury

The observed deficit of strongly Lyman-alpha emitting galaxies at z>6.5 is attributed to either increasing neutral hydrogen in the intergalactic medium (IGM) and/or to the evolving galaxy properties. To investigate this, we have performed…

We investigate the 21-cm signature that may arise from the intergalactic medium (IGM) prior to the epoch of full reionization (z>5). In scenarios in which the IGM is reionized by discrete sources of photoionizing radiation, the neutral gas…

Astrophysics · Physics 2009-10-28 Piero Madau , Avery Meiksin , Martin J. Rees

The introduction of low-frequency radio arrays is expected to revolutionize the study of the reionization epoch. Observation of the contrast in redshifted 21cm emission between a large HII region and the surrounding neutral inter-galactic…

Astrophysics · Physics 2009-11-13 Stuart Wyithe

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,…

Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics · Physics 2015-06-23 Matthew Malloy , Adam Lidz

Observations of high-redshift quasars show that the IGM must have been reionized at some redshift $z>5$. If a source of radiation could be observed at the rest-frame Lya wavelength, at a sufficiently high redshift where some of the IGM in…

Astrophysics · Physics 2009-09-28 Jordi Miralda-Escude

We present a comprehensive analysis of the relationship between galaxies and the intergalactic medium (IGM) during the late stages of cosmic reionization, based on the complete JWST EIGER dataset. Using deep NIRCam $3.5\,\mathrm{\mu m}$…

We study the prospects for constraining the ionized fraction of the intergalactic medium (IGM) at $z>6$ with the next generation of large Ly$\alpha$ emitter surveys. We make predictions for the upcoming Subaru Hyper Suprime-Cam (HSC)…

Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics · Physics 2015-06-19 Hannes Jensen , Matthew Hayes , Ilian Iliev , Peter Laursen , Garrelt Mellema , Erik Zackrisson

The decline in abundance of Lyman-$\alpha$ (Ly$\alpha$) emitting galaxies at $z \gtrsim 6$ is a powerful and commonly used probe to constrain the progress of cosmic reionization. We use the CoDaII simulation, which is a radiation…

The spectra of several high-redshift (z>6) quasars have shown evidence for a Gunn-Peterson (GP) damping wing, indicating a substantial mean neutral hydrogen fraction (x_HI > 0.03) in the z ~ 6 intergalactic medium (IGM). However, previous…

Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics · Physics 2015-06-04 Joshua Schroeder , Andrei Mesinger , Zoltan Haiman

The Infrared Space Observatory was used to search for a tracer of the warm and dense neutral interstellar medium, the [O I] 63.18 micron line, in four ultraluminous IRAS sources lying at redshifts between 0.6 and 1.4. While these sources…

We study quasar proximity zones in the redshift range $5.77 \leq z \leq 6.54$ by homogeneously analyzing $34$ medium resolution spectra, encompassing both archival and newly obtained data, and exploiting recently updated systemic redshift…