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Related papers: Did Cosmic Rays Reionize the Intergalactic Medium?

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The thermal evolution of the intergalactic medium (IGM) depends on the reionization history of the universe. Numerical simulations indicate that the low density IGM, which is responsible for the low column density Ly-alpha forest, follows a…

Astrophysics · Physics 2007-05-23 Joop Schaye , Tom Theuns , Michael Rauch , George Efstathiou , Wallace L. W. Sargent

Motivated by recent experimental proposals to search for extragalactic cosmic rays (including anti-matter from distant galaxies), we study particle propagation through the intergalactic medium (IGM). We first use estimates of the magnetic…

We use Gamma-ray burst (GRB) spectra total continuum absorption to estimate the key intergalactic medium (IGM) properties of hydrogen column density ($\mathit{N}\textsc{hxigm}$), metallicity, temperature and ionisation parameter over a…

Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics · Physics 2021-02-17 Tony Dalton , Simon L. Morris , Michele Fumagalli

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…

Astrophysics · Physics 2009-11-11 Aparna Venkatesan

Observations of $\gamma$-rays from diffuse gas provide the opportunity to study the distribution of high energy particles in different astrophysical environments. In the circumgalactic medium (CGM) and the intracluster medium (ICM), it is…

Astrophysics of Galaxies · Physics 2025-10-29 Roark Habegger , Mateusz Ruszkowski , Ellen G. Zweibel

We use numerical hydrodynamical simulations of early structure formation in a LCDM universe to investigate the spin temperature and 21cm brightness of the diffuse intergalactic medium (IGM) prior to the epoch of cosmic reionization, at…

Astrophysics · Physics 2009-11-13 Michael Kuhlen , Piero Madau , Ryan Montgomery

The majority of cosmic rays (CRs) generated by star-forming galaxies escape them and enter the intergalactic medium (IGM). Galactic wind termination shocks might also accelerate CRs. I show that the mean pressure of these CRs can reach to…

Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics · Physics 2015-06-15 Brian C. Lacki

Observations of the Epoch of Reionization (EoR) have the potential to answer long-standing questions of astrophysical interest regarding the nature of the first luminous sources and their effects on the intergalactic medium (IGM). We…

We explore the effect of cosmic radiative feedback from the sources of reionization on the thermal evolution of the intergalactic medium. We find that different prescriptions for this feedback predict quite different thermal and…

Astrophysics · Physics 2008-06-26 R. Salvaterra , C. Burigana , R. Schneider , T. R. Choudhury , A. Ferrara , L. A. Popa

We present a new investigation of the thermal history of the intergalactic medium (IGM) during and after reionization using the Lyman-$\alpha$ forest flux power spectrum at $4.0\lesssim z\lesssim5.2$. Using a sample of 15 high-resolution…

Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics · Physics 2019-02-27 Elisa Boera , George D. Becker , James S. Bolton , Fahad Nasir

The critical star formation rate density required to keep the intergalactic hydrogen ionised depends crucially on the average rate of recombinations in the intergalactic medium (IGM). This rate is proportional to the clumping factor C =…

Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics · Physics 2009-12-22 Andreas H. Pawlik , Joop Schaye , Eveline van Scherpenzeel

Large-scale reionization simulations are described which combine the results of cosmological N-body simulations that model the evolving density and velocity fields and identify the galactic halo sources, with ray-tracing radiative transfer…

Measurements of the intergalactic medium (IGM) temperature provide a potentially powerful constraint on the reionisation history due to the thermal imprint left by the photo-ionisation of neutral hydrogen. However, until recently IGM…

Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics · Physics 2015-06-03 Sudhir Raskutti , James S. Bolton , J. Stuart B. Wyithe , George D. Becker

A major goal of observational and theoretical cosmology is to observe the largely unexplored time period in the history of our universe when the first galaxies form, and to interpret these measurements. Early galaxies dramatically impacted…

Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics · Physics 2016-01-27 Adam Lidz

The bulk of cosmic matter resides in a dilute reservoir that fills the space between galaxies, the intergalactic medium (IGM). The history of this reservoir is intimately tied to the cosmic histories of structure formation, star formation,…

Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics · Physics 2016-10-05 Matthew McQuinn

We consider a cosmic ray spectrum that is a power law in momentum down to a cutoff and derive a lower cutoff corresponding to $E_{kin} \sim (30-60)$ MeV from the observed ionization rates in nearby diffuse clouds. While the real spectra of…

Astrophysics · Physics 2015-06-24 Biman B. Nath , Peter L. Biermann

Cosmic rays (CRs) can significantly impact dense molecular clouds in galaxies, heating the interstellar medium (ISM) and altering its chemistry, ionization, and thermal properties. Their influence is particularly relevant in environments…

Astrophysics of Galaxies · Physics 2026-05-20 E. Koutsoumpou , J. A. Fernández-Ontiveros , K. M. Dasyra , L. Spinoglio

The temporal evolution of the ionizing UV background radiation field at high redshift provides a probe of the evolution of the early star formation rate. By comparing the observed levels of absorption in the highest redshift quasar spectra…

Astrophysics · Physics 2009-11-07 Renyue Cen , Patrick McDonald

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 $3.5\,\mathrm{\mu m}$…

In popular cosmological scenarios, some time beyond a redshift of 10, stars within protogalaxies created the first heavy elements; these systems, together perhaps with an early population of quasars, generated the ultraviolet radiation and…

Astrophysics · Physics 2009-10-31 Piero Madau