相关论文: The Inhomogeneous Ionizing Background Following Re…
The variations in Ly$\alpha$ forest opacity observed at $z>5.3$ between lines of sight to different background quasars are too strong to be caused by fluctuations in the density field alone. The leading hypothesis for the cause of this…
Extremely large opaque troughs in the Lyman-alpha forest have been interpreted as a sign of an extended reionization process below z~6. Such features are impossible to reproduce with simple models of the intergalactic ionizing background…
The radiation background above the ionization edge of HeII varies strongly during and after helium reionization, because the attenuation length of such photons is relatively short (<40 Mpc) and because the ionizing sources (quasars) are…
Large variations in the effective optical depth of the He II Ly$\alpha$ forest have been observed at $z\gtrsim2.7$, but the physical nature of these variations is uncertain: either the Universe is still undergoing the process of He II…
The epoch of hydrogen reionization is complete by $z=5$, but its progression at higher redshifts is uncertain. Measurements of Ly$\alpha$ forest opacity show large scatter at $z<6$, suggestive of spatial fluctuations in neutral fraction…
Recent He II Lyman-alpha forest observations from 2.0 < z < 3.2 show large fluctuations in the optical depth at z > 2.7. These results point to a fluctuating He-ionizing background, which may be due to the end of helium reionization of this…
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…
The ionizing background of cosmic hydrogen is an important probe of the sources and absorbers of ionizing radiation in the post-reionization universe. Previous studies show that the ionization rate should be very sensitive to changes in the…
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…
When modelling the ionisation of gas in the intergalactic medium after reionisation, it is standard practice to assume a uniform radiation background. This assumption is not always appropriate; models with radiative transfer show that…
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…
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…
We investigate the possible influence of fluctuations in the metagalactic photoionizing ultra-violet background (UVBG) on the clustering of Ly$\alpha$-emitting galaxies through the modulation of the ionization level of the gas surrounding…
After quasars ionize intergalactic HeII at z~3, a large radiation field builds up above the HeII ionization edge. Unlike the background responsible for HI ionizations, this field should be highly variable, thanks to the scarcity of bright…
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…
In Paper III of our series "A Uniform Analysis of the Ly-alpha forest at z=0 - 5", we presented a set of 270 quasar spectra from the archives of the Faint Object Spectrograph on the Hubble Space Telescope. A total of 151 of these spectra,…
The estimate of the ionizing UV background through the proximity effect analysis is discussed. Taking into account the correct bending of the column density distribution which appears in high resolution high s/n data, a value of the UV…
The reionization epoch concludes when ionizing photons reach every corner of the Universe. Reionization has generally been assumed to be limited primarily by the rate at which galaxies produce ionizing photons, but the recent measurement of…
In the coming decade, low-frequency radio arrays will begin to probe the epoch of reionization via the redshifted 21-cm hydrogen line. Successful interpretation of these observations will require effective statistical techniques for…
The first, self-consistent calculations are presented of the cosmological, H2-dissociating UV background produced during the epoch of reionization by the sources of reionization. Large-scale radiative transfer simulations of reionization…