| 1. |
- Ghara, Raghunath, et al.
(författare)
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Constraining the intergalactic medium at z approximate to 9.1 using LOFAR Epoch of Reionization observations
- 2020
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Ingår i: Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 0035-8711 .- 1365-2966. ; 493:4, s. 4728-4747
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We derive constraints on the thermal and ionization states of the intergalactic medium (IGM) at redshift approximate to 9.1 using new upper limits on the 21-cm power spectrum measured by the LOFAR radio telescope and a prior on the ionized fraction at that redshift estimated from recent cosmic microwave background (CMB) observations. We have used results from the reionization simulation code GRIZZLY and a Bayesian inference framework to constrain the parameters which describe the physical state of the IGM. We find that, if the gas heating remains negligible, an IGM with ionized fraction greater than or similar to 0.13 and a distribution of the ionized regions with a characteristic size greater than or similar to 8 h(-1) comoving megaparsec (Mpc) and a full width at half-maximum (FWHM) greater than or similar to 16 h(-1) Mpc is ruled out. For an IGM with a uniform spin temperature T-S greater than or similar to 3 K, no constraints on the ionized component can be computed. If the large-scale fluctuations of the signal are driven by spin temperature fluctuations, an IGM with a volume fraction less than or similar to 0.34 of heated regions with a temperature larger than CMB, average gas temperature 7-160 K, and a distribution of the heated regions with characteristic size 3.5-70 h(-1) Mpc and FWHM of less than or similar to 110 h(-1) Mpc is ruled out. These constraints are within the 95 per cent credible intervals. With more stringent future upper limits from LOFAR at multiple redshifts, the constraints will become tighter and will exclude an increasingly large region of the parameter space.
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| 2. |
- Mertens, F. G., et al.
(författare)
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Improved upper limits on the 21 cm signal power spectrum of neutral hydrogen at z approximate to 9.1 from LOFAR
- 2020
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Ingår i: Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 0035-8711 .- 1365-2966. ; 493:2, s. 1662-1685
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- A new upper limit on the 21 cm signal power spectrum at a redshift of z approximate to 9.1 is presented, based on 141 h of data obtained with the Low-Frequency Array (LOFAR). The analysis includes significant improvements in spectrally smooth gain-calibration, Gaussian Process Regression (GPR) foreground mitigation and optimally weighted power spectrum inference. Previously seen 'excess power' due to spectral structure in the gain solutions has markedly reduced but some excess power still remains with a spectral correlation distinct from thermal noise. This excess has a spectral coherence scale of 0.25-0.45 MHz and is partially correlated between nights, especially in the foreground wedge region. The correlation is stronger between nights covering similar local sidereal times. A best 2-sigma upper limit of Delta(2)(21) < (73)(2) mK(2) at k = 0.075 h cMpc(-1) is found, an improvement by a factor approximate to 8 in power compared to the previously reported upper limit. The remaining excess power could be due to residual foreground emission from sources or diffuse emission far away from the phase centre, polarization leakage, chromatic calibration errors, ionosphere, or low-level radiofrequency interference. We discuss future improvements to the signal processing chain that can further reduce or even eliminate these causes of excess power.
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| 3. |
- Ghara, Raghunath, et al.
(författare)
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Prediction of the 21-cm signal from reionization : comparison between 3D and 1D radiative transfer schemes
- 2018
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Ingår i: Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 0035-8711 .- 1365-2966. ; 476:2, s. 1741-1755
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Three-dimensional radiative transfer simulations of the epoch of reionization can produce realistic results, but are computationally expensive. On the other hand, simulations relying on one-dimensional radiative transfer solutions are faster but limited in accuracy due to their more approximate nature. Here, we compare the performance of the reionization simulation codes GRIZZLY and C-2-RAY which use 1D and 3D radiative transfer schemes, respectively. The comparison is performed using the same cosmological density fields, halo catalogues, and source properties. We find that the ionization maps, as well as the 21-cm signal maps from these two simulations are very similar even for complex scenarios which include thermal feedback on low-mass haloes. The comparison between the schemes in terms of the statistical quantities such as the power spectrum of the brightness temperature fluctuation agrees with each other within 10 per cent error throughout the entire reionization history. GRIZZLY seems to perform slightly better than the seminumerical approaches considered in Majumdar et al. which are based on the excursion set principle. We argue that GRIZZLY can be efficiently used for exploring parameter space, establishing observations strategies, and estimating parameters from 21-cm observations.
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| 4. |
- Mondal, Rajesh, et al.
(författare)
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Tight constraints on the excess radio background at z=9.1 from LOFAR
- 2020
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Ingår i: Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 0035-8711 .- 1365-2966. ; 498:3, s. 4178-4191
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The ARCADE2 and LWA1 experiments have claimed an excess over the cosmic microwave background (CMB) at low radio frequencies. If the cosmological high-redshift contribution to this radio background is between 0.1 per cent and 22 per cent of the CMB at 1.42 GHz, it could explain the tentative EDGES low-band detection of the anomalously deep absorption in the 21-cm signal of neutral hydrogen. We use the upper limit on the 21-cm signal from the Epoch of Reionization (z = 9.1) based on 141 h of observations with LOFAR to evaluate the contribution of the high-redshift Universe to the detected radio background. Marginalizing over astrophysical properties of star-forming haloes, we find (at 95 per cent CL) that the cosmological radio background can be at most 9.6 per cent of the CMB at 1.42 GHz. This limit rules out strong contribution of the high-redshift Universe to the ARCADE2 and LWA1 measurements. Even though LOFAR places limit on the extra radio background, excess of 0.1-9.6 per cent over the CMB (at 1.42 GHz) is still allowed and could explain the EDGES low-band detection. We also constrain the thermal and ionization state of the gas at z = 9.1, and put limits on the properties of the first star-forming objects. We find that, in agreement with the limits from EDGES high-band data, LOFAR data constrain scenarios with inefficient X-ray sources, and cases where the Universe was ionized by stars in massive haloes only.
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| 5. |
- Zackrisson, Erik, et al.
(författare)
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Bubble mapping with the Square Kilometre Array - I. Detecting galaxies with Euclid, JWST, WFIRST, and ELT within ionized bubbles in the intergalactic medium at z > 6
- 2020
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Ingår i: Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 0035-8711 .- 1365-2966. ; 493:1, s. 855-870
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The Square Kilometre Array (SKA) is expected to provide the first tomographic observations of the neutral intergalactic medium at redshifts z > 6 and pinpoint the locations of individual ionized bubbles during early stages of cosmic reionization. In scenarios where star-forming galaxies provide most of the ionizing photons required for cosmic reionization, one expects the first ionized bubbles to be centred on overdensities of such galaxies. Here, we model the properties of galaxy populations within isolated, ionized bubbles that SKA-1 should be able to resolve at z approximate to 7-10, and explore the prospects for galaxy counts within such structures with various upcoming near-infrared telescopes. We find that, for the bubbles that are within reach of SKA-1 tomography, the bubble volume is closely tied to the number of ionizing photons that have escaped from the galaxies within. In the case of galaxy-dominated reionization, galaxies are expected to turn up above the spectroscopic detection threshold of JWST and ELT in even the smallest resolvable bubbles at z <= 10. The prospects of detecting galaxies within these structures in purely photometric surveys with Euclid, WFIRST, JWST, or ELT are also discussed. While spectroscopy is preferable towards the end of reionization to provide a robust sample of bubble members, multiband imaging may be a competitive option for bubbles at z approximate to 10, due to the very small number of line-of-sight interlopers expected at these redshifts.
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| 6. |
- Acharya, Anshuman, et al.
(författare)
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21-cm signal from the Epoch of Reionization : a machine learning upgrade to foreground removal with Gaussian process regression
- 2024
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Ingår i: Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 0035-8711 .- 1365-2966. ; 527:3, s. 7835-7846
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In recent years, a Gaussian process regression (GPR)-based framework has been developed for foreground mitigation from data collected by the LOw-Frequency ARray (LOFAR), to measure the 21-cm signal power spectrum from the Epoch of Reionization (EoR) and cosmic dawn. However, it has been noted that through this method there can be a significant amount of signal loss if the EoR signal covariance is misestimated. To obtain better covariance models, we propose to use a kernel trained on the grizzly simulations using a Variational Auto-Encoder (VAE)-based algorithm. In this work, we explore the abilities of this machine learning-based kernel (VAE kernel) used with GPR, by testing it on mock signals from a variety of simulations, exploring noise levels corresponding to ≈10 nights (≈141 h) and ≈100 nights (≈1410 h) of observations with LOFAR. Our work suggests the possibility of successful extraction of the 21-cm signal within 2σ uncertainty in most cases using the VAE kernel, with better recovery of both shape and power than with previously used covariance models. We also explore the role of the excess noise component identified in past applications of GPR and additionally analyse the possibility of redshift dependence on the performance of the VAE kernel. The latter allows us to prepare for future LOFAR observations at a range of redshifts, as well as compare with results from other telescopes.
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| 7. |
- Bianco, Michele, et al.
(författare)
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Deep learning approach for identification of H II regions during reionization in 21-cm observations
- 2021
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Ingår i: Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 0035-8711 .- 1365-2966. ; 505:3, s. 3982-3997
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The upcoming Square Kilometre Array (SKA-Low) will map the distribution of neutral hydrogen during reionization and produce a tremendous amount of three-dimensional tomographic data. These image cubes will be subject to instrumental limitations, such as noise and limited resolution. Here, we present SegU-Net, a stable and reliable method for identifying neutral and ionized regions in these images. SegU-Net is a U-Net architecture-based convolutional neural network for image segmentation. It is capable of segmenting our image data into meaningful features (ionized and neutral regions) with greater accuracy compared to previous methods. We can estimate the ionization history from our mock observation of SKA with an observation time of 1000 h with more than 87 percent accuracy. We also show that SegU-Net can be used to recover the size distributions and Betti numbers, with a relative difference of only a few percent from the values derived from the original smoothed and then binarized neutral fraction field. These summary statistics characterize the non-Gaussian nature of the reionization process.
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| 8. |
- Bianco, Michele, et al.
(författare)
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Deep learning approach for identification of H II regions during reionization in 21-cm observations - II. Foreground contamination
- 2024
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Ingår i: Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 0035-8711 .- 1365-2966. ; 528:3, s. 5212-5230
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The upcoming Square Kilometre Array Observatory will produce images of neutral hydrogen distribution during the epoch of reionization by observing the corresponding 21-cm signal. However, the 21-cm signal will be subject to instrumental limitations such as noise and galactic foreground contamination that pose a challenge for accurate detection. In this study, we present the SegU-Net v2 framework, an enhanced version of our convolutional neural network, built to identify neutral and ionized regions in the 21-cm signal contaminated with foreground emission. We trained our neural network on 21-cm image data processed by a foreground removal method based on Principal Component Analysis achieving an average classification accuracy of 71 per cent between redshift z = 7 and 11. We tested SegU-Net v2 against various foreground removal methods, including Gaussian Process Regression, Polynomial Fitting, and Foreground-Wedge Removal. Results show comparable performance, highlighting SegU-Net v2's independence on these pre-processing methods. Statistical analysis shows that a perfect classification score with AUC = 95 is possible for 8 < z < 10. While the network prediction lacks the ability to correctly identify ionized regions at higher redshift and differentiate well the few remaining neutral regions at lower redshift due to low contrast between 21-cm signal, noise, and foreground residual in images. Moreover, as the photon sources driving reionization are expected to be located inside ionized regions, we show that SegU-Net v2 can be used to correctly identify and measure the volume of isolated bubbles with V-ion > (10cmpc)(3 )at z > 9, for follow-up studies with infrared/optical telescopes to detect these sources.
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| 9. |
- Bianco, Michele, et al.
(författare)
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The impact of inhomogeneous subgrid clumping on cosmic reionization - II. Modelling stochasticity
- 2021
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Ingår i: Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 0035-8711 .- 1365-2966. ; 504:2, s. 2443-2460
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Small-scale density fluctuations can significantly affect reionization, but are typically modelled quite crudely. Unresolved fluctuations in numerical simulations and analytical calculations are included using a gas clumping factor, typically assumed to be independent of the local environment. In Paper I, we presented an improved, local density-dependent model for the sub-grid gas clumping. Here, we extend this using an empirical stochastic model based on the results from high-resolution numerical simulations which fully resolve all relevant fluctuations. Our model reproduces well both the mean density-clumping relation and its scatter. We applied our stochastic model, along with the mean clumping one and the Paper I deterministic model, to create large-volume realizations of the clumping field, and used these in radiative transfer simulations of cosmic reionization. Our results show that the simplistic mean clumping model delays reionization compared to local density-dependent models, despite producing fewer recombinations overall. This is due to the very different spatial distribution of clumping, resulting in much higher photoionization rates in the latter cases. The mean clumping model produces smaller H II regions throughout most of reionization, but those percolate faster at late times. It also causes a significant delay in the 21-cm fluctuations peak and yields lower non-Gaussianity and many fewer bright pixels in the PDF distribution. The stochastic density-dependent model shows relatively minor differences from the deterministic one, mostly concentrated around overlap, where it significantly suppresses the 21-cm fluctuations, and at the bright tail of the 21-cm PDFs, where it produces noticeably more bright pixels.
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| 10. |
- Bucko, Jozef, et al.
(författare)
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Constraining dark matter decay with cosmic microwave background and weak-lensing shear observations
- 2023
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Ingår i: Astronomy and Astrophysics. - : EDP Sciences. - 0004-6361 .- 1432-0746. ; 672
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- From observations at low and high redshifts, it is well known that the bulk of dark matter (DM) has to be stable or at least very long-lived. However, the possibility that a small fraction of DM is unstable or that all DM decays with a half-life time (tau) significantly longer than the age of the Universe is not ruled out. One-body decaying dark matter (DDM) consists of a minimal extension to the Lambda CDM model. It causes a modification of the cosmic growth history as well as a suppression of the small-scale clustering signal, providing interesting consequences regarding the S-8 tension, which is the observed di fference in the clustering amplitude between weak-lensing (WL) and cosmic microwave background (CMB) observations. In this paper, we investigate models in which a fraction or all DM decays into radiation, focusing on the long-lived regime, that is, tau greater than or similar to H-0(-1) (H-0(-1) being the Hubble time). We used WL data from the Kilo-Degree Survey (KiDS) and CMB data from Planck. First, we confirm that this DDM model cannot alleviate the S-8 di fference. We then show that the most constraining power for DM decay does not come from the nonlinear WL data, but from CMB via the integrated Sachs-Wolfe e ffect. From the CMB data alone, we obtain constraints of tau >= 288 Gyr if all DM is assumed to be unstable, and we show that a maximum fraction of f = 0.07 is allowed to decay assuming the half-life time to be comparable to (or shorter than) one Hubble time. The constraints from the KiDS-1000 WL data are significantly weaker, tau >= 60 Gyr and f < 0.34. Combining the CMB and WL data does not yield tighter constraints than the CMB alone, except for short half-life times, for which the maximum allowed fraction becomes f = 0.03. All limits are provided at the 95% confidence level.
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| 11. |
- Bucko, Jozef, et al.
(författare)
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Probing the two-body decaying dark matter scenario with weak lensing and the cosmic microwave background
- 2024
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Ingår i: Astronomy and Astrophysics. - 0004-6361 .- 1432-0746. ; 683
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Decaying dark matter (DDM) scenarios have recently regained attention due to their potential ability to resolve the well-known clustering (or S8) tension between weak lensing (WL) and cosmic microwave background (CMB) measurements. In this paper, we investigate a well-established model where the original dark matter particle decays into a massless particle and a massive daughter particle. The latter obtains a velocity kick during the decay process that results in the suppression of the matter power spectrum at scales that are observable with WL shear observations. We perform the first fully non-linear WL analysis of this two-body decaying dark matter (ΛDDM) scenario, including intrinsic alignment and baryonic feedback processes. We used the cosmic shear band power spectra from KiDS-1000 data and combined it with temperature and polarisation data from Planck in order to constrain the ΛDDM model. We report new limits on the decay rate and mass splitting parameters that are significantly stronger than previous results, especially in the case of low-mass splittings. Regarding the S8 tension, we found a reduction from about 3 to 2σ, depending on which statistical measure is applied. We therefore conclude that the two-body ΛDDM model is able to reduce the S8 tension without convincingly solving it.
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| 12. |
- Bucko, Jozef, et al.
(författare)
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Probing the two-body decaying dark matter scenario with weak lensing and the cosmic microwave background
- 2024
-
Ingår i: Astronomy and Astrophysics. - : EDP Sciences. - 0004-6361 .- 1432-0746. ; 683
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Decaying dark matter (DDM) scenarios have recently regained attention due to their potential ability to resolve the well-known clustering (or S-8) tension between weak lensing (WL) and cosmic microwave background (CMB) measurements. In this paper, we investigate a well-established model where the original dark matter particle decays into a massless particle and a massive daughter particle. The latter obtains a velocity kick during the decay process that results in the suppression of the matter power spectrum at scales that are observable with WL shear observations. We perform the first fully non-linear WL analysis of this two-body decaying dark matter (Lambda DDM) scenario, including intrinsic alignment and baryonic feedback processes. We used the cosmic shear band power spectra from KiDS-1000 data and combined it with temperature and polarisation data from Planck in order to constrain the Lambda DDM model. We report new limits on the decay rate and mass splitting parameters that are significantly stronger than previous results, especially in the case of low-mass splittings. Regarding the S-8 tension, we found a reduction from about 3 to 2 sigma, depending on which statistical measure is applied. We therefore conclude that the two-body.DDM model is able to reduce the S-8 tension without convincingly solving it.
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| 13. |
- Dayal, Pratika, et al.
(författare)
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Warm dark matter constraints from the JWST
- 2024
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Ingår i: Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. - : Oxford University Press. - 0035-8711 .- 1365-2966. ; 528:2, s. 2784-2789
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Warm dark matter (WDM) particles with masses (∼ kilo electronvolt) offer an attractive solution to the small-scale issues faced by the cold dark matter (CDM) paradigm. The delay of structure formation in WDM models and the associated dearth of low-mass systems at high redshifts makes this an ideal time to revisit WDM constraints in light of the unprecedented datasets from the JWST. Developing a phenomenological model based on the halo mass functions in CDM and WDM models, we calculate high redshift (z ∼> 6), the stellar mass functions (SMF) and the associated stellar mass density (SMD) and the maximum stellar mass allowed in a given volume. We find that: (i) WDM as light as 1.5 keV is already disfavoured by the low-mass end of the SMF (stellar mass M∗ ∼ 107 M⨀) although caution must be exerted given the impact of lensing uncertainties; (ii) 1.5 keV WDM models predict SMD values that show a steep decrease from 108.8 to 102 M⨀cMpc−3 from z ∼ 4 to 17 for M∗ ∼> 108 M⨀; and (iii) the 1.5 keV WDM model predicts a sharp and earlier cut-off in the maximum stellar masses for a given number density (or volume) as compared to CDM or heavier WDM models. For example, with a number density of 10−3 cMpc−3, 1.5 (3) KeV WDM models do not predict bound objects at z ∼> 12 (18). Forthcoming JWST observations of multiple blank fields can therefore be used as a strong probe of WDM at an epoch inaccessible by other means.
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| 14. |
- Georgiev, Ivelin, 1995-, et al.
(författare)
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The large-scale 21-cm power spectrum from reionization
- 2022
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Ingår i: Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 0035-8711 .- 1365-2966. ; 513:4, s. 5109-5124
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Radio interferometers, such as the Low-Frequency Array and the future Square Kilometre Array, are attempting to measure the spherically averaged 21-cm power spectrum from the epoch of reionization. Understanding of the dominant physical processes which influence the power spectrum at each length-scale is therefore crucial for interpreting any future detection. We study a decomposition of the 21-cm power spectrum and quantify the evolution of its constituent terms for a set of numerical and semi-numerical simulations of a volume of (714 Mpc)3, focusing on large scales with k ≲ 0.3 Mpc−1. We find that after ∼10 per cent of the universe has been ionized, the 21-cm power spectrum follows the power spectrum of neutral hydrogen fluctuations, which itself beyond a certain scale follows the matter power spectrum. Hence the signal has a two-regime form where the large-scale signal is a biased version of the cosmological density field, and the small-scale power spectrum is determined by the astrophysics of reionization. We construct a bias parameter to investigate the relation between the large-scale 21-cm signal and the cosmological density field. We find that the transition scale between the scale-independent and scale-dependent bias regimes is directly related to the value of the mean free path of ionizing photons (λMFP), and is characterised by the empirical formula ktrans ≈ 2/λMFP. Furthermore, we show that the numerical implementation of the mean free path effect has a significant impact on the shape of this transition. Most notably, the transition is more gradual if the mean free path effect is implemented as an absorption process rather than as a barrier.
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| 15. |
- Ghara, Raghunath, et al.
(författare)
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Constraining the state of the intergalactic medium during the Epoch of Reionization using MWA 21-cm signal observations
- 2021
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Ingår i: Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 0035-8711 .- 1365-2966. ; 503:3, s. 4551-4562
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The Murchison Widefield Array (MWA) team has derived new upper limits on the spherically averaged power spectrum of the 21-cm signal at six redshifts in the range z approximate to 6.5-8.7. We use these upper limits and a Bayesian inference framework to derive constraints on the ionization and thermal state of the intergalactic medium (IGM) as well as on the strength of a possible additional radio background. We do not find any constraints on the state of the IGM for z greater than or similar to 7.8 if no additional radio background is present. In the presence of such a radio background, the 95 per cent credible intervals of the disfavoured models at redshift greater than or similar to 6.5 correspond to an IGM with a volume-averaged fraction of ionized regions below 0.6 and an average gas temperature less than or similar to 10(3) h(-1). In these models, the heated regions are characterized by a temperature larger than that of the radio background, and by a distribution with characteristic size less than or similar to 10 h(-1) Mpc and a full width at half maximum (FWHM) of less than or similar to 30 h(-1) Mpc. Within the same credible interval limits, we exclude an additional radio background of at least 0.008 per cent of the CMB at 1.42 GHz.
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| 16. |
- Giri, Sambit K., et al.
(författare)
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Bubble size statistics during reionization from 21-cm tomography
- 2018
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Ingår i: Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 0035-8711 .- 1365-2966. ; 473:3, s. 2949-2964
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The upcoming SKA1-Low radio interferometer will be sensitive enough to produce tomographic imaging data of the redshifted 21-cm signal from the Epoch of Reionization. Due to the non-Gaussian distribution of the signal, a power spectrum analysis alone will not provide a complete description of its properties. Here, we consider an additional metric which could be derived from tomographic imaging data, namely the bubble size distribution of ionized regions. We study three methods that have previously been used to characterize bubble size distributions in simulation data for the hydrogen ionization fraction-the spherical-average (SPA), mean-free-path (MFP) and friends-of-friends (FOF) methods -and apply them to simulated 21-cm data cubes. Our simulated data cubes have the (sensitivity-dictated) resolution expected for the SKA1-Low reionization experiment and we study the impact of both the light-cone (LC) and redshift space distortion (RSD) effects. To identify ionized regions in the 21-cm data we introduce a new, self-adjusting thresholding approach based on the K-Means algorithm. We find that the fraction of ionized cells identified in this way consistently falls below the mean volume-averaged ionized fraction. From a comparison of the three bubble size methods, we conclude that all three methods are useful, but that the MFP method performs best in terms of tracking the progress of reionization and separating different reionization scenarios. The LC effect is found to affect data spanning more than about 10 MHz in frequency (Delta z similar to 0.5). We find that RSDs only marginally affect the bubble size distributions.
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| 17. |
- Giri, Sambit K., et al.
(författare)
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Constraining Lyman continuum escape using Machine Learning
- 2018
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Ingår i: Peering towards Cosmic Dawn. - : Cambridge University Press. - 9781107192461 ; , s. 254-258
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) will observe the rest-frame ultraviolet/optical spectra of galaxies from the epoch of reionization (EoR) in unprecedented detail. While escaping into the intergalactic medium, hydrogen-ionizing (Lyman continuum; LyC) photons from the galaxies will contribute to the bluer end of the UV slope and make nebular emission lines less prominent. We present a method to constrain leakage of the LyC photons using the spectra of high redshift (z greater than or similar to 6) galaxies. We simulate JWST/NIRSpec observations of galaxies at z = 6-9 by matching the fluxes of galaxies observed in the Frontier Fields observations of galaxy cluster MACS-J0416. Our method predicts the escape fraction f(esc) with a mean absolute error Delta f(esc) approximate to 0.14. The method also predicts the redshifts of the galaxies with an error approximate to 0.0003.
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| 18. |
- Giri, Sambit K., et al.
(författare)
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Identifying reionization-epoch galaxies with extreme levels of Lyman continuum leakage in James Webb Space Telescope surveys
- 2020
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Ingår i: Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 0035-8711 .- 1365-2966. ; 491:4, s. 5277-5286
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) NIRSpec instrument will allow rest-frame ultraviolet/optical spectroscopy of galaxies in the epoch of reionization (EoR). Some galaxies may exhibit significant leakage of hydrogen-ionizing photons into the intergalactic medium, resulting in faint nebular emission lines. We present a machine learning framework for identifying cases of very high hydrogen-ionizing photon escape from galaxies based on the data quality expected from potential NIRSpec observations of EoR galaxies in lensed fields. We train our algorithm on mock samples of JWST/NIRSpec data for galaxies at redshifts z = 6-10. To make the samples more realistic, we combine synthetic galaxy spectra based on cosmological galaxy simulations with observational noise relevant for z greater than or similar to 6 objects of a brightness similar to EoR galaxy candidates uncovered in Frontier Fields observations of galaxy cluster Abell-2744 and MACS-J0416. We find that ionizing escape fractions (f(esc)) of galaxies brighter than m(AB,1500) approximate to 27 mag may be retrieved with mean absolute error Delta f(esc) approximate to 0.09(0.12) for 24 h (1.5 h) JWST/NIRSpec exposures at resolution R = 100. For 24 h exposure time, even fainter galaxies (m(AB,1500) < 28.5 mag) can be processed with Delta f(esc) approximate to 0.14. This framework simultaneously estimates the redshift of these galaxies with a relative error less than 0.03 for both 24 (m(AB,1500) < 28.5 mag) and 1.5 h (m(AB,1500) < 27 mag) exposure times. We also consider scenarios where just a minor fraction of galaxies attain high f(esc) and present the conditions required for detecting a subpopulation of high-f(esc) galaxies within the data set.
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| 19. |
- Giri, Sambit K., et al.
(författare)
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Measuring the topology of reionization with Betti numbers
- 2021
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Ingår i: Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 0035-8711 .- 1365-2966. ; 505:2, s. 1863-1877
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The distribution of ionized hydrogen during the epoch of reionization (EoR) has a complex morphology. We propose to measure the 3D topology of ionized regions using the Betti numbers. These quantify the topology using the number of components, tunnels, and cavities in any given field. Based on the results for a set of reionization simulations we find that the Betti numbers of the ionization field show a characteristic evolution during reionization, with peaks in the different Betti numbers characterizing different stages of the process. The shapes of their evolutionary curves can be fitted with simple analytical functions. We also observe that the evolution of the Betti numbers shows a clear connection with the percolation of the ionized and neutral regions and differs between different reionization scenarios. Through these properties, the Betti numbers provide a more useful description of the topology than the widely studied Euler characteristic or genus. The morphology of the ionization field will be imprinted on the redshifted 21-cm signal from the EoR. We construct mock image cubes using the properties of the low-frequency element of the future Square Kilometre Array and show that we can extract the Betti numbers from such data sets if an observation time of 1000 h is used. Even for a much shorter observation time of 100 h, some topological information can be extracted for the middle and later stages of reionization. We also find that the topological information extracted from the mock 21-cm observations can put constraints on reionization models.
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| 20. |
- Giri, Sambit K., et al.
(författare)
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Neutral island statistics during reionization from 21-cm tomography
- 2019
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Ingår i: Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 0035-8711 .- 1365-2966. ; 489:2, s. 1590-1605
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We present the prospects of extracting information about the epoch of reionization by identifying the remaining neutral regions, referred to as islands, in tomographic observations of the redshifted 21-cm signal. Using simulated data sets we show that at late times the 21-cm power spectrum is fairly insensitive to the details of the reionization process but that the properties of the neutral islands can distinguish between different reionization scenarios. We compare the properties of these islands with those of ionized bubbles. At equivalent volume-filling fractions, neutral islands tend to be fewer in number but larger compared to the ionized bubbles. In addition, the evolution of the size distribution of neutral islands is found to be slower than that of the ionized bubbles and also their percolation behaviour differs substantially. Even though the neutral islands are relatively rare, they will be easier to identify in observations with the low frequency component of the Square Kilometre Array due to their larger size and the lower noise levels at lower redshifts. The size distribution of neutral islands at the late stages of reionization is found to depend on the source properties, such as the ionizing efficiency of the sources and their minimum mass. We find the longest line of sight through a neutral region to be more than 100 comoving Mpc until very late stages (90-95 per cent reionized), which may have relevance for the long absorption trough at z = 5.6-5.8 in the spectrum of quasar ULAS J0148+0600.
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| 21. |
- Giri, Sambit K., et al.
(författare)
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Optimal identification of H II regions during reionization in 21-cm observations
- 2018
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Ingår i: Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 0035-8711 .- 1365-2966. ; 479:4, s. 5596-5611
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The ability of the future low-frequency component of the Square Kilometre Array radio telescope to produce tomographic images of the redshifted 21-cm signal will enable direct studies of the evolution of the sizes and shapes of ionized regions during the Epoch of Reionization. However, a reliable identification of ionized regions in noisy interferometric data is not trivial. Here, we introduce an image processing method known as superpixels for this purpose. We compare this method with two other previously proposed ones, one relying on a chosen threshold and the other employing automatic threshold determination using the K-Means algorithm. We use a correlation test and compare power spectra and bubble size distributions to show that the superpixels method provides a better identification of ionized regions, especially in the case of noisy data. We also describe some possible additional applications of the superpixel method, namely the derivation of the ionization history and constraints on the source properties in specific regions.
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| 22. |
- Giri, Sambit K., 1993-, et al.
(författare)
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Position-dependent power spectra of the 21-cm signal from the epoch of reionization
- 2019
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Ingår i: Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics. - : IOP Publishing. - 1475-7516. ; :2
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The 21-cm signal from the epoch of reionization is non-Gaussian. Current radio telescopes are focused on detecting the 21-cm power spectrum, but in the future the Square Kilometre Array is anticipated to provide a first measurement of the bispectrum. Previous studies have shown that the position-dependent power spectrum is a simple and efficient way to probe the squeezed-limit bispectrum. In this approach, the survey is divided into subvolumes and the correlation between the local power spectrum and the corresponding mean density of the subvolume is computed. This correlation is equivalent to an integral of the bispectrum in the squeezed limit, but is much simpler to implement than the usual bispectrum estimators. It also has a clear physical interpretation: it describes how the small-scale power spectrum of tracers such as galaxies and the 21-cm signal respond to a large-scale environment. Reionization naturally couples large and small scales as ionizing radiation produced by galactic sources can travel up to tens of Megaparsecs through the intergalactic medium during this process. Here we apply the position-dependent power spectrum approach to fluctuations in the 21-cm background from reionization. We show that this statistic has a distinctive evolution in time that can be understood with a simple analytic model. We also show that the statistic can easily distinguish between simple "inside-out" and "outside-in" models of reionization. The position-dependent power spectrum is thus a promising method to validate the reionization signal and to extract higher-order information on this process.
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| 23. |
- Giri, Sambit K., 1993-
(författare)
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Tomographic studies of the 21-cm signal during reionization : Going beyond the power spectrum
- 2019
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The formation of the first luminous sources in the Universe, such as the first generation of stars and accreting black holes, led to the ionization of hydrogen gas present in the intergalactic medium (IGM). This period in which the Universe transitioned from a cold and neutral state to a predominantly hot and ionized state is known as the Epoch of Reionization (EoR). The EoR is one of the least understood epochs in the Universe's evolution mostly due to the lack of direct observations. We can probe the reionization process with the 21-cm signal, produced by the spin-flip transition in neutral hydrogen. However, current radio telescopes have not been able to detect this faint signal. The low-frequency component of the Square Kilometre Array (SKA-Low), will be sensitive enough not only to detect the 21-cm signal produced during EoR but also to produce images of its distribution on the sky. A sequence of such 21-cm images from different redshifts will constitute a three-dimensional, tomographic, data set. Before the SKA comes online, it is prudent to develop methods to analyse these tomographic images in a statistical sense. In this thesis, we study the prospect of understanding the EoR using such tomographic analysis methods. In Paper I, II and V, we use simulated 21-cm data sets to investigate methods to extract and interpret information from those images. We implement a new image segmentation technique, known as superpixels, to identify ionized regions in the images and find that it performs better than previously proposed methods. Once we have identified the ionized regions (also known as bubbles), we can determine the bubble size distribution (BSD) using various size finding algorithms and use the BSDs as a summary statistics of the 21-cm signal during reionization. We also investigate the impact of different line of sight effects, such as light-cone effect and redshift space distortions on the measured BSDs. During the late stages of reionization, the BSDs become less informative since most of the IGM has become ionized. We therefore propose to study the neutral regions (also known as islands) during these late times. In Paper V, we find that most neutral islands will be relatively easy to detect with SKA-Low as they remain quite large until the end of reionization and their size distribution depends on the properties of the sources of reionization. Previous studies have shown that the 21-cm signal is highly non-Gaussian. Therefore the power spectrum cannot characterize the signal completely. In Paper III and IV, we use the bispectrum, a higher-order statistics related to the three-point correlation function, to characterize the signal. In Paper III, we probe the non-Gaussianity in the 21-cm signal caused by temperature fluctuations due to the presence of X-Ray sources. We find that the evolution of the normalized bispectrum is different from that of the power spectrum, which is useful for breaking the degeneracy between models which use different types of X-Ray sources. We also show that the 21-cm bispectrum can be constructed from observations with SKA-Low. Paper IV presents a fast and simple method to study the so-called squeezed limit version of the bispectrum, which describes how the small-scale fluctuations respond to the large-scale environment. We show that this quantity evolves during reionization and differs between different reionization scenarios.
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| 24. |
- Greig, Bradley, et al.
(författare)
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Interpreting LOFAR 21-cm signal upper limits at z ≈ 9.1 in the context of high-z galaxy and reionization observations
- 2021
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Ingår i: Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 0035-8711 .- 1365-2966. ; 501:1, s. 1-13
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Using the latest upper limits on the 21-cm power spectrum at z approximate to 9.1 from the Low Frequency Array (LOFAR), we explore the regions of parameter space which are inconsistent with the data. We use 21CMMC, a Monte Carlo Markov chain sampler of 21CMFAST which directly forward models the three dimensional (3D) cosmic 21-cm signal in a fully Bayesian framework. We use the astrophysical parametrization from 21CMFAST, which includes mass-dependent star formation rates and ionizing escape fractions as well as soft-band X-ray luminosities to place limits on the properties of the high-z galaxies. Further, we connect the disfavoured regions of parameter space with existing observational constraints on the Epoch of Reionization such as ultra-violet (UV) luminosity functions, background UV photoionization rate, intergalactic medium (IGM) neutral fraction, and the electron scattering optical depth. We find that all models exceeding the 21-cm signal limits set by LOFAR at z approximate to 9.1 are excluded at greater than or similar to 2 sigma by other probes. Finally, we place limits on the IGM spin temperature from LOFAR, disfavouring at 95 per cent confidence spin temperatures below similar to 2.6 K across an IGM neutral fraction range of 0.15 less than or similar to (x) over bar (HI) less than or similar to 0.6. Note, these limits are only obtained from 141 h of data in a single redshift bin. With tighter upper limits, across multiple redshift bins expected in the near future from LOFAR, more viable models will be ruled out. Our approach demonstrates the potential of forward modelling tools such as 21CMMC in combining 21-cm observations with other high-z probes to constrain the astrophysics of galaxies.
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| 25. |
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| 26. |
- He, Yutong, et al.
(författare)
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Inverse Gertsenshtein effect as a probe of high-frequency gravitational waves
- 2024
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Ingår i: Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics. - : IOP Publishing. - 1475-7516. ; 2024:5
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We apply the inverse Gertsenshtein effect, i.e., the graviton-photon conversion in the presence of a magnetic field, to constrain high-frequency gravitational waves (HFGWs). Using existing astrophysical measurements, we compute upper limits on the GW energy densities ΩGW at 16 different frequency bands. Given the observed magnetisation of galaxy clusters with field strength B ∼ μG correlated on O(10) kpc scales, we estimate HFGW constraints in the O(102) GHz regime to be ΩGW ≲ 1016 with the temperature measurements of the Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT). Similarly, we conservatively obtain ΩGW ≲ 1013 (1011) in the O(102) MHz (O(10) GHz) regime by assuming uniform magnetic field with strength B ∼ 0.1 nG and saturating the excess signal over the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) reported by radio telescopes such as the Experiment to Detect the Global EoR Signature (EDGES), LOw Frequency ARray (LOFAR), and Murchison Widefield Array (MWA), and the balloon-borne second generation Absolute Radiometer for Cosmology, Astrophysics, and Diffuse Emission (ARCADE2) with graviton-induced photons. The upcoming Square Kilometer Array (SKA) can tighten these constraints by roughly 10 orders of magnitude, which will be a step closer to reaching the critical value of ΩGW = 1 or the Big Bang Nucleosynthesis (BBN) bound of ΩGW ≃ 1.2 × 10-6. We point to future improvement of the SKA forecast and estimate that proposed CMB measurement at the level of O(100-2) nK, such as Primordial Inflation Explorer (PIXIE) and Voyage 2050, are needed to viably detect stochastic backgrounds of HFGWs.
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| 27. |
- Hervas Peters, Fabian, et al.
(författare)
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Constraining hot dark matter sub-species with weak lensing and the cosmic microwave background radiation
- 2024
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Ingår i: Astronomy and Astrophysics. - : EDP Sciences. - 0004-6361 .- 1432-0746. ; 687
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Although it is well known that the bulk of dark matter (DM) has to be cold, the existence of an additional sub-dominant, hot species remains a valid possibility. In this paper we investigate the potential of the cosmic shear power spectrum to constrain such a mixed (hot plus cold) DM scenario with two additional free parameters, the hot-to-total DM fraction (fhdm) and the thermal mass of the hot component (mhdm). Running a Bayesian inference analysis for both the Kilo-Degree Survey cosmic shear data (KiDS-1000) as well as the cosmic microwave background (CMB) temperature and polarisation data from Planck, we derive new constraints for the mixed DM scenario. We find a 95% confidence limit of fhdm 0:08 for a very hot species of mhdm ≤ 20 eV. This constraint is weakened to fhdm 0:25 for mhdm ≤ 80 eV. Scenarios with masses above mhdm ∼ 200 eV remain unconstrained by the data. Next to providing limits, we investigate the potential of mixed DM to address the clustering (or S 8) tension between lensing and the CMB. We find a reduction of the 2D (Ω m-S 8) tension from 2.9σ to 1.6σ when going from a pure cold DM to a mixed DM scenario. When computing the 1D Gaussian tension on S 8 the improvement is milder, from 2.4σ to 2.0σ.
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| 28. |
- Nebrin, Olof, et al.
(författare)
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Starbursts in low-mass haloes at Cosmic Dawn. I. : The critical halo mass for star formation
- 2023
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Ingår i: Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 0035-8711 .- 1365-2966. ; 524:2, s. 2290-2311
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The first stars, galaxies, star clusters, and direct-collapse black holes are expected to have formed in low-mass (∼105-109 M⊙) haloes at Cosmic Dawn (z ∼10-30) under conditions of efficient gas cooling, leading to gas collapse towards the centre of the halo. The halo mass cooling threshold has been analysed by several authors using both analytical models and numerical simulations, with differing results. Since the halo number density is a sensitive function of the halo mass, an accurate model of the cooling threshold is needed for (semi-)analytical models of star formation at Cosmic Dawn. In this paper, the cooling threshold mass is calculated (semi-)analytically, considering the effects of H2-cooling and formation (in the gas phase and on dust grains), cooling by atomic metals, Lyman-α cooling, photodissociation of H2 by Lyman-Werner photons (including self-shielding by H2), photodetachment of H- by infrared photons, photoevaporation by ionization fronts, and the effect of baryon streaming velocities. We compare the calculations to several high-resolution cosmological simulations, showing excellent agreement. We find that in regions of typical baryon streaming velocities, star formation is possible in haloes of mass ≲ 1-2 × 106 M⊙ for z ≳ 20. By z ≲8, the expected Lyman-Werner background suppresses star formation in all minihaloes below the atomic cooling threshold (Tvir = 104 K). The halo mass cooling threshold increases by another factor of ∼4 following reionization, although this effect is slightly delayed (z ∼4-5) because of effective self-shielding.
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| 29. |
- Ross, Hannah E., et al.
(författare)
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Redshift-space distortions in simulations of the 21-cm signal from the cosmic dawn
- 2021
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Ingår i: Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 0035-8711 .- 1365-2966. ; 506:3, s. 3717-3733
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The 21-cm signal from the Cosmic Dawn (CD) is likely to contain large fluctuations, with the most extreme astrophysical models on the verge of being ruled out by observations from radio interferometers. It is therefore vital that we understand not only the astrophysical processes governing this signal, but also other inherent processes impacting the signal itself, and in particular line-of-sight effects. Using our suite of fully numerical radiative transfer simulations, we investigate the impact on the redshifted 21-cm from the CD from one of these processes, namely the redshift-space distortions (RSDs). When RSDs are added, the resulting boost to the power spectra makes the signal more or equally detectable for our models for all redshifts, further strengthening hopes that a power spectra measurement of the CD will be possible. RSDs lead to anisotropy in the signal at the beginning and end of the CD, but not while X-ray heating is underway. The inclusion of RSDs, however, decreases detectability of the non-Gaussianity of fluctuations from inhomogeneous X-ray heating as measured by the skewness and kurtosis. On the other hand, mock observations created from all our simulations that include telescope noise corresponding to 1000 h of observation with the Square Kilometre Array telescope show that we may be able to image the CD for all heating models considered and suggest RSDs dramatically boost fluctuations coming from the inhomogeneous Ly α background.
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| 30. |
- Schaeffer, Timothée, et al.
(författare)
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BEORN : a fast and flexible framework to simulate the epoch of reionization and cosmic dawn
- 2023
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Ingår i: Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 0035-8711 .- 1365-2966. ; 526:2, s. 2942-2959
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In this study, we introduce BEORN (Bubbles during the Epoch of Reionization Numerical Simulator), a publicly available PYTHON code that generates three-dimensional maps of the 21-cm signal from the cosmic dawn and the epoch of reionization. Built upon N-body simulation outputs, BEORN populates haloes with stars and galaxies based on a flexible source model. It then computes the evolution of Ly α coupling, temperature, and ionization profiles as a function of source properties, and paints these profiles around each source on to a three-dimensional grid. The code consistently deals with the overlap of ionized bubbles by redistributing photons around the bubble boundaries, thereby ensuring photon conservation. It accounts for the redshifting of photons and the source look-back effect for the temperature and Ly α coupling profiles that extend far into the intergalactic medium to scales of order 100 cMpc. We provide a detailed description of the code and compare it to results from the literature. After validation, we run three different benchmark models based on a cosmological N-body simulation. All three models agree with current observations from ultravoilet luminosity functions and estimates of the mean ionization fraction. Due to different assumptions regarding the small-mass stellar-to-halo relation, the X-ray flux emission, and the ionizing photon escape fraction, the models produce unique signatures ranging from a cold reionization with deep absorption trough to an emission-dominated 21-cm signal, broadly encompassing the current uncertainties at cosmic dawn. The code BEORN is publicly available at https://github.com/cosmic-reionization/BEoRN.
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| 31. |
- Schneider, Aurel, et al.
(författare)
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Cosmological forecast of the 21-cm power spectrum with the halo model of reionization
- 2023
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Ingår i: Physical Review D. - : American Physical Society (APS). - 2470-0010 .- 2470-0029. ; 108:4
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The 21-cm power spectrum of reionization is a promising probe for cosmology and fundamental physics. Exploiting this new observable, however, requires fast predictors capable of efficiently scanning the very large parameter space of cosmological and astrophysical uncertainties. In this paper, we introduce the halo model of reionization (HMreio), a new analytical tool that combines the halo model of the cosmic dawn with the excursion-set bubble model for reionization, assuming an empirical correction factor to deal with overlapping ionization bubbles. First, HMreio is validated against results from the well-known seminumerical code 21 cmfast, showing a good overall agreement for wave-modes of k≲1 h/Mpc. Based on this result, we perform a Monte-Carlo Markov-Chain (MCMC) forecast analysis assuming mock data from 1000-hour observations with the low-frequency part of the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) observatory. We simultaneously vary the six standard cosmological parameters together with seven astrophysical parameters quantifying the abundance and spectral properties of sources. Depending on the assumed theory error, we find very competitive constraints on cosmological parameters. In particular, it will be possible to conclusively test current cosmological tensions related to the Hubble parameter (H0-tension) and the matter clustering amplitude (S8-tension). Furthermore, the sum of the neutrino masses can be strongly constrained, making it possible to determine the neutrino mass hierarchy at the ∼90 percent confidence level. However, these goals can only be achieved if the current modeling uncertainties are substantially reduced to below ∼3 percent.
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| 32. |
- Watkinson, Catherine A., et al.
(författare)
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The 21-cm bispectrum as a probe of non-Gaussianities due to X-ray heating
- 2019
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Ingår i: Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 0035-8711 .- 1365-2966. ; 482:2, s. 2653-2669
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We present analysis of the normalized 21-cm bispectrum from fully-numerical simulations of intergalactic-medium heating by stellar sources and high-mass X-ray binaries (HMXBs) during the cosmic dawn. Ly-alpha coupling is assumed to be saturated, we therefore probe the nature of non-Gaussianities produced by X-ray heating processes. We find the evolution of the normalized bispectrum to be very different from that of the power spectrum. It exhibits a turnover whose peak moves from large to small scales with decreasing redshift, and corresponds to the typical separation of emission regions. This characteristic scale reduces as more and more regions move into emission with time. Ultimately, small-scale fluctuations within heated regions come to dominate the normalized bispectrum, which at the end of the simulation is almost entirely driven by fluctuations in the density field. To establish how generic the qualitative evolution of the normalized bispectrum we see in the stellar + HMXB simulation is, we examine several other simulations - two fully numerical simulations that include quasi-stellar object (QSO) sources, and two with contrasting source properties produced with the semi-numerical simulation 21CMFAST. We find the qualitative evolution of the normalized bispectrum during X-ray heating to be generic, unless the sources of X-rays are, as with QSOs, less numerous and so exhibit more distinct isolated heated profiles. Assuming mitigation of foreground and instrumental effects are ultimately effective, we find that we should be sensitive to the normalized bispectrum during the epoch of heating, so long as the spin temperature has not saturated by z approximate to 19.
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