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arXiv · 2211.12613

(Nearly) Model-Independent Constraints on the Neutral Hydrogen Fraction in the Intergalactic Medium at $z\sim 5-7$ Using Dark Pixel Fractions in Ly$\alpha$ and Ly$\beta$ Forests

Xiangyu Jin·Jinyi Yang·Xiaohui Fan·Feige Wang·Eduardo Bañados·Fuyan Bian·Frederick B. Davies·Anna-Christina Eilers·Emanuele Paolo Farina·Joseph F. Hennawi·Fabio Pacucci·Bram Venemans·Fabian Walter
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Abstract

Cosmic reionization was the last major phase transition of hydrogen from neutral to highly ionized in the intergalactic medium (IGM). Current observations show that the IGM is significantly neutral at $z>7$, and largely ionized by $z\sim5.5$. However, most methods to measure the IGM neutral fraction are highly model-dependent, and are limited to when the volume-averaged neutral fraction of the IGM is either relatively low ($\bar{x}_{\rm HI} \lesssim 10^{-3}$) or close to unity ($\bar{x}_{\rm HI}\sim 1$). In particular, the neutral fraction evolution of the IGM at the critical redshift range of $z=6-7$ is poorly constrained. We present new constraints on $\bar{x}_{\rm HI}$ at $z\sim5.1-6.8$, by analyzing deep optical spectra of $53$ quasars at $5.73 6.1$ are consistent with the redshift evolution of the neutral fraction of the IGM derived from the Planck 2018.

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Xiangyu Jin, Jinyi Yang, Xiaohui Fan, Feige Wang, Eduardo Bañados, Fuyan Bian, Frederick B. Davies, Anna-Christina Eilers, Emanuele Paolo Farina, Joseph F. Hennawi, Fabio Pacucci, Bram Venemans, Fabian Walter. 2022-11-22. (Nearly) Model-Independent Constraints on the Neutral Hydrogen Fraction in the Intergalactic Medium at $z\sim 5-7$ Using Dark Pixel Fractions in Ly$\alpha$ and Ly$\beta$ Forests. https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357%2Faca678

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