arXiv subjects

Steven R. Furlanetto

Publications and source records attributed to Steven R. Furlanetto.

At least 109 records · Page 6Linked to original sources

arXiv2011

Intensity Mapping with Carbon Monoxide Emission Lines and the Redshifted 21 cm Line

We quantify the prospects for using emission lines from rotational transitions of the CO molecule to perform an `intensity mapping' observation at high redshift during the Epoch of Reionization (EoR). The aim of CO intensity mapping is to observe the combined CO emission from many unresolved galaxies, to measure the spatial fluctuations in this emission, and use this as a tracer of large scale structure at very early times in the history of our Universe. This measurement would help determine the properties of molecular clouds -- the sites of star formation -- in the very galaxies that reionize the Universe. We further consider the possibility of cross-correlating CO intensity maps with future observations of the redshifted 21 cm line. The cross spectrum is less sensitive to foreground contamination than the auto power spectra, and can therefore help confirm the high redshift origin of each signal. Furthermore, the cross spectrum measurement would help extract key information about the EoR, especially regarding the size distribution of ionized regions. We discuss uncertainties in predicting the CO signal at high redshift, and discuss strategies for improving these predictions. Under favorable assumptions, and feasible specifications for a CO survey mapping the CO(2-1) and CO(1-0) lines, the power spectrum of CO emission fluctuations and its cross spectrum with future 21 cm measurements from the MWA are detectable at high significance.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2010

Simulations and Analytic Calculations of Bubble Growth During Hydrogen Reionization

We present results from a large volume simulation of Hydrogen reionization. We combine 3d radiative transfer calculations and an N-body simulation, describing structure formation in the intergalactic medium, to detail the growth of HII regions around high redshift galaxies. Our simulation tracks 1024^3 dark matter particles, in a box of co-moving side length 65.6 Mpc/h. This large volume allows us to accurately characterize the size distribution of HII regions throughout most of the reionization process. At the same time, our simulation resolves many of the small galaxies likely responsible for reionization. It confirms a picture anticipated by analytic models: HII regions grow collectively around highly-clustered sources, and have a well-defined characteristic size, which evolves from a sub-Mpc scale at the beginning of reionization to R > 10 Mpc towards the end. We present a detailed statistical description of our results, and compare them with a numerical scheme based on the analytic model by Furlanetto, Zaldarriaga, and Hernquist. We find that the analytic calculation reproduces the size distribution of HII regions and the 21 cm power spectrum of the radiative transfer simulation remarkably well. The ionization field from the simulation, however, has more small scale structure than the analytic calculation, owing to Poisson scatter in the simulated abundance of galaxies on small scales. We propose and validate a simple scheme to incorporate this scatter into our calculations. Our results suggest that analytic calculations are sufficiently accurate to aid in predicting and interpreting the results of future 21 cm surveys. In particular, our fast numerical scheme is useful for forecasting constraints from future 21 cm surveys, and in constructing mock surveys to test data analysis procedures.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2009

The evolution of the helium-ionizing background at z ~ 2-3

Recent observations suggest that helium became fully ionized around redshift z ~ 3. The HeII optical depth derived from the Lyman-alpha forest decreases substantially from this period to z ~ 2; moreover, it fluctuates strongly near z ~ 3 and then evolves smoothly at lower redshifts. From these opacities, we compute, using a semi-analytic model, the evolution of the mean photoionization rate and the attenuation length for helium over the redshift range 2.0 < z < 3.2. This model includes an inhomogeneous metagalactic radiation background, which is expected during and after helium reionization. We find that assuming a uniform background underestimates the required photoionization rate by up to a factor ~2. When averaged over the (few) available lines of sight, the effective optical depth exhibits a discontinuity near z = 2.8, but the measurement uncertainties are sizable. This feature translates into a jump in the photoionization rate and, provided the quasar emissivity evolves smoothly, in the effective attenuation length, perhaps signaling the helium reionization era. We then compute the evolution of the effective optical depth for a variety of simple helium reionization models, in which the measured quasar luminosity function and the attenuation length, as well as the evolving HeIII fraction, are inputs. A model with reionization ending around redshift z ~ 2.7 is most consistent with the data, although the constraints are not strong thanks to the sparseness of the data.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2009

The evolution of the Lyman-alpha forest effective optical depth following HeII reionisation

Three independent observational studies have now detected a narrow (Δz ~ 0.5) dip centred at z=3.2 in the otherwise smooth redshift evolution of the Lya forest effective optical depth. This feature has previously been interpreted as an indirect signature of rapid photo-heating in the IGM during the epoch of HeII reionisation. We examine this interpretation using a semi-analytic model of inhomogeneous HeII reionisation and high resolution hydrodynamical simulations of the Lya forest. We instead find that a rapid (Δz ~ 0.2) boost to the IGM temperature (ΔT ~ 10^4 K) beginning at z=3.4 produces a well understood and generic evolution in the Lya effective optical depth, where a sudden reduction in the opacity is followed by a gradual, monotonic recovery driven largely by adiabatic cooling in the low density IGM. This behaviour is inconsistent with the narrow feature in the observational data. If photo-heating during HeII reionisation is instead extended over several redshift units, as recent theoretical studies suggest, then the Lya opacity will evolve smoothly with redshift. We conclude that the sharp dip observed in the Lya forest effective optical depth is instead most likely due to a narrow peak in the hydrogen photo-ionisation rate around z=3.2, and suggest that it may arise from the modulation of either reprocessed radiation during HeII reionisation, or the opacity of Lyman limit systems.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2009

Photo-heating and the fate of hard photons during the reionisation of HeII by quasars

We use a combination of analytic and numerical arguments to consider the impact of quasar photo-heating during HeII reionisation on the thermal evolution of the intergalactic medium (IGM). We demonstrate that rapid (Δz< 0.1-0.2), strong (ΔT > 10^4 K) photo-heating is difficult to achieve across the entire IGM unless quasar spectra are significantly harder than implied by current observational constraints. Although filtering of intrinsic quasar radiation through dense regions in the IGM does increase the mean excess energy per HeII photo-ionisation, it also weakens the radiation intensity and lowers the photo-ionisation rate, preventing rapid heating over time intervals shorter than the local photo-ionisation timescale. Moreover, the hard photons responsible for the strongest heating are more likely to deposit their energy inside dense clumps. The abundance of such clumps is, however, uncertain and model-dependent, leading to a fairly large uncertainty in the photo-heating rates. Nevertheless, although some of the IGM may be exposed to a hardened and weakened ionising background for long periods, most of the IGM must instead be reionised by the more abundant, softer photons and with accordingly modest heating rates (ΔT < 10^4 K). The repeated ionisation of fossil quasar HeIII regions does not increase the net heating because the recombination times in these regions typically exceed the IGM cooling times and the average time lag between successive rounds of quasar activity. Detailed line-of-sight radiative transfer simulations confirm these expectations and predict a rich thermal structure in the IGM during HeII reionisation. [Abridged]

astro-ph↗

arXiv2009

In Situ Probes of the First Galaxies and Reionization: Gamma-ray Bursts

The first structures in the Universe formed at z>7, at higher redshift than all currently known galaxies. Since GRBs are brighter than other cosmological sources at high redshift and exhibit simple power-law afterglow spectra that is ideal for absorption studies, they serve as powerful tools for studying the early universe. New facilities planned for the coming decade will be able to obtain a large sample of high-redshift GRBs. Such a sample would constrain the nature of the first stars, galaxies, and the reionization history of the Universe.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2008

The abundance of lensing protoclusters

Weak gravitational lensing provides a potentially powerful method for the detection of clusters. In addition to cluster candidates, a large number of objects with possibly no optical or X-ray component have been detected in shear-selected samples. We develop an analytic model to investigate the claim of Weinberg & Kamionkowski (2002) that unvirialised protoclusters account for a significant number of these so-called "dark" lenses. In our model, a protocluster consists of a small virialised region surrounded by in-falling matter. We find that, in order for a protocluster to simultaneously escape X-ray detection and create a detectable weak lensing signal, it must have a small virial mass (~10^{13} \Msun) and large total mass (~ 10^{15} \Msun), with a relatively flat density profile outside of the virial radius. Such objects would be characterized by rising tangential shear profiles well beyond the virial radius. We use a semi-analytic approach based on the excursion set formalism to estimate the abundance of lensing protoclusters with a low probability of X-ray detection. We find that they are extremely rare, accounting for less than 0.4 per cent of the total lenses in a survey with background galaxy density n = 30 arcmin^{-2} and an intrinsic ellipticity dispersion of 0.3. We conclude that lensing protoclusters with undetectable X-Ray luminosities are too rare to account for a significant number of dark lenses.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2007

High-redshift voids in the excursion set formalism

Voids are a dominant feature of the low-redshift galaxy distribution. Several recent surveys have found evidence for the existence of large-scale structure at high redshifts as well. We present analytic estimates of galaxy void sizes at redshifts z ~ 5 - 10 using the excursion set formalism. We find that recent narrow-band surveys at z ~ 5 - 6.5 should find voids with characteristic scales of roughly 20 comoving Mpc and maximum diameters approaching 40 Mpc. This is consistent with existing surveys, but a precise comparison is difficult because of the relatively small volumes probed so far. At z ~ 7 - 10, we expect characteristic void scales of ~ 14 - 20 comoving Mpc assuming that all galaxies within dark matter haloes more massive than 10^10 M_sun are observable. We find that these characteristic scales are similar to the sizes of empty regions resulting from purely random fluctuations in the galaxy counts. As a result, true large-scale structure will be difficult to observe at z ~ 7 - 10, unless galaxies in haloes with masses less than ~ 10^9 M_sun are visible. Galaxy surveys must be deep and only the largest voids will provide meaningful information. Our model provides a convenient picture for estimating the "worst-case" effects of cosmic variance on high-redshift galaxy surveys with limited volumes.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2007

Galaxy surveys, inhomogeneous reionization, and dark energy

We examine the effect of inhomogeneous reionization on the galaxy power spectrum and the consequences for probing dark energy. To model feedback during reionization, we apply an ansatz setting the galaxy overdensity proportional to the underlying ionization field. Thus, inhomogeneous reionization may leave an imprint in the galaxy power spectrum. We evolve this imprint to low redshift and use the Fisher-matrix formalism to assess the effect on parameter estimation. We show that a combination of low- (z=0.3) and high- (z=3) redshift galaxy surveys can constrain the size of cosmological HII regions during reionization. This imprint can also cause confusion when using baryon oscillations or other features of the galaxy power spectrum to probe the dark energy. We show that when bubbles are large, and hence detectable, our ability to constrain w can be degraded by up to 50%. When bubbles are small, the imprint has little or no effect on measuring dark-energy parameters.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2007

21 cm fluctuations from inhomogeneous X-ray heating before reionization

Many models of early structure formation predict a period of heating immediately preceding reionization, when X-rays raise the gas temperature above that of the cosmic microwave background. These X-rays are often assumed to heat the intergalactic medium (IGM) uniformly, but in reality they will heat the gas more strongly closer to the sources. We develop a framework for calculating fluctuations in the 21 cm brightness temperature that originate from this spatial variation in the heating rate. High-redshift sources are highly clustered, leading to significant gas temperature fluctuations (with fractional variations ~40%, peaking on k~0.1 Mpc^{-1} scales). This induces a distinctive peak-trough structure in the angle-averaged 21 cm power spectrum, which may be accessible to the proposed Square Kilometre Array. This signal reaches the ~10 mK level, and is stronger than that induced by Lyman alpha flux fluctuations. As well as probing the thermal evolution of the IGM before reionization, this 21 cm signal contains information about the spectra of the first X-ray sources. Finally, we consider disentangling temperature, density and Lyman alpha flux fluctuations as functions of redshift.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2006

Cosmological Parameter Estimation Using 21 cm Radiation from the Epoch of Reionization

A number of radio interferometers are currently being planned or constructed to observe 21 cm emission from reionization. Not only will such measurements provide a detailed view of that epoch, but, since the 21 cm emission also traces the distribution of matter in the Universe, this signal can be used to constrain cosmological parameters at 6 < z < 20. The sensitivity of an interferometer to the cosmological information in the signal may depend on how precisely the angular dependence of the 21 cm 3-D power spectrum can be measured. Utilizing an analytic model for reionization, we quantify all the effects that break the spherical symmetry of the 3-D 21 cm power spectrum and produce physically motivated predictions for this power spectrum. We find that upcoming observatories will be sensitive to the 21 cm signal over a wide range of scales, from larger than 100 to as small as 1 comoving Mpc. We consider three methods to measure cosmological parameters from the signal: (1) direct fitting of the density power spectrum to the signal, (2) using only the velocity field fluctuations in the signal, (3) looking at the signal at large enough scales such that all fluctuations trace the density field. With the foremost method, the first generation of 21 cm observations should moderately improve existing constraints on cosmological parameters for certain low-redshift reionization scenarios, and a two year observation with the second generation interferometer MWA5000 can improve constraints on Omega_w, Omega_m h^2, Omega_b h^2, Omega_nu, n_s, and alpha_s. If the Universe is substantially ionized by z = 12 or if spin temperature fluctuations are important, we show that it will be difficult to place competitive constraints on cosmological parameters with any of the considered methods.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2006

Tracing early structure formation with massive starburst galaxies and their implications for reionization

Cosmological hydrodynamic simulations have significantly improved over the past several years, and we have already shown that the observed properties of Lyman-break galaxies (LBGs) at z=3 can be explained well by the massive galaxies in the simulations. Here we extend our study to z=6 and show that we obtain good agreement for the LBGs at the bright-end of the luminosity function (LF). Our simulations also suggest that the cosmic star formation rate density has a peak at z= 5-6, and that the current LBG surveys at z=6 are missing a significant number of faint galaxies that are dimmer than the current magnitude limit. Together, our results suggest that the universe could be reionized at z=6 by the Pop II stars in ordinary galaxies. We also estimate the LF of Lyman-alpha emitters (LAEs) at z=6 by relating the star formation rate in the simulation to the Ly-alpha luminosity. We find that the simulated LAE LFs agree with the observed data provided that the net escape fraction of Ly-alpha photon is f_{Ly-alpha} <= 0.1. We investigate two possible scenarios for this effect: (1) all sources in the simulation are uniformly dimmer by a factor of 10 through attenuation, and (2) one out of ten LAEs randomly lights up at a given moment. We show that the correlation strength of the LAE spatial distribution can possibly distinguish the two scenarios.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2006

Descending from on high: Lyman series cascades and spin-kinetic temperature coupling in the 21 cm line

We examine the effect of Lyman continuum photons on the 21 cm background in the high-redshift universe. The brightness temperature of this transition is determined by the spin temperature T_s, which describes the relative populations of the singlet and triplet hyperfine states. Once the first luminous sources appear, T_s is set by the Wouthuysen-Field effect, in which Lyman-series photons mix the hyperfine levels. Here we consider coupling through n>2 Lyman photons. We first show that coupling (and heating) from scattering of Lyman-n photons is negligible, because they rapidly cascade to lower-energy photons. These cascades can result in either a Lyman-alpha photon -- which will then affect T_s according to the usual Wouthuysen-Field mechanism -- or photons from the 2s -> 1s continuum, which escape without scattering. We show that a proper treatment of the cascades delays the onset of strong Wouthuysen-Field coupling and affects the power spectrum of brightness fluctuations when the overall coupling is still relatively weak (i.e., around the time of the first stars). Cascades damp fluctuations on small scales because only ~ 1/3 of Lyn photons cascade through Lyman-alpha, but they do not affect the large-scale power because that arises from those photons that redshift directly into the Lyman-alpha transition. We also comment on the utility of Lyman-n transitions in providing "standard rulers" with which to study the high-redshift universe.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2005

Have We Detected Patchy Reionization in Quasar Spectra?

The Lyman-alpha forest at z >~ 5.5 shows strong scatter in the mean transmission even when smoothed over very large spatial scales, >~ 50 Mpc/h. This has been interpreted as a signature of strongly fluctuating radiation fields, or patchy reionization. To test this claim, we calculate the scatter arising solely from density fluctuations, with a uniform ionizing background, using analytic arguments and simulations. This scatter alone is comparable to that observed. It rises steeply with redshift and is of order unity by z ~ 6, even on ~ 50 Mpc/h scales. This arises because: i) at z ~ 6, transmission spectra, which are sensitive mainly to rare voids, are highly biased (with a linear bias factor b >~ 4-5) tracers of underlying density fluctuations, and ii) projected power from small-scale transverse modes is aliased to long wavelength line-of-sight modes. Inferring patchy reionization from quasar spectra is therefore subtle and requires much more detailed modeling. Similarly, we expect order unity transmission fluctuations in the z ~ 3 HeII Lyman-alpha forest from density fluctuations alone, on the scales over which these measurements are typically made.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2005

Characteristic Scales During Reionization

One of the key observables of the reionization era is the distribution of neutral and ionized gas. Recently, Furlanetto, Zaldarriaga, & Hernquist developed a simple analytic model to describe the growth of HII regions during this era. Here, we examine some of the fundamental simplifying assumptions behind this model and generalise it in several important ways. The model predicts that the ionized regions attain a well-defined characteristic size R_c that ranges from R_c~1 Mpc in the early phases to R_c>10 Mpc in the late phases. We show that R_c is determined primarily by the bias of the galaxies driving reionization; hence measurements of this scale constrain a fundamental property of the first galaxies. The variance around R_c, on the other hand, is determined primarily by the underlying matter power spectrum. We then show that increasing the ionizing efficiency of massive galaxies shifts R_c to significantly larger scales and decreases the importance of recombinations. These differences can be observed with forthcoming redshifted 21 cm surveys (increasing the brightness temperature fluctuations by up to a factor of two on large scales) and with measurements of small-scale anisotropies in the cosmic microwave background. Finally, we show that stochastic fluctuations in the galaxy population only broaden the bubble size distribution significantly if massive galaxies are responsible for most of the ionizing photons. We argue that the key results of this model are robust to many of our uncertainties about the reionization process.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2005

The Effects of Reionization on Lyman-alpha Galaxy Surveys

Searches for Lyman-alpha emission lines are among the most effective ways to identify high-redshift galaxies. They are particularly interesting because they probe not only the galaxies themselves but also the ionization state of the intergalactic medium (IGM). The observed line strengths depend on the amount by which each photon is able to redshift away from line center before encountering neutral gas and hence on the size distribution of HII regions surrounding the sources. Here, we use an analytic model of that size distribution to study the effects of reionization on the luminosity function of Lyman-alpha emitters and their observed spatial distribution. Our model includes the clustering of high-redshift galaxies and thus contains ionized bubbles much larger than those expected around isolated galaxies. As a result, Lyman-alpha emitting galaxies remain visible earlier in reionization: we expect the number counts to decline by only a factor ~2 (or 10) when the mean ionized fraction falls to x_i~0.75 (or 0.5) in the simplest model. Moreover, the absorption is not uniform across the sky: galaxies remain visible only if they sit inside large bubbles, which become increasingly rare as x_i decreases. Thus, the size distribution also affects the apparent clustering of Lyman-alpha selected galaxies. On large scales, it traces that of the large bubbles, which in our model are more biased than the galaxies. On small scales, the clustering increases rapidly as x_i decreases because large HII regions surround strong galaxy overdensities, so a survey automatically selects only those galaxies with neighbours. The transition between these two regimes occurs at the characteristic bubble size. Hence, large Lyman-alpha galaxy surveys have the potential to measure directly the size distribution of HII regions during reionization.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2005

Pair Correlations and Merger Bias

We study analytically the possibility that mergers of haloes are more highly clustered than the general population of haloes of comparable masses. We begin by investigating predictions for merger bias within the extended Press-Schechter formalism and discuss the limitations and ambiguities of this approach. We then postulate that mergers occur whenever two objects form within a (small) fixed distance of each other. We therefore study the clustering of pairs of points for a highly biased population in the linear regime, for the overall mass distribution in the quasilinear regime, and (using the halo model of clustering) in the nonlinear regime. Biasing, quasilinear evolution, and nonlinear clustering all lead to nonzero reduced (or connected) three-point and four-point correlation functions. These higher-order correlation functions can in many cases enhance the clustering of close pairs of points relative to the clustering of individual points. If close pairs are likely to merge, then the clustering of mergers may be enhanced. We discuss implications for the observed clustering of luminous z=3 galaxies and for correlations of active galactic nuclei and galaxy clusters.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2005

Cluster Merger Variance and the Luminosity Gap Statistic

The presence of multiple luminous galaxies in clusters can be explained by the finite time over which a galaxy sinks to the center of the cluster and merges with the the central galaxy. The simplest measurable statistic to quantify the dynamical age of a system of galaxies is the luminosity (magnitude) gap, which is the difference in photometric magnitude between the two most luminous galaxies. We present a simple analytical estimate of the luminosity gap distribution in groups and clusters as a function of dark matter halo mass. The luminosity gap is used to define "fossil" groups; we expect the fraction of fossil systems to exhibit a strong and model-independent trend with mass: ~1-3% of massive clusters and ~5-40% of groups should be fossil systems. We also show that, on cluster scales, the observed intrinsic scatter in the central galaxy luminosity-halo mass relation can be ascribed to dispersion in the merger histories of satellites within the cluster. We compare our predictions to the luminosity gap distribution in a sample of 730 clusters in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey C4 Catalog and find good agreement. This suggests that theoretical excursion set merger probabilities and the standard theory of dynamical segregation are valid on cluster scales.

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