Probing Patchy Reionization with the Void Probability Function of Lyα Emitters

Abstract

We probe what constraints for the global ionized hydrogen fraction the void probability function (VPF) clustering can give for the Lyman Alpha Galaxies in the Epoch of Reionization (LAGER) narrowband survey as a function of area. Neutral hydrogen acts like a fog for Lyα emission, and measuring the drop in the luminosity function of Lyα emitters (LAEs) has been used to constrain the ionization fraction in narrowband surveys. However, the clustering of LAEs is independent of the luminosity function’s inherent evolution, and can offer additional constraints for reionization under different models. The VPF measures how likely a given circle is to be empty. It is a volume-averaged clustering statistic that traces the behavior of higher-order correlations, and its simplicity offers helpful frameworks for planning surveys. Using the Jensen et al. simulations of LAEs within various amounts of ionized intergalactic medium, we predict the behavior of the VPF in one (301 × 150.5 × 30 Mpc3), four (5.44 × 106 Mpc3), or eight (1.1 × 107 Mpc3) fields of LAGER imaging. We examine the VPF at 5′ and 13′, corresponding to the minimum scale implied by the LAE density and the separation of the 2D VPF from random, and the maximum scale from the eight-field 15.5 deg2 LAGER area. We find that even a single DECam field of LAGER (2–3 deg2) could discriminate between mostly neutral versus ionized. Additionally, we find four fields allow for the distinction between 30%, 50%, and 95% ionized, and eight fields could even distinguish between 30%, 50%, 73%, and 95% ionized.