Density Of Intergalactic Medium Research Articles

The impact of environmental effects on active galactic nuclei: A decline in the incidence of ionized outflows

Active galactic nuclei (AGNs) have generally been considered to be less frequent in denser environments due to a lower number of galaxy-galaxy interactions and/or the removal of their gas-rich reservoirs by the dense intergalactic medium. However, recent observational and theoretical works suggest that the effect of ram-pressure stripping acting on galaxies in dense environments might reduce the angular momentum of their gas, causing it to infall towards the super massive black hole at their centre, activating the AGN phase. In this work we explore the connection between environment and nuclear activity by evaluating the variation in the incidence of ionized outflows, a common phenomenon associated with nuclear activity, in AGNs across different environments. We select a sample of approximately 3300 optical AGNs from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Data Release 13, which we match with a group catalogue to identify galaxies in isolation or residing in groups. We further probe their environments through the projected distance to the central galaxy of the group or cluster and the projected surface density to the fifth neighbour (δ5). The presence of ionized outflows is determined through the modelling of the [O III] λ5007 emission line. We find that at lower masses (< 1010.3 M⊙), the fraction of ionized outflows is significantly lower in satellite AGNs (∼7%) than in isolated (∼22%) AGNs, probably due to their different AGN luminosity, L[O III], in this stellar mass range. The fraction of outflows decreases at distances closer to the central galaxy of the group or cluster for all satellite AGNs; however, only the lower-mass ones (109 − 1010.3 M⊙) display a significant decline with δ5. Although this study does not include AGNs in the densest regions of galaxy clusters, our findings suggest that AGNs in dense environments accrete less gas than those in the field, potentially due to the removal of the gas reservoirs via stripping or starvation, leading to a negative connection between environment and AGN activity. Based on our results, we propose that the observed change in the incidence of outflows when moving towards denser regions of groups and clusters could contribute to the higher gas metallicities of cluster galaxies compared to field galaxies, especially at lower masses.

Recovering Density Fields inside Quasar Proximity Zones at z ∼ 6

Abstract The matter density field at z ∼ 6 is very challenging to probe. One of the traditional probes of the low density intergalactic medium that works successfully at lower redshifts is the Lyα forest in quasar spectra. However, at the end of reionization, the residual neutral hydrogen usually creates saturated absorption, thus much of the information about the gas density is lost. Luckily, in a quasar proximity zone, the ionizing radiation is exceptionally intense, thus creating a large region with nonzero transmitted flux. In this study we use the synthetic spectra from simulations to investigate how to recover the density fluctuations inside the quasar proximity zones. We show that, under ideal conditions, the density can be recovered accurately with a small scatter. We also discuss how systematics such as the quasar continuum fitting and reionization models affect the results. This study shows that by analyzing the absorption features inside quasar proximity zones we can potentially constrain quasar properties and the environments they reside in.

Intergalactic Media Densities of Extragalactic Radio Sources and Source Ages

In this paper, we use analytical methods with some plausible assumptions to develop a mathematical model which may be used to obtain estimate of density of the intergalactic medium (IGM). This relation suggests that the plot of the linear sizes against the bolometric luminosities of the extragalactic radio sources in our sample should be able to furnish us with an estimate of the density of IGM in which the radio sources are domiciled. Moreover, for the purpose of obtaining an empirical relation similar to the theoretical model, we carry out linear regression analysis of linear sizes and luminosities of the 31 radio galaxies in our sample. The regression result shows an empirical relationship between observed source linear sizes and observed bolometric luminosities with slight correlation whose coefficient is 4. Moreover, we compared the theoretical relation and the empirical relation to obtain an estimate of the particle number density of the IGM in which the radio sources are located. The estimate indicates a very low density when compared with the values obtained by authors for the compact steep spectrum (CSS) sources. However, while the linear sizes of the CSS sources are of sub-galactic dimensions – they are located within the interstellar media (ISM) – those of the large extended extragalactic radio sources extend into the intergalactic media. The staggering difference in these obtained densities of IGM and ISM simply supports the general notion that there is a sharp decrease in the density at the IGM–ISM interface. Moreover, using theoretical approach again, with some plausible assumptions, we find another relation which may be used to estimate the ages of extragalactic radio sources. This relation possibly indicates that the plot of the linear sizes against velocities of the radio jets of the radio sources in our sample should be able to supply us with an estimate of the sources’ ages. We find from the simple linear regression analysis of linear sizes and jet velocities of the radio galaxies in our sample, a relation with correlation coefficient given as 4, which is also marginal. Comparison of the two relations – theoretical and the empirical relations – gives an estimate of age of the radio sources. The value shows that these large extended extragalactic radio sources are old sources.

Using realistic host galaxy metallicities to improve the GRB X-ray equivalent total hydrogen column density and constrain the intergalactic medium density

ABSTRACT It is known that the GRB equivalent hydrogen column density (NHX) changes with redshift and that, typically, NHX is greater than the GRB host neutral hydrogen column density. We have compiled a large sample of data for GRB NHX and metallicity [X/H]. The main aims of this paper are to generate improved NHX for our sample by using actual metallicities, dust corrected where available for detections, and for the remaining GRB, a more realistic average intrinsic metallicity using a standard adjustment from solar. Then, by approximating the GRB host intrinsic hydrogen column density using the measured neutral column (NHI, IC) adjusted for the ionization fraction, we isolate a more accurate estimate for the intergalactic medium (IGM) contribution. The GRB sample mean metallicity is = −1.17 ± 0.09 rms (or 0.07 ± 0.05 Z/Zsol) from a sample of 36 GRB with a redshift 1.76 ≤ z ≤ 5.91, substantially lower than the assumption of solar metallicity used as standard for many fitted NHX. Lower GRB host mean metallicity results in increased estimated NHX with the correction scaling with redshift as Δlog (NHX cm−2) = (0.59 ± 0.04)log(1 + z) + 0.18 ± 0.02. Of the 128 GRB with data for both NHX and NHI, IC in our sample, only six have NHI, IC > NHX when revised for realistic metallicity, compared to 32 when solar metallicity is assumed. The lower envelope of the revised NHX – NHI, IC, plotted against redshift can be fit by log(NHX – NHI, IC cm−2) = 20.3 + 2.4 log(1 + z). This is taken to be an estimate for the maximum IGM hydrogen column density as a function of redshift. Using this approach, we estimate an upper limit to the hydrogen density at redshift zero (n0) to be consistent with n0 = 0.17 × 10−7cm−3.

X-ray absorption towards high-redshift sources: probing the intergalactic medium with blazars

The role played by the intergalactic medium (IGM) in the X-ray absorption towards high-redshift sources has recently drawn more attention in spectral analysis studies. Here, we study the X-ray absorption towards 15 flat-spectrum radio quasars at z > 2, relying on high counting statistic (≳10 000 photons) provided by XMM-Newton, with additional NuSTAR (and simultaneous Swift-XRT) observations when available. Blazars can be confidently considered to have negligible X-ray absorption along the line of sight within the host galaxy, likely swept by the kpc-scale relativistic jet. This makes our sources ideal for testing the absorption component along the IGM. Our new approach is to revisit the origin of the soft X-ray spectral hardening observed in high-z blazars in terms of X-ray absorption occurring along the IGM, with the help of a low-z sample used as comparison. We have verified that the presence of absorption in excess of the Galactic value is the preferred explanation to explain the observed hardening, while intrinsic energy breaks, predicted by blazars’ emission models, can easily occur out of the observing energy band in most sources. First, we performed an indirect analysis comparing the inferred amount of absorption in excess of the Galactic value with a simulated IGM absorption contribution, that increases with redshift and includes both a minimum component from diffuse IGM metals, and the additional contribution of discrete denser intervening regions. Then, we directly investigated the warm-hot IGM with a spectral model on the best candidates of our sample, obtaining an average IGM density of n0 = 1.01−0.72+0.53 × 10−7 cm−3 and temperature of log(T/K) = 6.45−2.12+0.51. A more dedicated study is currently beyond our reach, but our results can be used as a stepping stone for future more accurate analysis, involving Athena.

Modeling the He ii Transverse Proximity Effect: Constraints on Quasar Lifetime and Obscuration

Abstract The He ii transverse proximity effect—enhanced He ii Lyα transmission in a background sightline caused by the ionizing radiation of a foreground quasar—offers a unique opportunity to probe the emission properties of quasars, in particular the emission geometry (obscuration, beaming) and the quasar lifetime. Building on the foreground quasar survey published in Schmidt et al., we present a detailed model of the He ii transverse proximity effect, specifically designed to include light travel time effects, finite quasar ages, and quasar obscuration. We post-process outputs from a cosmological hydrodynamical simulation with a fluctuating He ii ultraviolet background model, with the added effect of the radiation from a single bright foreground quasar. We vary the age t age and obscured sky fractions Ωobsc of the foreground quasar, and explore the resulting effect on the He ii transverse proximity effect signal. Fluctuations in intergalactic medium density and the ultraviolet background, as well as the unknown orientation of the foreground quasar, result in a large variance of the He ii Lyα transmission along the background sightline. We develop a fully Bayesian statistical formalism to compare far-ultraviolet He ii Lyα transmission spectra of the background quasars to our models, and extract joint constraints on t age and Ωobsc for the six Schmidt et al. foreground quasars with the highest implied He ii photoionization rates. Our analysis suggests a bimodal distribution of quasar emission properties, whereby one foreground quasar, associated with a strong He ii transmission spike, is relatively old (22 Myr) and unobscured ( Ω obsc < 35 % ), whereas three others are either younger than 10 Myr or highly obscured ( Ω obsc > 70 % ).

On the formation of warped gas discs in galaxies

Abstract We consider the most commonly occurring circumstances which apply to galaxies, namely membership in galaxy groups of about 1013 h−1 M⊙ total mass, and estimate the accompanying physical conditions of intergalactic medium (IGM) density and the relative galaxy–IGM space velocity. We then investigate the dynamical consequences of such a typical galaxy–IGM interaction on a rotating gaseous disc within the galaxy potential. We find that the rotating outer disc is systematically distorted into a characteristic ‘warp’ morphology, of the type that has been well-documented in the majority of well-studied nearby systems. The distortion is established rapidly, within 2 rotation periods, and is long-lived, surviving for at least 10. A second consequence of the interaction is the formation of a one-arm retrograde spiral wave pattern that propagates in the disc. We suggest that the ubiquity of the warp phenomenon might be used to reconstruct both the IGM density profile and individual member orbits within galaxy groups.

On the relation between Seyfert 2 accretion rate and environment at z > 0.1

We analyse different properties of the small-scale environment of Seyfert 2 for two samples selected according to the accretion rate parameter , |${\cal R}$|⁠, from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, Data Release 7 survey. We compare the results with two control samples of non-active galaxies that cover the same redshift range, luminosity, colours, morphology, age and stellar mass content. Our study shows that both high and low accretion rate subsamples reside in bluer and lower density environments than the control samples. However, we find that this difference is at least two times stronger for the low accretion rate Seyferts. In the vicinity of Seyfert 2, red galaxies have systematically lower values of stellar mass as compared with corresponding control samples. The lower values of stellar mass for red neighbours is more significant at higher density environments and it is more evident for low accretion rate Seyfert. We also find that this effect is independent of the host's stellar mass. Our results are consistent with a scenario where active galactic nucleus occurrence is higher in lower/medium density environments with a higher merger rate and a lack of a dense intergalactic medium (that can strip gas from these systems) that provide suitable conditions for the central black hole feeding. We find this particularly evident for the low accretion rate Seyferts that could compensate through the intergalactic medium the lack of gas of their hosts.

Generation of Primordial Magnetic Fields on Linear Overdensity Scales

Magnetic fields appear to be present in all galaxies and galaxy clusters. Recent measurements indicate that a weak magnetic field may be present even in the smooth low density intergalactic medium. One explanation for these observations is that a seed magnetic field was generated by some unknown mechanism early in the life of the Universe, and was later amplified by various dynamos in nonlinear objects like galaxies and clusters. We show that a primordial magnetic field is expected to be generated in the early Universe on purely linear scales through vorticity induced by scale-dependent temperature fluctuations, or equivalently, a spatially varying speed of sound of the gas. Residual free electrons left over after recombination tap into this vorticity to generate magnetic field via the Biermann battery process. Although the battery operates even in the absence of any relative velocity between dark matter and gas at the time of recombination, the presence of such a relative velocity modifies the predicted spatial power spectrum of the magnetic field. At redshifts of order a few tens, we estimate a root mean square field strength of order 10(-25)-10(-24) G on comoving scales ~10 kpc. This field, which is generated purely from linear perturbations, is expected to be amplified significantly after reionization, and to be further boosted by dynamo processes during nonlinear structure formation.

Planckintermediate results

About half of the baryons of the Universe are expected to be in the form of filaments of hot and low density intergalactic medium. Most of these baryons remain undetected even by the most advanced X-ray observatories which are limited in sensitivity to the diffuse low density medium. The Planck satellite has provided hundreds of detections of the hot gas in clusters of galaxies via the thermal Sunyaev-Zel'dovich (tSZ) effect and is an ideal instrument for studying extended low density media through the tSZ effect. In this paper we use the Planck data to search for signatures of a fraction of these missing baryons between pairs of galaxy clusters. Cluster pairs are good candidates for searching for the hotter and denser phase of the intergalactic medium (which is more easily observed through the SZ effect). Using an X-ray catalogue of clusters and the Planck data, we select physical pairs of clusters as candidates. Using the Planck data we construct a local map of the tSZ effect centered on each pair of galaxy clusters. ROSAT data is used to construct X-ray maps of these pairs. After having modelled and subtracted the tSZ effect and X-ray emission for each cluster in the pair we study the residuals on both the SZ and X-ray maps. For the merging cluster pair A399-A401 we observe a significant tSZ effect signal in the intercluster region beyond the virial radii of the clusters. A joint X-ray SZ analysis allows us to constrain the temperature and density of this intercluster medium. We obtain a temperature of kT = 7.1 +- 0.9, keV (consistent with previous estimates) and a baryon density of (3.7 +- 0.2)x10^-4, cm^-3. The Planck satellite mission has provided the first SZ detection of the hot and diffuse intercluster gas.

Synthetic X-ray and radio maps for two different models of Stephan's Quintet

We present simulations of the compact galaxy group Stephan's Quintet (SQ) including magnetic fields, performed with the N-body/smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH) code \textsc{Gadget}. The simulations include radiative cooling, star formation and supernova feedback. Magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) is implemented using the standard smoothed particle magnetohydrodynamics (SPMHD) method. We adapt two different initial models for SQ based on Renaud et al. and Hwang et al., both including four galaxies (NGC 7319, NGC 7320c, NGC 7318a and NGC 7318b). Additionally, the galaxies are embedded in a magnetized, low density intergalactic medium (IGM). The ambient IGM has an initial magnetic field of $10^{-9}$ G and the four progenitor discs have initial magnetic fields of $10^{-9} - 10^{-7}$ G. We investigate the morphology, regions of star formation, temperature, X-ray emission, magnetic field structure and radio emission within the two different SQ models. In general, the enhancement and propagation of the studied gaseous properties (temperature, X-ray emission, magnetic field strength and synchrotron intensity) is more efficient for the SQ model based on Renaud et al., whose galaxies are more massive, whereas the less massive SQ model based on Hwang et al. shows generally similar effects but with smaller efficiency. We show that the large shock found in observations of SQ is most likely the result of a collision of the galaxy NGC 7318b with the IGM. This large group-wide shock is clearly visible in the X-ray emission and synchrotron intensity within the simulations of both SQ models. The order of magnitude of the observed synchrotron emission within the shock front is slightly better reproduced by the SQ model based on Renaud et al., whereas the distribution and structure of the synchrotron emission is better reproduced by the SQ model based on Hwang et al..

Pressure support versus thermal broadening in the Lyman α forest - I. Effects of the equation of state on longitudinal structure

In the low density intergalactic medium (IGM) that gives rise to the Lyman-alpha forest, gas temperature and density are tightly correlated. The velocity scale of thermal broadening and the Hubble flow across the gas Jeans scale are of similar magnitude (Hlambda_J ~ sigma_th). To separate the effects of gas pressure support and thermal broadening on the Lya forest, we compare spectra extracted from two smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH) simulations evolved with different photoionization heating rates (and thus different Jeans scales), imposing different temperature-density relations on the evolved particle distributions. The turnover scales in the flux power spectrum and flux autocorrelation function are determined mainly by thermal broadening rather than pressure. However, the insensitivity to pressure arises partly from a cancellation effect with a sloped temperature-density relation (T ~ rho^{0.6} in our simulations): the high density peaks in the colder, lower pressure simulation are less smoothed by pressure support than in the hotter simulation, and it is this higher density gas that experiences the strongest thermal broadening. Changes in thermal broadening and pressure support have comparably important effects on the flux probability distribution (PDF), which responds directly to the gas overdensity distribution rather than the scale on which it is smooth. Tests on a lower resolution simulation show that our statistical results are converged even at this lower resolution. While thermal broadening generally dominates the longitudinal structure in the Lya forest, we show in Paper II that pressure support determines the transverse coherence of the forest observed towards close quasar pairs. [ABRIDGED]

Lower Metal Enrichment of Virialized Gas in Minihalos

We differentiate between the metal enrichment of the gas in virialized minihalos and that of the intergalactic medium at high redshift, which is pertinent to cosmological reionization, with the initial expectation that gas in the high-density regions within formed dark matter halos may be more robust and thus resistant to mixing with the lower density intergalactic medium. Using detailed hydrodynamic simulations of gas clouds in minihalos subject to destructive processes associated with the encompassing intergalactic shocks carrying metal-enriched gas, we find, as an example, that, for realistic shocks with velocities of 10-100 km s−1, more than (90%, 65%) of the high-density gas with ρ ⩾ 500ρb inside a minihalo virialized at z = 10 with a mass of (107, 106) M☉, respectively, remains at a metallicity lower than 3% of that of the intergalactic medium by redshift z = 6. It may be expected that the high-density gas in minihalos will become fuel for subsequent star formation when they are incorporated into larger halos, where efficient atomic cooling can induce gas condensation and hence star formation. Since minihalos virialize at high redshift, when the universe is not expected to have been significantly reionized, the implication is that gas in virialized minihalos may provide an abundant reservoir of primordial gas that could possibly allow the formation of Population III metal-free stars to extend to much lower redshifts than would have been otherwise expected on the basis of the enrichment of the intergalactic medium.

Lyα leaks and reionization

Lya absorption spectra of QSOs at redshifts z ≃ 6 show complete Gunn-Peterson absorption troughs (dark gaps) separated by tiny leaks. The dark gaps are from the intergalactic medium (IGM) where the density of neutral hydrogen are high enough to produce almost saturated absorptions, however, where the transmitted leaks come from is still unclear so far. We demonstrate that leaking can originate from the lowest density voids in the IGM as well as the ionized apatches around ionizing sources using semi-analytical simulations. If leaks are produced in lowest density voids, the IGM must already be highly ionized, and the ionizing background should be almost uniform; in contrast, if leaks come from ionized patches, the neutral fraction of IGM should be still high, and the ionizing background is significantly inhomogeneous. Therefore, the origin of leaking is crucial to determining the epoch of inhomogeneous-to-uniform transition of the ionizing photon background. We show that the origin could be studied with the statistical features of leaks. Actually, Lya leaks can be well defined and described by the equivalent width W and the full width of half-area W H , both of which are less contaminated by instrumental resolution and noise. It is found that the distributions of Wand W H of Lyα leaks are sensitive to the modelling of the ionizing background. We consider four representative models: uniform ionizing background (model 0), the photoionization rate of neutral hydrogen Γ HI and the density of IGM are either linearly correlated (model I), or anticorrelated (model II), and Γ HI is correlated with high-density peaks containing ionizing sources (model III). Although all of these models can match to the mean of the observed effective optical depth of the IGM at z ≃ 6, the distributions of W and W H are very different from each other. Consequently, the leak statistics provides an effective tool to probe the evolutionary history of reionization at z ≃ 5-6.5. Similar statistics will also be applicable to the reionization of He II at z ≃ 3.

The effect of the intergalactic environment on the observability of Lyα emitters during reionization

Observations of high-redshift Lya sources are a major tool for studying the high-redshift universe and are one of the most promising ways to constrain the later stages of reionization. The understanding and interpretation of the data is far from straightforward, however. We discuss the effect of the reionizing intergalactic medium (IGM) on the observability of Lya sources based on large simulations of early structure formation with radiative transfer. This takes into account self-consistently the reionization history, density, velocity and ionization structures and non-linear source clustering. We find that all fields are highly anisotropic and as a consequence there are very large variations in opacity among the different lines of sight. The velocity effects, from both infall and source peculiar velocity are most important for the luminous sources, affecting the line profile and depressing the bright end of the luminosity function. The line profiles are generally asymmetric and the line centres of the luminous sources are always absorbed due to the high density of the local IGM. For both luminous and average sources the damping wing effects are of similar magnitude and remain significant until fairly late, when the IGM is ionized between 30 and 70 per cent by mass.

Luminosity functions of Ly emitting galaxies and cosmic reionization of hydrogen

Recent observations imply that the observed number counts of Lyα emitters (LAEs) evolved significantly between z= 5.7 and 6.5. It has been suggested that this was due to a rapid evolution in the ionization state, and hence transmission of the intergalactic medium (IGM) which caused Lyα flux from z= 6.5 galaxies to be more strongly suppressed. In this paper, we consider the joint evolution of the Lyα and the ultraviolet luminosity functions (LFs) and show that the IGM transmission evolved between z= 6.5 and 5.7 by a factor 1.1 < R < 1.8 (95 per cent confidence level). This result is insensitive to the underlying model of the Lyα LF (as well as cosmic variance). Using a model for IGM transmission, we find that the evolution of the mean IGM density through cosmic expansion alone may result in a value for the ratio of transmissions as high as R= 1.3. Thus, the existing LFs do not provide evidence for overlap. Furthermore, the constraint R < 1.8 suggests that the Universe at z= 6.5 was more than half-ionized by volume, that is, xi,V > 0.5.

Interstellar Medium Disruption in the Centaurus A Group

We present the results of a 21 cm neutral hydrogen (H I) line detection experiment in the direction of 18 low-luminosity dwarf galaxies of the Centaurus A group, using the Australia Telescope National Facility 64 m Parkes Radio Telescope and the Australia Telescope Compact Array. Five dwarfs have H I masses between M = 4 × 105 and 2.1 × 107 M⊙ and 0.04 M⊙ L 107 or M < 106 M⊙. This gap may be explained by the ram pressure stripping mechanism at work in this dense environment in which all galaxies with M < 107 M⊙ have been stripped of their gas. The required intergalactic medium density to achieve this is ~10-3 cm-3.

Is the Cosmic Ultraviolet Background Fluctuating at Redshift z ≃ 6?

We study the Gunn-Peterson effect of the photoionized intergalactic medium (IGM) in the redshift range 5 < z < 6.4 using semianalytic simulations based on the lognormal model. Assuming a rapidly evolved and spatially uniform ionizing background, the simulation can produce all the observed abnormal statistical features near redshift z 6. They include (1) a rapid increase of absorption depths, (2) large scatter in the optical depths, (3) long-tailed distributions of transmitted flux, and (4) long dark gaps in spectra. These abnormal features are mainly due to rare events, which correspond to the long-tailed probability distribution of the IGM density field, and therefore they may not imply significant spatial fluctuations in the UV ionizing background at z 6.

Taxing the rich: recombinations and bubble growth during reionization

Reionization is inhomogeneous for two reasons: the clumpiness of the intergalactic medium (IGM), and clustering of the discrete ionizing sources. While numerical simulations can in principle take both into account, they are at present limited by small box sizes. On the other hand, analytic models have only examined the limiting cases of a clumpy IGM (with uniform ionizing emissivity) and clustered sources (embedded in a uniform IGM). Here, we present the first analytic model that includes both factors. At first, recombinations can be ignored and ionized bubbles grow primarily through major mergers, because at any given moment the bubbles have a well-defined characteristic size. As a result, reionization resembles ‘punctuated equilibrium,’ with a series of well-separated sharp jumps in the ionizing background. These features are local effects and do not reflect similar jumps in the global ionized fraction. We then combine our bubble model with a simple description of recombinations in the IGM. We show that the bubbles grow until recombinations balance ionizations, when their expansion abruptly halts. If the IGM density structure is similar to that at moderate redshifts, this limits the bubble radii to ∼20 comoving Mpc; however, if the IGM is significantly clumpier at higher redshifts (because of minihalo formation, for example), the limit could be much smaller. Once a bubble reaches saturation, that region of the Universe has for all intents and purposes entered the ‘post-overlap’ stage. Because different H ii regions saturate over a finite time interval, the overlap epoch actually has a finite width. Our model also predicts a mean recombination rate several times larger than expected for a uniformly illuminated IGM. This picture naturally explains the substantial large-scale variation in Lyman-series opacity along the lines of sight to the known z > 6 quasars. More quasar spectra will shed light on the transition between the ‘bubble-dominated’ topology characteristic of reionization and the ‘web-dominated’ topology characteristic of the later Universe.

Experimental constraints on self-consistent reionization models

A self-consistent formalism to jointly study cosmic reionization and thermal history of the intergalactic medium (IGM) in a ΛCDM cosmology is presented. The model implements most of the relevant physics governing these processes, such as the inhomogeneous IGM density distribution, three different classes of ionizing photon sources [massive Population III (PopIII) stars, Population II (PopII) stars and quasi-stellar objects (QSOs)], and radiative feedback inhibiting star formation in low-mass galaxies. By constraining the model free parameters with available data on redshift evolution of Lyman-limit absorption systems, Gunn–Peterson and electron scattering optical depths, near-infrared background and cosmic star formation history, we select a fiducial model, whose main predictions are as follows. (i) Hydrogen was completely reionized at z≈ 15, while He ii must have been reionized by z≈ 12, allowing for the uncertainties in the ionizing photon efficiencies of stars. At z≈ 7, He iii suffered an almost complete recombination as a result of the extinction of PopIII stars, as required by the interpretation of the NIRB. (ii) A QSO-induced complete He ii reionization occurs at z= 3.5; a similar double H reionization does not take place due to the large number of photons with energies >13.6 eV from PopII stars and QSOs, even after all PopIII stars have disappeared. (iii) Following reionization, the temperature of the IGM corresponding to the mean gas density, T0, is boosted to 1.5 × 104 K; following that it decreases with a relatively flat trend. Observations of T0 are consistent with the fact that He is singly ionized at z≳ 3.5, while they are consistent with He being doubly ionized at z≲ 3.5. This might be interpreted as a signature of (second) He ii reionization. (iv) Only 0.3 per cent of the stars produced by z= 2 need to be PopIII stars in order to achieve the first hydrogen reionization. In addition, we get useful constraints on the ionizing photon efficiencies (which are a combination of the star-forming efficiency and the escape fraction of ionizing photons from collapsed haloes) of PopII and PopIII stars, namely, ePopII < 0.01, 0.002 < ePopIII < 0.03. Varying the efficiencies in these two ranges does not affect the scenario described above. Such a model not only relieves the tension between the Gunn–Peterson optical depth and WMAP observations, but also accounts self-consistently for all known observational constraints. We discuss how the results compare with recent numerical reionization studies and other theoretical arguments.