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The formation of the first galaxies during cosmic dawn and reionization (at redshifts z = 5–30), triggered the last major phase transition of our universe, as hydrogen evolved from cold and neutral to hot and ionized. The 21-cm line of neutral hydrogen will soon allow us to map these cosmic milestones and study the galaxies that drove them. To aid in interpreting these observations, we upgrade the publicly available code 21cmFAST. We introduce a new, flexible parametrization of the additive feedback from: an inhomogeneous, H2-dissociating (Lyman–Werner; LW) background; and dark matter – baryon relative velocities; which recovers results from recent, small-scale hydrodynamical simulations with both effects. We perform a large, ‘best-guess’ simulation as the 2021 installment of the Evolution of 21-cm Structure (EOS) project. This improves the previous release with a galaxy model that reproduces the observed UV luminosity functions (UVLFs), and by including a population of molecular-cooling galaxies. The resulting 21-cm global signal and power spectrum are significantly weaker, primarily due to a more rapid evolution of the star formation rate density required to match the UVLFs. Nevertheless, we forecast high signal-to-noise detections for both HERA and the SKA. We demonstrate how the stellar-to-halo mass relation of themore »unseen, first galaxies can be inferred from the 21-cm evolution. Finally, we show that the spatial modulation of X-ray heating due to relative velocities provides a unique acoustic signature that is detectable at z ≈ 10–15 in our fiducial model. Ours are the first public simulations with joint inhomogeneous LW and relative-velocity feedback across the entire cosmic dawn and reionization, and we make them available at this link https://scholar.harvard.edu/julianbmunoz/eos-21.

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Abstract We present a new investigation of the intergalactic medium near reionization using dark gaps in the Ly β forest. With its lower optical depth, Ly β offers a potentially more sensitive probe to any remaining neutral gas compared to the commonly used Ly α line. We identify dark gaps in the Ly β forest using spectra of 42 QSOs at z em > 5.5, including new data from the XQR-30 VLT Large Programme. Approximately 40% of these QSO spectra exhibit dark gaps longer than 10 h −1 Mpc at z ≃ 5.8. By comparing the results to predictions from simulations, we find that the data are broadly consistent both with models where fluctuations in the Ly α forest are caused solely by ionizing ultraviolet background fluctuations and with models that include large neutral hydrogen patches at z < 6 due to a late end to reionization. Of particular interest is a very long ( L = 28 h −1 Mpc) and dark ( τ eff ≳ 6) gap persisting down to z ≃ 5.5 in the Ly β forest of the z = 5.85 QSO PSO J025−11. This gap may support late reionization models with a volume-weighted average neutralmore »hydrogen fraction of 〈 x H I 〉 ≳ 5% by z = 5.6. Finally, we infer constraints on 〈 x H I 〉 over 5.5 ≲ z ≲ 6.0 based on the observed Ly β dark gap length distribution and a conservative relationship between gap length and neutral fraction derived from simulations. We find 〈 x H I 〉 ≤ 0.05, 0.17, and 0.29 at z ≃ 5.55, 5.75, and 5.95, respectively. These constraints are consistent with models where reionization ends significantly later than z = 6.« less

ABSTRACT The presence of excess scatter in the Ly-α forest at z ∼ 5.5, together with the existence of sporadic extended opaque Gunn-Peterson troughs, has started to provide robust evidence for a late end of hydrogen reionization. However, low data quality and systematic uncertainties complicate the use of Ly-α transmission as a precision probe of reionization’s end stages. In this paper, we assemble a sample of 67 quasar sightlines at z > 5.5 with high signal-to-noise ratios of >10 per ≤15 km s−1 spectral pixel, relying largely on the new XQR-30 quasar sample. XQR-30 is a large program on VLT/X-Shooter which obtained deep (SNR > 20 per pixel) spectra of 30 quasars at z > 5.7. We carefully account for systematics in continuum reconstruction, instrumentation, and contamination by damped Ly-α systems. We present improved measurements of the mean Ly-α transmission over 4.9 < z < 6.1. Using all known systematics in a forward modelling analysis, we find excellent agreement between the observed Ly-α transmission distributions and the homogeneous-UVB simulations Sherwood and Nyx up to z ≤ 5.2 (<1σ), and mild tension (∼2.5σ) at z = 5.3. Homogeneous UVB models are ruled out by excess Ly-α transmission scatter at z ≥ 5.4 with high confidencemore »(>3.5σ). Our results indicate that reionization-related fluctuations, whether in the UVB, residual neutral hydrogen fraction, and/or IGM temperature, persist in the intergalactic medium until at least z = 5.3 (t = 1.1 Gyr after the big bang). This is further evidence for a late end to reionization.« less

Abstract We present a new investigation of the intergalactic medium (IGM) near the end of reionization using “dark gaps” in the Ly α forest. Using spectra of 55 QSOs at z em > 5.5, including new data from the XQR-30 VLT Large Programme, we identify gaps in the Ly α forest where the transmission averaged over 1 comoving h −1 Mpc bins falls below 5%. Nine ultralong ( L > 80 h −1 Mpc) dark gaps are identified at z < 6. In addition, we quantify the fraction of QSO spectra exhibiting gaps longer than 30 h −1 Mpc, F 30 , as a function of redshift. We measure F 30 ≃ 0.9, 0.6, and 0.15 at z = 6.0, 5.8, and 5.6, respectively, with the last of these long dark gaps persisting down to z ≃5.3. Comparing our results with predictions from hydrodynamical simulations, we find that the data are consistent with models wherein reionization extends significantly below redshift six. Models wherein the IGM is essentially fully reionized that retain large-scale fluctuations in the ionizing UV background at z ≲6 are also potentially consistent with the data. Overall, our results suggest that signatures of reionization in the form ofmore »islands of neutral hydrogen and/or large-scale fluctuations in the ionizing background remain present in the IGM until at least z ≃ 5.3.« less

We report the most sensitive upper limits to date on the 21 cm epoch of reionization power spectrum using 94 nights of observing with Phase I of the Hydrogen Epoch of Reionization Array (HERA). Using similar analysis techniques as in previously reported limits, we find at 95% confidence that Δ²(k= 0.34hMpc⁻¹) ≤ 457 mK²atz= 7.9 and that Δ²(k= 0.36hMpc⁻¹) ≤ 3496 mK²atz= 10.4, an improvement by a factor of 2.1 and 2.6, respectively. These limits are mostly consistent with thermal noise over a wide range ofkafter our data quality cuts, despite performing a relatively conservative analysis designed to minimize signal loss. Our results are validated with both statistical tests on the data and end-to-end pipeline simulations. We also report updated constraints on the astrophysics of reionization and the cosmic dawn. Using multiple independent modeling and inference techniques previously employed by HERA Collaboration, we find that the intergalactic medium must have been heated above the adiabatic cooling limit at least as early asz= 10.4, ruling out a broad set of so-called “cold reionization” scenarios. If this heating is due to high-mass X-ray binaries during the cosmic dawn, as is generally believed, our result’s 99% credible interval excludes the local relationshipmore »between soft X-ray luminosity and star formation and thus requires heating driven by evolved low-metallicity stars.

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Recently, the Hydrogen Epoch of Reionization Array (HERA) has produced the experiment’s first upper limits on the power spectrum of 21 cm fluctuations atz∼ 8 and 10. Here, we use several independent theoretical models to infer constraints on the intergalactic medium (IGM) and galaxies during the epoch of reionization from these limits. We find that the IGM must have been heated above the adiabatic-cooling threshold byz∼ 8, independent of uncertainties about IGM ionization and the radio background. Combining HERA limits with complementary observations constrains the spin temperature of thez∼ 8 neutral IGM to 27 K$〈{\overline{T}}_S〉$630 K (2.3 K$〈{\overline{T}}_S〉$640 K) at 68% (95%) confidence. They therefore also place a lower bound on X-ray heating, a previously unconstrained aspects of early galaxies. For example, if the cosmic microwave background dominates thez∼ 8 radio background, the new HERA limits imply that the first galaxies produced X-rays more efficiently than local ones. Thez∼ 10 limits require even earlier heating if dark-matter interactions cool the hydrogen gas. If an extra radio background is produced by galaxies, we rule out (at 95% confidence) the combination of high radio and low X-raymore »luminosities ofL_r,ν/SFR > 4 × 10²⁴W Hz⁻¹$M_{\odot }^{-1}$yr andL_X/SFR < 7.6 × 10³⁹erg s⁻¹$M_{\odot }^{-1}$yr. The new HERA upper limits neither support nor disfavor a cosmological interpretation of the recent Experiment to Detect the Global EOR Signature (EDGES) measurement. The framework described here provides a foundation for the interpretation of future HERA results.

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