IGM damping wing constraints on the tail end of reionization from the enlarged XQR-30 sample

• Verfasst von: Greig, Bradley [VerfasserIn]
• Verfasst von: Mesinger, A [VerfasserIn]
• Verfasst von: Bañados Torres, Eduardo [VerfasserIn]
• Verfasst von: Becker, G D [VerfasserIn]
• Verfasst von: Bosman, Sarah [VerfasserIn]
• Verfasst von: Chen, H [VerfasserIn]
• Verfasst von: Davies, Frederick B. [VerfasserIn]
• Verfasst von: D’Odorico, V [VerfasserIn]
• Verfasst von: Eilers, A -C [VerfasserIn]
• Verfasst von: Gallerani, S [VerfasserIn]
• Verfasst von: Haehnelt, M G [VerfasserIn]
• Verfasst von: Keating, L [VerfasserIn]
• Verfasst von: Lai, S [VerfasserIn]
• Verfasst von: Qin, Y [VerfasserIn]
• Verfasst von: Ryan-Weber, E [VerfasserIn]
• Verfasst von: Satyavolu, S [VerfasserIn]
• Verfasst von: Wang, F [VerfasserIn]
• Verfasst von: Yang, J [VerfasserIn]
• Verfasst von: Zhu, Yongda [VerfasserIn]
• Titel: IGM damping wing constraints on the tail end of reionization from the enlarged XQR-30 sample
• Verf.angabe: B. Greig, A. Mesinger, E. Bañados, G.D. Becker, S.E.I. Bosman, H. Chen, F.B. Davies, V. D’Odorico, A.-C. Eilers, S. Gallerani, M.G. Haehnelt, L. Keating, S. Lai, Y. Qin, E. Ryan-Weber, S. Satyavolu, F. Wang, J. Yang and Y. Zhu
• E-Jahr: 2024
• Jahr: May 2024
• Umfang: 20 S.
• Fussnoten: Online veröffentlicht: 23. April 2024 ; Gesehen am 07.02.2025
• Titel Quelle: Enthalten in: Royal Astronomical SocietyMonthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
• Ort Quelle: Oxford : Oxford Univ. Press, 1827
• Jahr Quelle: 2024
• Band/Heft Quelle: 530(2024), 3 vom: Mai, Seite 3208-3227
• ISSN Quelle: 1365-2966
• DOI: doi:10.1093/mnras/stae1080
• Datenträger: Online-Ressource
• Sprache: eng
• K10plus-PPN: 1916642284

Abstract

The attenuation of Lyα photons by neutral hydrogen in the intergalactic medium (IGM) at z ≳ 5 continues to be a powerful probe for studying the epoch of reionization. Given a framework to estimate the intrinsic (true) Lyα emission of high-z sources, one can infer the ionization state of the IGM during reionization. In this work, we use the enlarged XQR-30 sample of 42 high-resolution and high signal-to-noise quasar spectra between $5.8\lesssim \, z\lesssim \, 6.6$ obtained with VLT/X-shooter to place constraints on the IGM neutral fraction. This is achieved using our existing Bayesian QSO reconstruction framework which accounts for uncertainties such as the: (i) posterior distribution of predicted intrinsic Lyα emission profiles (obtained via covariance matrix reconstruction of the Lyα and N v emission lines from unattenuated high-ionization emission line profiles; C iv, Si iv  + O iv], and C iii]) and (ii) distribution of ionized regions within the IGM using synthetic damping wing profiles drawn from a 1.63 Gpc3 reionization simulation. Following careful quality control, we used 23 of the 42 available QSOs to obtain constraints/limits on the IGM neutral fraction during the tail-end of reionization. Our median and 68th percentile constraints on the IGM neutral fraction are: $0.20\substack{+0.14 -0.12}$ and $0.29\substack{+0.14 -0.13}$ at z = 6.15 and 6.35. Further, we also report 68th percentile upper limits of $\bar{x}_{\mathrm{H\, {\small I}}{}} \lt 0.21$, 0.20, 0.21, and 0.18 at z = 5.8, 5.95, 6.05, and 6.55. These results imply reionization is still ongoing at $5.8\lesssim \, z\lesssim \, 6.55$, consistent with previous results from XQR-30 (dark fraction and Lyα forest) along with other observational probes considered in the literature.