Probing the first galaxies with the SKA

Abstract

Observations of anisotropies in the brightness temperature of the 21 cm line of neutral hydrogen from the period before reionization would shed light on the dawn of the first stars and galaxies. In this paper, we use large-scale semi-numerical simulations to analyse the imprint on the 21 cm signal of spatial fluctuations in the Lyman-alpha flux arising from the clustering of the first galaxies. We show that an experiment such as the Square Kilometer Array (SKA) can probe this signal at the onset of reionization, giving us important information about the UV emission spectra of the first stars and characterizing their host galaxies. SKA-pathfinders with ~ 10% of the full collecting area should be capable of making a statistical detection of the 21 cm power spectrum at redshifts z < 20 (corresponding to frequencies $\nu$ > 67 MHz). We then show that the SKA should be able to measure the three dimensional power spectrum as a function of the angle with the line of sight and discuss the use of the redshift space distortions as a way to separate out the different components of the 21 cm power spectrum. We demonstrate that, at least on large scales where the Lyman-alpha fluctuations are linear, they can be used as a model independent way to extract the power spectra due to these Lyman-alpha fluctuations.

13 pages, 17 figures. New version to match version accepted by A&A. Improved discussions on the Lyman-alpha simulation, adiabatic cooling fluctuations, the Fisher matrix approach and the Poisson term calculation. New version of the code available at: http://www.SimFast21.org

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Cited by in corpus (22)

• 21-cm cosmology
• Reionization and the Cosmic Dawn with the Square Kilometre Array
• Intensity Mapping of the [CII] Fine Structure Line during the Epoch of Reionization
• The X-ray spectra of the first galaxies: 21cm signatures
• The Evolution of 21-cm Structure (EOS): public, large-scale simulations of Cosmic Dawn and Reionization
• Intensity Mapping of Lyman-alpha Emission During the Epoch of Reionization
• 21cm-line bispectrum as method to probe Cosmic Dawn and Epoch of Reionization
• Constraining the EoR model parameters with the 21cm bispectrum
• A tale of two sites -- II: Inferring the properties of minihalo-hosted galaxies with upcoming 21-cm interferometers
• Impact of the Primordial Stellar Initial Mass Function on the 21-cm Signal
• Studying 21cm power spectrum with one-point statistics
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• Background reionization history from omniscopes
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• Semi-Numerical Simulation of Reionization with Semi-Analytical Modeling of Galaxy Formation
• Space Project for Astrophysical and Cosmological Exploration (SPACE), an ESA stand-alone mission and a possible contribution to the Origins Space Telescope