Constraining Quasar and IGM Properties Through Bubble Detection in Redshifted 21-cm Maps

Abstract

The infrared detection of a z>7 quasar has opened up a new window to directly probe the IGM during the epoch of reionization. In this paper we theoretically consider the possibility of detecting the ionized bubble around a z=8 quasar using targeted redshifted 21-cm observations with the GMRT. The apparent shape and size of the ionized bubble, as seen by a distant observer, depends on the parameters \dot{N}_{phs}/C, x_HI/C and τ_Q where \dot{N}_{phs}, τ_Q, x_HI and C are respectively the photon emission rate, age of the quasar, the neutral fraction and clumping factor of the IGM.Here we have analytically estimated the shape and size of a quasar's ionized bubble assuming an uniform IGM and ignoring other ionizing sources besides the quasar, and used this as a template for matched filter bubble search with the GMRT visibility data. We have assumed that \dot{N}_{phs} is known from the infrared spectrum and C from theoretical considerations, which gives us two free parameters x_HI and τ_Q for bubble. Considering 1,000 hr of observation, we find that there is a reasonably large region of parameter space where a 3σdetection is possible. We also find that it will be possible to place lower limits on x_HI and τ_Q with this observation. Deeper follow up observations can place upper limits on τ_Q and x_HI. Value of C affect the estimation of x_HI but the estimation of τ_Q remains unaffected.We have used a semi-numerical technique to simulate the apparent shape and size of quasar ionized bubbles considering the presence of other ionizing sources and inhomogeneities in the IGM. The presence of other sources increase the size of the quasar bubble, leading to underestimation of x_HI. Clustering of other ionizing sources around the quasar can produce severe distortions in bubble's shape. However, this does not severely affect parameter estimation in the bubbles that are large.

18 pages, 16 figures, 3 tables. Minor change in text. Accepted for publication in MNRAS

References in corpus (10)

• A luminous quasar at a redshift of z = 7.085
• Four quasars above redshift 6 discovered by the Canada-France High-z Quasar Survey
• Inside-out or Outside-in: The topology of reionization in the photon-starved regime suggested by Lyman-alpha forest data
• Foregrounds for redshifted 21 cm studies of reionization: GMRT 153 MHz observations
• Light cone effect on the reionization 21-cm power spectrum
• On the Size of HII Regions around High Redshift Quasars
• Detecting ionized bubbles in redshifted 21 cm maps
• Prospects of observing a quasar HII region during the Epoch of Reionization with redshifted 21cm
• Simulating the impact of HI fluctuations on matched filter search for ionized bubbles in redshifted 21 cm maps
• Can We Detect the Anisotropic Shapes of Quasar HII Regions During Reionization Through The Small-Scale Redshifted 21cm Power Spectrum?

Cited by in corpus (27)

• Reionization and the Cosmic Dawn with the Square Kilometre Array
• A simulation calibrated limit on the HI power spectrum from the GMRT Epoch of Reionization experiment
• Lyman-alpha emitters gone missing: evidence for late reionization?
• Constraining the intergalactic medium at $z\approx$ 9.1 using LOFAR Epoch of Reionization observations
• On the use of semi-numerical simulations in predicting the 21-cm signal from the epoch of reionization
• Light cone effect on the reionization 21-cm signal II: Evolution, anisotropies and observational implications
• Imaging the redshifted 21-cm pattern around the first sources during the cosmic dawn using the SKA
• Constraining the state of the intergalactic medium during the Epoch of Reionization using MWA 21-cm signal observations
• Recovering the HII region size statistics from 21-cm tomography
• Light cone anisotropy in 21 cm signal from the epoch of reionization
• 21-cm signature of the first sources in the Universe: Prospects of detection with SKA
• A method to determine the evolution history of the mean neutral Hydrogen fraction
• A novel probe of bubble size statistics and time scales of the epoch of reionization using the contour Minkowski Tensor
• The Epoch of Reionization 21-cm Bispectrum: The impact of light-cone effects and detectability
• Distinctive 21 cm structures of the first stars, galaxies, and quasars
• Identifying Ionized Regions in Noisy Redshifted 21 cm Data Sets
• Probing early universe through redshifted 21-cm signal: Modelling and observational challenges
• Bubble mapping with the Square Kilometer Array -- I. Detecting galaxies with Euclid, JWST, WFIRST and ELT within ionized bubbles in the intergalactic medium at z>6
• Bayesian approach to constraining the properties of ionized bubbles during reionization
• Dark ages reionization & galaxy formation simulation XII: Bubbles at dawn
• Probing quasar lifetimes with proximate $21$-centimetre absorption in the diffuse intergalactic medium at redshifts $z\ge 6$
• A Full Treatment of Peculiar Velocities on the Reionization Light Cone
• Line of sight anisotropies in the Cosmic Dawn and EoR 21-cm power spectrum
• Probing individual sources during reionization and cosmic dawn using SKA HI 21-cm observations
• Stacking Redshifted 21cm Images of HII Regions Around High Redshift Galaxies as a Probe of Early Reionization
• Probing the Epoch of Reionization using synergies of line intensity mapping
• Revisiting secondary CMB distortions due to kinetic Sunyaev-Zel'dovich effect from quasar bubbles before reionization