Measuring the X-ray Background in the Reionization Era with First Generation 21 cm Experiments

Abstract

The X-ray background during the epoch of reionization is currently poorly constrained. We demonstrate that it is possible to use first generation 21 cm experiments to calibrate it. Using the semi-numerical simulation, 21cmFAST, we calculate the dependence of the 21 cm power spectrum on the X-ray background flux. Comparing the signal to the sensitivity of the Murchison Widefield Array (MWA) we find that in the redshift interval z=8-14 the 21 cm signal is detectable based on the upper limit set by the present-day unresolved soft X-ray background. We show that there is no degeneracy between the X-ray production efficiency and the Lyman-Alpha production efficiency and that the degeneracy with the ionization fraction of the intergalactic medium can be broken.

16 pages, 8 figures, accepted for publication in JCAP

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• Planck 2013 results. XVI. Cosmological parameters
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• New Limits on 21cm EoR From PAPER-32 Consistent with an X-Ray Heated IGM at z=7.7
• 21 cm fluctuations from inhomogeneous X-ray heating before reionization
• The nature of the unresolved extragalactic soft CXB

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