Constraining the epoch of reionization from the observed properties of the high-z Universe

Abstract

We combine observational data on a dozen independent cosmic properties at high-$z$ with the information on reionization drawn from the spectra of distant luminous sources and the cosmic microwave background (CMB) to constrain the interconnected evolution of galaxies and the intergalactic medium since the dark ages. The only acceptable solutions are concentrated in two narrow sets. In one of them reionization proceeds in two phases: a first one driven by Population III stars, completed at $z\sim 10$, and after a short recombination period a second one driven by normal galaxies, completed at $z\sim 6$. In the other set both kinds of sources work in parallel until full reionization at $z\sim 6$. The best solution with double reionization gives excellent fits to all the observed cosmic histories, but the CMB optical depth is 3-$\sigma$ larger than the recent estimate from the Planck data. Alternatively, the best solution with single reionization gives less good fits to the observed star formation rate density and cold gas mass density histories, but the CMB optical depth is consistent with that estimate. We make several predictions, testable with future observations, that should discriminate between the two reionization scenarios. As a byproduct our models provide a natural explanation to some characteristic features of the cosmic properties at high-$z$, as well as to the origin of globular clusters.

25 pages, 13 figures. Accepted for publication in ApJ. Minor typos corrected

References in corpus (30)

• Cold streams in early massive hot haloes as the main mode of galaxy formation
• A luminous quasar at a redshift of z = 7.085
• Cosmic Reionization and Early Star-Forming Galaxies: A Joint Analysis of New Constraints from Planck and Hubble Space Telescope
• The R136 star cluster hosts several stars whose individual masses greatly exceed the accepted 150 Msun stellar mass limit
• Piecing Together the X-ray Background: Bolometric Corrections for Active Galactic Nuclei
• Size evolution of the most massive galaxies at 1.7<z<3 from GOODS NICMOS survey imaging
• The observed ionization rate of the intergalactic medium and the ionizing emissivity at z >5: Evidence for a photon starved and extended epoch of reionization
• Accretion onto the First Stellar Mass Black Holes
• Studying Reionization with Ly-alpha Emitters
• The Evolution of Stellar Mass and the Implied Star Formation History
• Hubble Frontier Fields First Complete Cluster Data: Faint Galaxies at $z\sim 5-10$ for UV Luminosity Functions and Cosmic Reionization
• New redshift z ~ 9 galaxies in the Hubble Frontier Fields: Implications for early evolution of the UV luminosity density
• A downturn in intergalactic CIV as redshift 6 is approached
• Mass Functions of the Active Black Holes in Distant Quasars from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Data Release 3
• Quasar Proximity Zones and Patchy Reionization
• Lyman-alpha Emitters During the Early Stages of Reionization
• Constraining the population of 6 < z < 10 star-forming galaxies with deep near-IR images of lensing clusters
• The Bulge-Disk Decomposed Evolution of Massive Galaxies at 1<z<3 in CANDELS
• GMASS Ultradeep Spectroscopy of Galaxies at redshift z~2. I. The stellar metallicity
• Cosmological HII Bubble Growth During Reionization
• On the Size of HII Regions around High Redshift Quasars
• High Redshift Intergalactic C IV Abundance Measurements from the Near-Infrared Spectra of Two z~6 QSOs
• The Decomposed Bulge and Disk Size-Mass Relations of Massive Galaxies at 1<z<3 in CANDELS
• Current models of the observable consequences of cosmic reionization and their detectability
• A closer look at using quasar near-zones as a probe of neutral hydrogen in the intergalactic medium
• The nature of dark matter and the density profile and central behavior of relaxed halos
• The evolution of the helium-ionizing background at z ~ 2-3
• The Implications of Gunn-Peterson Troughs in the HeII Lyman-alpha Forest
• Leaving the dark ages with AMIGA
• An Improved Treatment of Cosmological Intergalactic Medium Evolution

Cited by in corpus (11)

• Galaxy Formation and Reionization: Key Unknowns and Expected Breakthroughs by the James Webb Space Telescope
• Accelerating early massive galaxy formation with primordial black holes
• Revealing the cosmic reionisation history with fast radio bursts in the era of Square Kilometre Array
• Gravitational waves from mergers of Population III binary black holes: roles played by two evolution channels
• PHANGS-HST: Globular Cluster Systems in 17 Nearby Spiral Galaxies
• An ionised bubble powered by a proto-cluster at z = 6.5
• Effects of chemically homogeneous evolution of the first stars on the 21-cm signal and reionization
• Is the Bremer Deep Field ionised, at z~7?
• Near-IR narrow-band imaging with CIRCE at the Gran Telescopio Canarias: Searching for Ly$\alpha$-emitters at $z\sim 9.3$
• Lyman-$\alpha$ Emitting Galaxies (LAEs) at Cosmic Dawn: Implications and Predictions
• Ciii]$\lambda 1909$ emission as an alternative to Ly$\alpha$ in the reionization era: the dependence of Ciii] and Ly$\alpha$ at $3<z<4$ from the VANDELS survey