Reaching small scales with low frequency imaging: applications to the Dark Ages

Abstract

The initial conditions for the density perturbations in the early Universe, which dictate the large scale structure and distribution of galaxies we see today, are set during inflation. Measurements of primordial non-Gaussianity are crucial for distinguishing between different inflationary models. Current measurements of the matter power spectrum from the CMB only constrain this on scales up to $k\sim 0.1$ Mpc${}^{-1}$. Reaching smaller angular scales (higher values of $k$) can provide new constraints on non-Gaussianity. A powerful way to do this is by measuring the $\text{H}\text{I}$ matter power spectrum at $z\gtrsim 30$. In this paper, we investigate what values of $k$ can be reached for the LOw Frequency ARray (LOFAR), which can achieve $\lesssim$1${}^{\prime \prime }$ resolution at $\sim$50 MHz. Combining this with a technique to isolate the spectrally smooth foregrounds to a wedge in $k_{\parallel }$ - $k_{\perp }$ space, we demonstrate what values of $k$ we can feasibly reach within observational constraints. We find that LOFAR is $\sim$5 orders of magnitude away from the desired sensitivity, for 10 years of integration time.

arXiv comment11 pages, 3 figures, accepted for publication in Royal Society Philosophical Transactions A. Under media embargo until publication

References in corpus (41)

• Planck 2013 results. XVI. Cosmological parameters
• LOFAR: The LOw-Frequency ARray
• Planck 2018 results. I. Overview and the cosmological legacy of Planck
• An absorption profile centred at 78 megahertz in the sky-averaged spectrum
• 21-cm cosmology
• The Precision Array for Probing the Epoch of Reionization: 8 Station Results
• Bright Source Subtraction Requirements For Redshifted 21 cm Measurements
• Late-time cosmology with 21cm intensity mapping experiments
• Improved upper limits on the 21-cm signal power spectrum of neutral hydrogen at $\mathbf{z}\approx 9.1$ from LOFAR
• Upper limits on the 21-cm Epoch of Reionization power spectrum from one night with LOFAR
• Insights on Dark Matter from Hydrogen during Cosmic Dawn
• Primordial Black Holes as Generators of Cosmic Structures
• Severely Constraining Dark Matter Interpretations of the 21-cm Anomaly
• Imaging the Epoch of Reionization: limitations from foreground confusion and imaging algorithms
• The clustering of galaxies in the SDSS-III Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey: RSD measurement from the LOS-dependent power spectrum of DR12 BOSS galaxies
• The Epoch of Reionization Window: II. Statistical Methods for Foreground Wedge Reduction
• The impact of point source subtraction residuals on 21 cm Epoch of Reionization estimation
• Opening the 21cm EoR Window: Measurements of Foreground Isolation with PAPER
• Coaxing Cosmic 21cm Fluctuations from the Polarized Sky using m-mode Analysis
• Formation of supermassive black hole seeds
• Constraining Baryon--Dark Matter Scattering with the Cosmic Dawn 21-cm Signal
• First Season MWA EoR Power Spectrum Results at Redshift 7
• New Physics in the Rayleigh-Jeans Tail of the CMB
• Heating of Baryons due to Scattering with Dark Matter During the Dark Ages
• Science with a lunar low-frequency array: from the dark ages of the Universe to nearby exoplanets
• Results from EDGES High-Band: I. Constraints on Phenomenological Models for the Global $21$ cm Signal
• The first power spectrum limit on the 21-cm signal of neutral hydrogen during the Cosmic Dawn at z=20-25 from LOFAR
• Probing the Small-Scale Matter Power Spectrum with Large-Scale 21-cm Data
• The Hydrogen Epoch of Reionization Array Dish I: Beam Pattern Measurements and Science Implications
• Axion-Photon Conversion and Effects on 21cm Observation
• Signatures of primordial black holes as seeds of supermassive black holes
• Subarcsecond international LOFAR radio images of the M82 nucleus at 118 MHz and 154 MHz
• Interacting Dark Energy: Possible Explanation for 21-cm Absorption at Cosmic Dawn
• Probing relic neutrino decays with 21 cm cosmology
• Primordial non-Gaussianity from the 21 cm Power Spectrum during the Epoch of Reionization
• LOFAR VLBI Studies at 55 MHz of 4C 43.15, a z=2.4 Radio Galaxy
• Primordial Non-Gaussianity Estimation using 21 cm Tomography from the Epoch of Reionization
• Small-scale primordial fluctuations in the 21cm Dark Ages signal
• Astro 2020 Science White Paper: Fundamental Cosmology in the Dark Ages with 21-cm Line Fluctuations
• LOFAR imaging capabilities and system sensitivity
• The 21cm Power Spectrum and the Shapes of Non-Gaussianity

Cited by in corpus (1)

• The limits of cosmology: role of the Moon