The first (nearly) model-independent constraint on the neutral hydrogen fraction at z ∼ 6
Abstract
Cosmic reionization is expected to be complex, extended and very inhomogeneous. Existing constraints at z ∼ 6 on the volume-averaged neutral hydrogen fraction, ?, are highly model-dependent and controversial. Constraints at z < 6, suggesting that the Universe is highly ionized, are also model-dependent, but more fundamentally are invalid in the context of inhomogeneous reionization. As such, it has recently been pointed out that there is no conclusive evidence that reionization has completed by z ∼ 5-6, a fact that has important ramifications on the interpretation of high-redshift observations and theoretical models. We present the first direct upper limits on ? at z ∼ 5-6 using the simple and robust statistic of the covering fraction of dark pixels in the Lyα/β forests of high-redshift quasars. With a sample of 13 Keck Echellette Spectrograph and Imager spectra we constrain ? at 5.0 ≲ z ≲ 5.5, rising to ? at z ∼ 6.1. We also find tentative evidence for a break in the redshift evolution of the dark covering fraction at z ∼ 5.5. A subsample of two deep spectra provides a more stringent constraint of ?, when combined with conservative estimates of cosmic variance. This upper limit is comparable to existing results at z ∼ 6 but is more robust. The results presented here do not rely on assumptions about quasar continua, intergalactic medium density, the morphology of H II regions or ionizing background fields, and thus are a good starting point for future interpretation of high-redshift observations.
- Publication:
-
Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
- Pub Date:
- August 2011
- DOI:
- 10.1111/j.1365-2966.2011.18935.x
- arXiv:
- arXiv:1101.3314
- Bibcode:
- 2011MNRAS.415.3237M
- Keywords:
-
- galaxies: high-redshift;
- quasars: absorption lines;
- cosmology: observations;
- dark ages;
- reionization;
- first stars;
- diffuse radiation;
- early Universe;
- Astrophysics - Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics
- E-Print:
- 11 pages, 6 figures, MNRAS submitted