Large-scale 3D mapping of the intergalactic medium using the Lyman α forest

Maps of the large-scale structure of the Universe at redshifts 2-4 can be made with the Lyman α forest which are complementary to low-redshift galaxy surveys. We apply the Wiener interpolation method of Caucci et al. to construct three-dimensional maps from sets of Lyman α forest spectra taken from cosmological hydrodynamic simulations. We mimic some current and future quasar redshift surveys [Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (BOSS), extended BOSS (eBOSS) and Mid-Scale Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (MS-DESI)] by choosing similar sightline densities. We use these appropriate subsets of the Lyman α absorption sightlines to reconstruct the full three-dimensional Lyman α flux field and perform comparisons between the true and the reconstructed fields. We study global statistical properties of the intergalactic medium (IGM) maps with autocorrelation and cross-correlation analysis, slice plots, local peaks and point-by-point scatter. We find that both the density field and the statistical properties of the IGM are recovered well enough that the resulting IGM maps can be meaningfully considered to represent large-scale maps of the Universe in agreement with Caucci et al., on larger scales and for sparser sightlines than had been tested previously. Quantitatively, for sightline parameters comparable to current and near future surveys the correlation coefficient between true and reconstructed fields is r > 0.9 on scales >30 h^-1 Mpc. The properties of the maps are relatively insensitive to the precise form of the covariance matrix used. The final BOSS quasar Lyman α forest sample will allow maps to be made with a resolution of ∼30 h^-1 Mpc over a volume of ∼15 h^-3 Gpc³ between redshifts 1.9 and 2.3.