First Results on the Epoch of Reionization from First Light with SARAS 2

Long-wavelength spectral distortions in the cosmic microwave background arising from the 21 cm transition in neutral hydrogen are a key probe of the Cosmic Dawn and the Epoch of Reionization. These features may reveal the nature of the first stars and ultra-faint galaxies that transformed the spin temperature and ionization state of the primordial gas. SARAS 2 is a spectral radiometer purposely designed for the precision measurement of these monopole or all-sky global 21 cm spectral distortions. We use 63 hr nighttime observations of the radio background in the frequency band 110-200 MHz, with the radiometer deployed at the Timbaktu Collective in Southern India, to derive likelihoods for plausible redshifted 21 cm signals predicted by theoretical models. First light with SARAS 2 disfavors the class of models that feature weak X-ray heating (with {f}_X≤slant 0.1) and rapid reionization (with peak \tfrac{{{dT}}_b}{{dz}}≥slant 120 mK per unit redshift interval).