2024MNRAS.533L..49Z

Query : 2024MNRAS.533L..49Z

2024MNRAS.533L..49Z - Mon. Not. R. Astron. Soc., 533, L49-L56 (2024/September-1)

Damping wing-like features in the stacked Ly α forest: Potential neutral hydrogen islands at z < 6.

ZHU Y., BECKER G.D., BOSMAN S.E.I., CAIN C., KEATING L.C., NASIR F., D'ODORICO V., BANADOS E., BIAN F., BISCHETTI M., BOLTON J.S., CHEN H., D'ALOISIO A., DAVIES F.B., DAVIES R.L., EILERS A.-C., FAN X., GAIKWAD P., GREIG B., HAEHNELT M.G., KULKARNI G., LAI S., PUCHWEIN E., QIN Y., RYAN-WEBER E.V., SATYAVOLU S., SPINA B., WALTER F., WANG F., WOLFSON M. and YANG J.

Abstract (from CDS):

Recent quasar absorption line observations suggest that reionization may end as late as $z \approx 5.3$. As a means to search for large neutral hydrogen islands at $z\ \lt\ 6$, we revisit long dark gaps in the Ly $\beta$ forest in Very Large Telescope/X-Shooter and Keck/Echellette Spectrograph and Imager quasar spectra. We stack the Ly $\alpha$ forest corresponding to both edges of these Ly $\beta$ dark gaps and identify a damping wing-like extended absorption profile. The average redshift of the stacked forest is $z=5.8$. By comparing these observations with reionization simulations, we infer that such a damping wing-like feature can be naturally explained if these gaps are at least partially created by neutral islands. Conversely, simulated dark gaps lacking neutral hydrogen struggle to replicate the observed damping wing features. Furthermore, this damping wing-like profile implies that the volume-averaged neutral hydrogen fraction must be $\langle x_{\rm H\,{\small {I}}} \rangle \ge 6.1 \pm 3.9~{{\ \rm per\ cent}}$ at $z = 5.8$. Our results offer robust evidence that reionization extends below $z=6$.

Abstract Copyright: © 2024 The Author(s). Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Royal Astronomical Society.

Journal keyword(s): intergalactic medium - quasars: absorption lines - dark ages, reionization, first stars - large-scale structure of Universe - cosmology: observations

Simbad objects: 21

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Number of rows : 21
N Identifier Otype ICRS (J2000)
RA 		ICRS (J2000)
DEC 		Mag U Mag B Mag V Mag R Mag I Sp type #ref
1850 - 2026 		#notes
1 SDSS J002806.57+045725.3 QSO 00 28 06.568 +04 57 25.39           ~ 53 0
2 PSO J025.2376-11.6831 QSO 01 40 57.03 -11 40 59.5           ~ 20 0
3 SDSS J014837.63+060020.0 QSO 01 48 37.639 +06 00 20.01           ~ 86 0
4 PSO J060.5528+24.8567 QSO 04 02 12.69468 +24 51 24.4284           ~ 30 0
5 VDES J0408-5632 QSO 04 08 19.23 -56 32 28.8           ~ 21 0
6 PSO J065.4085-26.9543 QSO 04 21 38.050 -26 57 15.72           ~ 39 0
7 PSO J108.4429+08.9257 QSO 07 13 46.305984 +08 55 32.65291           ~ 18 0
8 SDSS J081827.40+172251.8 QSO 08 18 27.399 +17 22 51.83   25.14 24.42     ~ 81 0
9 SDSS J084035.08+562419.7 QSO 08 40 35.08848 +56 24 19.7712   24.95 23.93     ~ 65 0
10 SDSS J084229.43+121850.4 QSO 08 42 29.438 +12 18 50.47           ~ 88 0
11 PSO J158.6937-14.4210 QSO 10 34 46.49940000 -14 25 15.8924280           ~ 41 0
12 SDSS J125051.93+313021.9 QSO 12 50 51.92976 +31 30 21.9168   25.52 24.59     ~ 61 0
13 SDSS J131911.29+095051.3 QSO 13 19 11.291 +09 50 51.49           ~ 110 0
14 PSO J217.0891-16.0453 QSO 14 28 21.39187 -16 02 43.2990           ~ 33 0
15 CFHQS J150941-174926 QSO 15 09 41.77920 -17 49 26.7996           ~ 82 0
16 PSO J308.0416-21.2339 QSO 20 32 09.996 -21 14 02.38           ~ 59 0
17 SDSS J205406.49-000514.5 QSO 20 54 06.494 -00 05 14.57           ~ 96 0
18 PSO J340.2040-18.6621 QSO 22 40 49.00080 -18 39 43.8120           ~ 23 0
19 SDSS J231546.58-002357.8 QSO 23 15 46.585 -00 23 57.87           ~ 43 0
20 QSO J2318-3029 QSO 23 18 33.099 -30 29 33.58           ~ 27 0
21 SDSS J235632.44-062259.2 QSO 23 56 32.452 -06 22 59.31           ~ 52 0

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