LOFAR as a Probe of the Sources of Cosmological Reionisation

Details LOFAR as a Probe of the Sources of Cosmological Reionisation LOFAR as a Probe of the Sources of Cosmological Reionisation

2004-12-03

arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph/0412080v2

Astronomy and Astrophysics

Astrophysics

Replaced to match the accepted version. To be published in MNRAS Letters

Scientific paper

We propose use of the thickness of the ionisation front as a discriminant between alternative modes of reionisation in the early universe, by stars or by miniquasars. Assuming a photoionisation-recombination balance, we find that for miniquasar sources the transition from neutral to ionised intergalactic medium is extended and has two features. The first is a sudden steep increase in the neutral fraction with a typical width of 5-10 comoving megaparsecs, depending on the miniquasar power. The second feature is a long wing that represents a much slower transition from neutral fraction of $\approx 0.8$ to 1. The angular resolution of LOFAR is expected to resolve these scales and will, therefore, play an important role in discriminating the hard sources of ionising photons from the stellar ones.

Affiliated with

Also associated with

No associations

Rating

LOFAR as a Probe of the Sources of Cosmological Reionisation does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this scientific paper.

If you have personal experience with LOFAR as a Probe of the Sources of Cosmological Reionisation, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and LOFAR as a Probe of the Sources of Cosmological Reionisation will most certainly appreciate the feedback.

Rate now

Comments { 0 }

Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-402565