The duration of reionization constrains the ionizing sources

Sharma, M.; Theuns, T.; Frenk, C.

doi:10.1093/mnrasl/sly052

The duration of reionization constrains the ionizing sources

Sharma, M.; Theuns, T.; Frenk, C.

Authors

M. Sharma

Professor Tom Theuns tom.theuns@durham.ac.uk
Professor

Professor Carlos Frenk c.s.frenk@durham.ac.uk
Professor

Abstract

We investigate how the nature of the galaxies that reionized the Universe affects the duration of reionization. We contrast two sets of models: one in which galaxies on the faint side of the luminosity function dominate the ionizing emissivity, and a second in which the galaxies on the bright side of the luminosity function dominate. The faint-end of the luminosity function evolves slowly, therefore the transition from mostly neutral to mostly ionized state takes a much longer time in the first set of models compared to the second. Existing observational constraints on the duration of this transition are relatively weak, but taken at face value prefer the model in which galaxies on the bright side play a major role. Measurements of the kinetic Sunyaev Zeldovich effect in the cosmic microwave background from the epoch of reionization also point in the same direction.

Citation

Sharma, M., Theuns, T., & Frenk, C. (2018). The duration of reionization constrains the ionizing sources. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society: Letters, 477(1), L111-L116. https://doi.org/10.1093/mnrasl/sly052

Journal Article Type	Article
Acceptance Date	Mar 20, 2018
Online Publication Date	Mar 28, 2018
Publication Date	Jun 11, 2018
Deposit Date	Apr 5, 2018
Publicly Available Date	Apr 6, 2018
Journal	Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society: Letters
Electronic ISSN	1745-3933
Publisher	Oxford University Press
Peer Reviewed	Peer Reviewed
Volume	477
Issue	1
Pages	L111-L116
DOI	https://doi.org/10.1093/mnrasl/sly052

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This article has been accepted for publication in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society: Letters ©: 2018 The Author(s) Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Royal Astronomical Society. All rights reserved.