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New constraints on Lyman-α opacity using 92 quasar lines of sight

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  08 May 2018

Sarah E. I. Bosman Open the ORCID record for Sarah E. I. Bosman [Opens in a new window] ,
Xiaohui Fan ,
Linhua Jiang ,
Sophie Reed ,
Yoshiki Matsuoka ,
George Becker  and
Alberto Rorai
Sarah E. I. Bosman
Affiliation:
Institute of Astronomy, University of Cambridge, Madingley Road, Cambridge CB3 0HA, U.K. Kavli Institute for Cosmology, University of Cambridge, Madingley Road, Cambridge CB3 0HA, U.K.
Xiaohui Fan
Affiliation:
Steward Observatory, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721-0065, USA Kavli Institute for Astronomy and Astrophysics, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China
Linhua Jiang
Affiliation:
Kavli Institute for Astronomy and Astrophysics, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China
Sophie Reed
Affiliation:
Institute of Astronomy, University of Cambridge, Madingley Road, Cambridge CB3 0HA, U.K.
Yoshiki Matsuoka
Affiliation:
National Astronomical Observatory of Japan, Mitaka, Tokyo 181-8588, Japan
George Becker
Affiliation:
Department of Physics & Astronomy, University of California, Riverside, 900 University Avenue, Riverside, CA, 92521, USA
Alberto Rorai
Affiliation:
Institute of Astronomy, University of Cambridge, Madingley Road, Cambridge CB3 0HA, U.K. Kavli Institute for Cosmology, University of Cambridge, Madingley Road, Cambridge CB3 0HA, U.K.
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Abstract

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The large scatter in Lyman-α opacity at z > 5.3 has been an ongoing mystery, prompting a flurry of numerical models. A uniform ultra-violet background has been ruled out at those redshifts, but it is unclear whether any proposed models produce sufficient inhomogeneities. In this paper we provide an update on the measurement which first highlighted the issue: Lyman-α effective optical depth along high-z quasar lines of sight. We nearly triple on the previous sample size in such a study thanks to the cooperation of the DES-VHS, SHELLQs, and SDSS collaborations as well as new reductions and spectra. We find that a uniform UVB model is ruled out at 5.1 < z < 5.3, as well as higher redshifts, which is perplexing. We provide the first such measurements at z ∼ 6. None of the numerical models we confronted to this data could reproduce the observed scatter.

Keywords

quasars: absorption linescosmology: observationslarge-scale structure of universe
Type
Contributed Papers
Information
Proceedings of the International Astronomical Union , Volume 12 , Symposium S333: Peering towards Cosmic Dawn , October 2017 , pp. 234 - 237
Copyright
Copyright © International Astronomical Union 2018 

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