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arXiv 0901.3966astro-ph.CO
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HeII再电离后Lyman-alpha森林有效光学厚度的演变

The evolution of the Lyman-alpha forest effective optical depth following HeII reionisation

James S. Bolton, S. Peng Oh, Steven R. Furlanetto

摘要:

三个独立的观测研究现在已经检测到一个狭窄的(Δz ~ 0.5)倾角中心在z=3.2,否则平滑的红移演变的Lya森林有效光学厚度。这一特点以前被解释为一个间接的签名快速光加热的IGM在时代的HeII再电离。我们研究这种解释使用半解析模型的非均匀HeII再电离和高分辨率流体动力学模拟的Lya森林。相反,我们发现,从z=3.4开始,IGM温度(ΔT ~ 10^4 K)的快速(Δz ~ 0.2)提升会在Lya有效光学深度中产生一个很好理解的和通用的演变,其中不透明度的突然降低之后是主要由低密度IGM中的绝热冷却驱动的逐渐单调恢复。这种行为与观测数据中的狭窄特征不一致。如果像最近的理论研究所建议的那样,在HeII再电离过程中的光加热被扩展到几个红移单位,那么Lya不透明度将随着红移而平稳地演变。我们的结论是,在Lya森林中观察到的有效光学深度的急剧下降,而不是最有可能是由于在z=3.2左右的氢光电离率的窄峰,并建议它可能会出现从调制的任何再处理的辐射在HeII再电离,或莱曼极限系统的不透明度。

英文摘要:

Three independent observational studies have now detected a narrow (Δz ~ 0.5) dip centred at z=3.2 in the otherwise smooth redshift evolution of the Lya forest effective optical depth. This feature has previously been interpreted as an indirect signature of rapid photo-heating in the IGM during the epoch of HeII reionisation. We examine this interpretation using a semi-analytic model of inhomogeneous HeII reionisation and high resolution hydrodynamical simulations of the Lya forest. We instead find that a rapid (Δz ~ 0.2) boost to the IGM temperature (ΔT ~ 10^4 K) beginning at z=3.4 produces a well understood and generic evolution in the Lya effective optical depth, where a sudden reduction in the opacity is followed by a gradual, monotonic recovery driven largely by adiabatic cooling in the low density IGM. This behaviour is inconsistent with the narrow feature in the observational data. If photo-heating during HeII reionisation is instead extended over several redshift units, as recent theoretical studies suggest, then the Lya opacity will evolve smoothly with redshift. We conclude that the sharp dip observed in the Lya forest effective optical depth is instead most likely due to a narrow peak in the hydrogen photo-ionisation rate around z=3.2, and suggest that it may arise from the modulation of either reprocessed radiation during HeII reionisation, or the opacity of Lyman limit systems.

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