Detecting candidate cosmic bubble collisions with optimal filters

Optimal filters for detecting cosmic bubble collisions

A number of well-motivated extensions of the LCDM concordance cosmological model postulate the existence of a population of sources embedded in the cosmic microwave background (CMB). One such example is the signature of cosmic bubble collisions which arise in models of eternal inflation. The most unambiguous way to test these scenarios is to evaluate the full posterior probability distribution of the global parameters defining the theory; however, a direct evaluation is computationally impractical on large datasets, such as those obtained by the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) and …

Bubble mapping with the Square Kilometer Array -- I. Detecting galaxies with Euclid, JWST, WFIRST and ELT within ionized bubbles in the intergalactic medium at z>6

The Square Kilometer Array is expected to provide the first tomographic observations of the neutral intergalactic medium at redshifts z>6 and pinpoint the locations of individual ionized bubbles during early stages of cosmic reionization. In scenarios where star-forming galaxies provide most of the ionizing photons required for cosmic reionization, one expects the first ionized bubbles to be centered on overdensities of such galaxies. Here, we model the properties of galaxy populations within isolated, ionized bubbles that SKA-1 should be able to resolve at z=7-10, and explore the prospects fo…

The impact of anisotropy from finite light travel time on detecting ionized bubbles in redshifted 21-cm maps

The detection of ionized bubbles around quasars in redshifted 21-cm maps is possibly one of the most direct future probes of reionization. We consider two models for the growth of spherical ionized bubbles to study the apparent shapes of the bubbles in redshifted 21-cm maps, taking into account the finite light travel time (FLTT) across the bubble. We find that the FLTT, whose effect is particularly pronounced for large bubbles, causes the bubble's image to continue to grow well after it's actual growth is over. There are two distinct FLTT distortions in the bubble's image: (i) its apparent ce…

The optimal redshift for detecting ionized bubbles in HI 21-cm maps

The detection of individual ionized bubbles in HI 21-cm maps is one of the most promising, direct probes of the epoch of reionization(EoR). Atleast 1000 hrs of observation would be required for such a detection with either the currently functioning GMRT or the upcoming MWA. Considering the large investment of telescope time it is essential to identify the``optimal redshift'' where the prospects of a detection are most favourable. We find that the optimal redshift is determined by a combination of instrument dependent factors and the evolution of the neutral fraction x_HI. We find that the reds…

First Demonstration of a Scintillating Xenon Bubble Chamber for Detecting Dark Matter and Coherent Elastic Neutrino-Nucleus Scattering

A 30-g xenon bubble chamber, operated at Northwestern University in June and November 2016, has for the first time observed simultaneous bubble nucleation and scintillation by nuclear recoils in a superheated liquid. This chamber is instrumented with a CCD camera for near-IR bubble imaging, a solar-blind photomultiplier tube to detect 175-nm xenon scintillation light, and a piezoelectric acoustic transducer to detect the ultrasonic emission from a growing bubble. The time of nucleation determined from the acoustic signal is used to correlate specific scintillation pulses with bubble-nucleating…

利用HI 21-cm信号探测再电离时期明亮源周围的电离气泡

Detecting ionized bubbles around luminous sources during the reionization era using HI 21-cm signal

本文探讨了利用uGMRT和SKA1-Low的红移21厘米观测，通过匹配滤波技术探测再电离时期明亮源周围的电离气泡，并验证了其对气泡半径和中性氢分数的测量与约束能力。