LOFAR insights into the epoch of reionization from the cross power spectrum of 21cm emission and galaxies

TL;DR

This study uses simulations and models to analyze the cross power spectrum between galaxies and 21cm emission during reionization, revealing its potential to constrain neutral hydrogen fraction and reionization topology, despite observational noise challenges.

Contribution

It provides a detailed theoretical prediction of the galaxy-21cm cross power spectrum and assesses its observational viability with LOFAR and LAE surveys during reionization.

Findings

Cross power spectrum initially correlated, then anti-correlated as reionization progresses.

Normalization useful for constraining neutral fraction, shape affected by noise.

LAE surveys can effectively probe reionization topology despite noise issues.

Abstract

Using a combination of N-body simulations, semi-analytic models and radiative transfer calculations, we have estimated the theoretical cross power spectrum between galaxies and the 21cm emission from neutral hydrogen during the epoch of reionization. In accordance with previous studies, we find that the 21cm emission is initially correlated with halos on large scales (> 30 Mpc), anti-correlated on intermediate (~ 5 Mpc), and uncorrelated on small (< 3 Mpc) scales. This picture quickly changes as reionization proceeds and the two fields become anti-correlated on large scales. The normalization of the cross power spectrum can be used to set constraints on the average neutral fraction in the intergalactic medium and its shape can be a tool to study the topology of reionization. When we apply a drop-out technique to select galaxies and add to the 21cm signal the noise expected from the LOFAR telescope, we find that while the normalization of the cross power spectrum remains a useful tool for probing reionization, its shape becomes too noisy to be informative. On the other hand, for a Lyalpha Emitter (LAE) survey both the normalization and the shape of the cross power spectrum are suitable probes of reionization. A closer look at a specific planned LAE observing program using Subaru Hyper-Suprime Cam reveals concerns about the strength of the 21cm signal at the planned redshifts. If the ionized fraction at z ~ 7 is lower that the one estimated here, then using the cross power spectrum may be a useful exercise given that at higher redshifts and neutral fractions it is able to distinguish between two toy models with different topologies.