Constraining cosmology and ionization history with combined 21 cm power spectrum and global signal measurements

TL;DR

This paper forecasts how upcoming 21 cm cosmology measurements, combining power spectrum and global signal data, can improve constraints on astrophysical and cosmological parameters, considering recent Planck results and methodological innovations.

Contribution

It provides updated forecasts for 21 cm experiments using latest Planck data, explores combining power spectrum and global signal measurements, and proposes a new parameterization method for the global signal.

Findings

HERA can constrain ionization history with combined measurements

Uncertainties in cosmological parameters affect 21 cm data analysis

A new parameterization reduces global signal complexity

Abstract

Improvements in current instruments and the advent of next-generation instruments will soon push observational 21 cm cosmology into a new era, with high significance measurements of both the power spectrum and the mean ("global") signal of the 21 cm brightness temperature. In this paper we use the recently commenced Hydrogen Epoch of Reionization Array as a worked example to provide forecasts on astrophysical and cosmological parameter constraints. In doing so we improve upon previous forecasts in a number of ways. First, we provide updated forecasts using the latest best-fit cosmological parameters from the Planck satellite, exploring the impact of different Planck datasets on 21 cm experiments. We also show that despite the exquisite constraints that other probes have placed on cosmological parameters, the remaining uncertainties are still large enough to have a non-negligible impact on upcoming 21 cm data analyses. While this complicates high-precision constraints on reionization models, it provides an avenue for 21 cm reionization measurements to constrain cosmology. We additionally forecast HERA's ability to measure the ionization history using a combination of power spectrum measurements and semi-analytic simulations. Finally, we consider ways in which 21 cm global signal and power spectrum measurements can be combined, and propose a method by which power spectrum results can be used to train a compact parameterization of the global signal. This parameterization reduces the number of parameters needed to describe the global signal, increasing the likelihood of a high significance measurement.