Constraining the redshifted 21-cm signal with the unresolved soft X-ray background

TL;DR

This study uses the unresolved cosmic X-ray background and 21-cm observations to constrain high-redshift X-ray sources, revealing their properties' impact on the Universe's thermal history and the 21-cm signal.

Contribution

It provides new constraints on the X-ray efficiency of early sources and explores their effects on the 21-cm signal, considering different source types and spectra.

Findings

Soft CXRB limits X-ray efficiency of early sources.

Hard X-ray sources produce more CXRB than soft sources.

Constraints on X-ray efficiency influence the 21-cm absorption and emission features.

Abstract

We use the observed unresolved cosmic X-ray background (CXRB) in the 0.5-2 keV band and existing upper limits on the 21-cm power spectrum to constrain the high-redshift population of X-ray sources, focusing on their effect on the thermal history of the Universe and the cosmic 21-cm signal. Because the properties of these sources are poorly constrained, we consider hot gas, X-ray binaries and mini-quasars (i.e., sources with soft or hard X-ray spectra) as possible candidates. We find that (1) the soft-band CXRB sets an upper limit on the X-ray efficiency of sources that existed before the end of reionization, which is one-to-two orders of magnitude higher than typically assumed efficiencies, (2) hard sources are more effective in generating the CXRB than the soft ones, (3) the commonly-assumed limit of saturated heating is not valid during the first half of reionization in the case of hard sources, with any allowed value of X-ray efficiency, (4) the maximal allowed X-ray efficiency sets a lower limit on the depth of the absorption trough in the global 21-cm signal and an upper limit on the height of the emission peak, while in the 21-cm power spectrum it sets a minimum amplitude and frequency for the high-redshift peaks, and (5) the existing upper limit on the 21-cm power spectrum sets a lower limit on the X-ray efficiency for each model. When combined with the 21-cm global signal, the CXRB will be useful for breaking degeneracies and helping constrain the nature of high-redshift heating sources.