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Register a new userDetecting ionized bubbles in redshifted 21 cm maps
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The reionization of the Universe, it is believed, occurred by the growth of ionized regions (bubbles) in the neutral intergalactic medium (IGM). We study the possibility of detecting these bubbles in radio-interferometric observations of redshifted neutral hydrogen (HI) 21 cm radiation. The signal 1 mJy will be buried in noise and foregrounds, the latter being at least a few orders of magnitude stronger than the signal. We develop a visibility based formalism that uses a filter to optimally combine the entire signal from a bubble while minimizing the noise and foreground contributions. This formalism makes definite predictions on the ability to detect an ionized bubble or conclusively rule out its presence in a radio- interferometric observation. We make predictions for the currently functioning GMRT and a forthcoming instrument, the MWA at a frequency of 150 MHz (corresponding to a redshift of 8.5). For both instruments, we show that a 3 sigma detection will be possible for a bubble of comoving radius R_b > 40 Mpc (assuming it to be spherical) in 100 hrs of observation and R_b 22 Mpc in 1000 hrs of observation, provided the bubble is at the center of the field of view. In both these cases the filter effectively removes the expected foreground contribution so that it is below the signal, and the system noise is the deciding criteria. We find that there is a fundamental limitation on the smallest bubble that can be detected arising from the statistical fluctuations in the HI distribution. Assuming that the HI traces the dark matter we find that it will not be possible to detect bubbles with R_b < 8 Mpc using the GMRT and R_b < 16 Mpc using the MWA, however large be the integration time.
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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 bubbles image to continue to grow well after its actual growth is over. There are two distinct FLTT distortions in the bubbles image: (i) its apparent center is shifted along the line of sight (LOS) towards the observer from the quasar; (ii) its shape is anisotropic along the LOS. The bubble initially appears elongated along the LOS. This is reversed in the later stages of growth where the bubble appears compressed. The FLTT distortions are expected to have an impact on matched filter bubble detection where it is most convenient to use a spherical template for the filter. We find that the best matched spherical filter gives a reasonably good estimate of the size and the shift in the center of the anisotropic image. The mismatch between the spherical filter and the anisotropic image causes a 10 - 20% degradation in the SNR relative to that of a spherical bubble. We conclude that a spherical filter is adequate for bubble detection. The FLTT distortions do not effect the lower limits for bubble detection with 1000 hr of GMRT observations. The smallest spherical filter for which a detection is possible has comoving radii 24 Mpc and 33 Mpc for a 3-sigma and 5-sigma detection respectively, assuming a neutral fraction 0.6 at z sim 8.
Extending the formalism of Datta, Bharadwaj & Choudhury (2007) for detecting ionized bubbles in redshifted 21 cm maps using a matched-filtering technique, we use different simulations to analyze the impact of HI fluctuations outside the bubble on the detectability of the bubble. In the first three kinds of simulations there is a spherical bubble of comoving radius R_b, the one that we are trying to detect, located at the center, and the neutral hydrogen (HI) outside the bubble traces the underlying dark matter distribution. We consider three different possible scenarios of reionization, i.e., (i) there is a single bubble (SB) in the field of view (FoV) and the hydrogen neutral fraction is constant outside this bubble (ii) patchy reionization with many small ionized bubbles in the FoV (PR1) and (iii) many spherical ionized bubbles of the same radius $R_b$ (PR2). The fourth kind of simulation uses more realistic maps based on semi-numeric modelling (SM) of ionized regions. We find that for both the SB and PR1 scenarios the fluctuating IGM restricts bubble detection to size R_b<= 6 Mpc and R_b<= 12 Mpc for the GMRT and the MWA respectively, however large be the integration time. These results are well explained by analytical predictions. Large uncertainty due to the HI fluctuations restricts bubble detection in the PR2 scenario for neutral fraction x_HI<0.6. The matched-filter technique works well even when the targeted ionized bubble is non-spherical due to surrounding bubbles and inhomogeneous recombination (SM). We find that determining the size and positions of the bubbles is not limited by the HI fluctuations in the SB and PR1 scenario but limited by the instruments angular resolution instead, and this can be done more precisely for larger bubble (abridged).
One of the most promising approaches for studying reionization is to use the redshifted 21 cm line. Early generations of redshifted 21 cm surveys will not, however, have the sensitivity to make detailed maps of the reionization process, and will instead focus on statistical measurements. Here we show that it may nonetheless be possible to {em directly identify ionized regions} in upcoming data sets by applying suitable filters to the noisy data. The locations of prominent minima in the filtered data correspond well with the positions of ionized regions. In particular, we corrupt semi-numeric simulations of the redshifted 21 cm signal during reionization with thermal noise at the level expected for a 500 antenna tile version of the Murchison Widefield Array (MWA), and mimic the degrading effects of foreground cleaning. Using a matched filter technique, we find that the MWA should be able to directly identify ionized regions despite the large thermal noise. In a plausible fiducial model in which ~20% of the volume of the Universe is neutral at z ~ 7, we find that a 500-tile MWA may directly identify as many as ~150 ionized regions in a 6 MHz portion of its survey volume and roughly determine the size of each of these regions. This may, in turn, allow interesting multi-wavelength follow-up observations, comparing galaxy properties inside and outside of ionized regions. We discuss how the optimal configuration of radio antenna tiles for detecting ionized regions with a matched filter technique differs from the optimal design for measuring power spectra. These considerations have potentially important implications for the design of future redshifted 21 cm surveys.
Detection of 21~cm emission of HI from the epoch of reionization, at redshifts z>6, is limited primarily by foreground emission. We investigate the signatures of wide-field measurements and an all-sky foreground model using the delay spectrum technique that maps the measurements to foreground object locations through signal delays between antenna pairs. We demonstrate interferometric measurements are inherently sensitive to all scales, including the largest angular scales, owing to the nature of wide-field measurements. These wide-field effects are generic to all observations but antenna shapes impact their amplitudes substantially. A dish-shaped antenna yields the most desirable features from a foreground contamination viewpoint, relative to a dipole or a phased array. Comparing data from recent Murchison Widefield Array observations, we demonstrate that the foreground signatures that have the largest impact on the HI signal arise from power received far away from the primary field of view. We identify diffuse emission near the horizon as a significant contributing factor, even on wide antenna spacings that usually represent structures on small scales. For signals entering through the primary field of view, compact emission dominates the foreground contamination. These two mechanisms imprint a characteristic pitchfork signature on the foreground wedge in Fourier delay space. Based on these results, we propose that selective down-weighting of data based on antenna spacing and time can mitigate foreground contamination substantially by a factor ~100 with negligible loss of sensitivity.
We show how the investigation of the redshifted 21-cm radiation can give insight into the development of structures in the early universe (at redshifts z>5). In particular we investigate: the epoch of the first light; the fluctuations in the redshifted 21-cm emission induced by the density inhomogeneities in CDM dominated universes; the emission and absorption shells that are generated around the first bright quasars. Such features can be observed with the next generation radio facilities.
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