2004/11/23 by J. Stuart B. Wyithe, Stuart Wyithe, Abraham Loeb +2
Physics and Astronomy · #Astrophysics and Cosmic Phenomena #Galaxies: Formation, Evolution, Phenomena #Gamma-ray bursts and supernovae #astro-ph
paper · pdf · doi:10.1086/430874
published as Astrophys.J. 628 (2005) 575-582 · 9 pages, 4 figures. Submitted to ApJ
arxiv created 2004/11/23 · openalex publication_date 2005/07/28 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2016/06/24 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/31
We analyze the evolution of H II regions around the seven known SDSS quasars at z > 6. The comparison between the observed and model radii of the H II regions generated by these quasars individually suggests that the surrounding intergalactic hydrogen is significantly neutral. When all constraints are combined, the existing quasar sample implies a volume-averaged neutral fraction that is larger than 10% at z > 6. This limited sample permits a preliminary analysis of the correlations between the quasar parameters, the sizes of their H II regions, and the associated constraints on the neutral hydrogen fraction. We find no evidence in these correlations to contradict the interpretation that the red side of the Gunn-Peterson trough corresponds to the boundary between an H II region and a partially neutral IGM.