Speaker
Description
Mapping the large-scale structures of galaxy distribution and the intergalactic medium (IGM) — 'the art of cosmography' — has been instrumental in advancing our understanding of the Universe. The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has revolutionized the study of distant galaxies and cosmic reionization. However, the entire structure of the 'cosmic web' still remains unseen. In this talk, I will present our results for mapping the entire cosmic web, including both galaxies and the IGM, from the JWST ASPIRE quasar field survey. We find evidence of spatial correlation between JWST OIII emitters and the surrounding IGM transmission in the Lyman-alpha forest in multiple quasar fields. OIII emitters are found in the vicinity of IGM transmission spikes at 5.4 < z < 6.5, indicating that they reside in the highly ionized environment of the IGM and/or ionized bubbles. By comparing the observed cross-correlation with THESAN cosmological radiation hydrodynamic simulations, we find an excellent agreement between observation and simulation, reinforcing the idea that galaxies are the main driver of reionization. We also discuss the relative roles of luminous and faint galaxies by examining the individual associations between OIII emitters and transmission spikes. I will conclude by discussing the prospect of mapping the entire cosmic web during the final stages of reionization through photometric IGM tomography with JWST, Subaru/Hyper-SuprimeCam+ Prime-Focus Spectrograph, and Euclid in the near future to better understand the role of galaxies and AGN during the reionization epoch.
