Speaker
Description
Measuring the size distribution of ionized bubbles is key to understanding the physical properties of early galaxies, including those too faint for even JWST to detect directly. How do we measure these ionized bubbles? How can we infer the properties of reionizing galaxies from the measured bubble sizes? Excitingly, JWST’s excellent capability of detecting Lyman-alpha emission lines from galaxies and spectroscopically confirming galaxies, enables us to map the galaxy and ionization field in 3D for the first time at z>6. To test how we can use the observed galaxy Lya emissions to map ionized bubbles and learn about ionizing sources, we forward model galaxies’ Lya emission in realistic reionizing intergalactic medium simulations. We have developed a method to infer the ionized regions from galaxies using their Lya emission, for the first time combining observations of multiple galaxies to map out ionized structures. In this talk, I will present the Lya emission-bubble mapping method. I will also discuss the requirements and strategies of mapping ionized bubbles with JWST and future facilities.
