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The first billion years of the Universe is a unique era, marked by the formation of the first stars, galaxies, and accreting black holes, which release ionising radiation into the intergalactic medium (IGM). As a result, these luminous sources initiate a period during which the cold and dense IGM, primarily consisting of neutral hydrogen (HI), is heated and ionised. We refer to this era as the Epoch of Reionization (EoR). It is a multi-scale event that evolves with time and depends on the nature of the astrophysical processes that govern the formation of stars and galaxies, as well as the fundamental cosmology that defines the properties of the large-scale IGM.
In this talk, I examine the various probes of the EoR with a focus on those explored in my PhD thesis. One key probe is the 21 cm signal emitted due to the hyperfine transition of HI atoms in the IGM. I discuss how we can decompose the terms comprising the 21 cm power spectrum and what this can tell us about the Universe on large scales. Moreover, I describe how we can relate this observable patchy kinetic Sunyaev-Zel'dovich effect, observed as a foreground to the primary Cosmic Microwave Background temperature anisotropies on small scales, in order to learn more about the properties of reionization. Lastly, I will show how the observables inferred from quasar data can tell us how the EoR concluded and the impact of Lyman Limit Systems on the process.
Zoom ID: 693 7038 8905