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The Kinetic Sunyaev-Zel'dovich effect as a probe of the physics of cosmic reionization: the effect of self-regulated reionization

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posted on 2023-06-08, 15:12 authored by Hyunbae Park, Paul R Shapiro, Eiichiro Komatsu, Ilian IlievIlian Iliev, Kyungjin Ahn, Garrelt Mellema
We calculate the angular power spectrum of the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) temperature fluctuations induced by the kinetic Sunyaev-Zel'dovich (kSZ) effect from the epoch of reionization (EOR). We use detailed N-body+radiative transfer simulations to follow inhomogeneous reionization of the intergalactic medium (IGM). For the first time we take into account the "self-regulation" of reionization: star formation in low-mass dwarf galaxies (10^8 M_\sun \lesssim M \lesssim 10^9 M_\sun) or minihalos (10^5 M_\sun \lesssim M \lesssim 10^8 M_\sun) is suppressed if these halos form in the regions that were already ionized or Lyman-Werner dissociated. Some previous work suggested that the amplitude of the kSZ power spectrum from the EOR can be described by a two-parameter family: the epoch of half ionization and the duration of reionization. However, we argue that this picture applies only to simple forms of the reionization history which are roughly symmetric about the half-ionization epoch. In self-regulated reionization, the universe begins to be ionized early, maintains a low level of ionization for an extended period, and then finishes reionization as soon as high-mass atomically-cooling halos dominate. While inclusion of self-regulation affects the amplitude of the kSZ power spectrum only modestly (\sim 10 %), it can change the duration of reionization by a factor of more than two. We conclude that the simple two-parameter family does not capture the effect of a physical, yet complex, reionization history caused by self-regulation. When added to the post-reionization kSZ contribution, our prediction for the total kSZ power spectrum is below the current upper bound from the South Pole Telescope. Therefore, the current upper bound on the kSZ effect from the EOR is consistent with our understanding of the physics of reionization.

History

Publication status

  • Published

File Version

  • Published version

Journal

Astrophysical Journal

ISSN

0004-637X

Publisher

Institute of Physics

Issue

2

Volume

769

Page range

93

Department affiliated with

  • Physics and Astronomy Publications

Full text available

  • Yes

Peer reviewed?

  • Yes

Legacy Posted Date

2013-06-10

First Open Access (FOA) Date

2016-03-22

First Compliant Deposit (FCD) Date

2016-11-10

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