JWST Constraints on the UV Luminosity Density at Cosmic Dawn: Implications for 21 cm Cosmology
An unprecedented array of new observational capabilities are starting to yield key constraints on models of the epoch of first light in the Universe. In this Letter we discuss the implications of the UV radiation background at cosmic dawn inferred by recent JWST observations for radio experiments ai...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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IOP Publishing
2023-01-01
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| Series: | The Astrophysical Journal Letters |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8213/ad0239 |
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| author | Sultan Hassan Christopher C. Lovell Piero Madau Marc Huertas-Company Rachel S. Somerville Blakesley Burkhart Keri L. Dixon Robert Feldmann Tjitske K. Starkenburg John F. Wu Christian Kragh Jespersen Joseph D. Gelfand Ankita Bera |
| author_facet | Sultan Hassan Christopher C. Lovell Piero Madau Marc Huertas-Company Rachel S. Somerville Blakesley Burkhart Keri L. Dixon Robert Feldmann Tjitske K. Starkenburg John F. Wu Christian Kragh Jespersen Joseph D. Gelfand Ankita Bera |
| author_sort | Sultan Hassan |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | An unprecedented array of new observational capabilities are starting to yield key constraints on models of the epoch of first light in the Universe. In this Letter we discuss the implications of the UV radiation background at cosmic dawn inferred by recent JWST observations for radio experiments aimed at detecting the redshifted 21 cm hyperfine transition of diffuse neutral hydrogen. Under the basic assumption that the 21 cm signal is activated by the Ly α photon field produced by metal-poor stellar systems, we show that a detection at the low frequencies of the EDGES and SARAS3 experiments may be expected from a simple extrapolation of the declining UV luminosity density inferred at z ≲ 14 from JWST early galaxy data. Accounting for an early radiation excess above the cosmic microwave background suggests a shallower or flat evolution to simultaneously reproduce low- and high- z current UV luminosity density constraints, which cannot be entirely ruled out, given the large uncertainties from cosmic variance and the faint-end slope of the galaxy luminosity function at cosmic dawn. Our findings raise the intriguing possibility that a high star formation efficiency at early times may trigger the onset of intense Ly α emission at redshift z ≲ 20 and produce a cosmic 21 cm absorption signal 200 Myr after the Big Bang. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-11T10:30:27Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-356c4203e7b64c46a0ec2d5c329cb998 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2041-8205 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-11T10:30:27Z |
| publishDate | 2023-01-01 |
| publisher | IOP Publishing |
| record_format | Article |
| series | The Astrophysical Journal Letters |
| spelling | doaj.art-356c4203e7b64c46a0ec2d5c329cb9982023-11-14T19:19:26ZengIOP PublishingThe Astrophysical Journal Letters2041-82052023-01-019581L310.3847/2041-8213/ad0239JWST Constraints on the UV Luminosity Density at Cosmic Dawn: Implications for 21 cm CosmologySultan Hassan0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1050-7572Christopher C. Lovell1https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7964-5933Piero Madau2https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6336-3293Marc Huertas-Company3https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1416-8483Rachel S. Somerville4https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6748-6821Blakesley Burkhart5https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5817-5944Keri L. Dixon6Robert Feldmann7https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1109-1919Tjitske K. Starkenburg8https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2539-8206John F. Wu9https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5077-881XChristian Kragh Jespersen10https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8896-6496Joseph D. Gelfand11https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4679-1058Ankita Bera12https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7072-570XCenter for Cosmology and Particle Physics, Department of Physics, New York University , 726 Broadway, New York, NY 10003, USA ; sultan.hassan@nyu.edu; Center for Computational Astrophysics, Flatiron Institute , 162 5th Avenue, New York, NY 10010, USA; Department of Physics & Astronomy, University of the Western Cape , Cape Town 7535, South AfricaInstitute of Cosmology and Gravitation, University of Portsmouth , Burnaby Road, Portsmouth PO1 3FX, UK; Astronomy Centre, University of Sussex , Falmer, Brighton BN1 9QH, UKDepartment of Astronomy & Astrophysics, University of California , Santa Cruz, CA 95064, USA; Dipartimento di Fisica “G. Occhialini,” Università degli Studi di Milano-Bicocca , Piazza della Scienza 3, I-20126 Milano, ItalyInstituto de Astrofísica de Canarias , La Laguna, Tenerife, Spain; Universidad de la Laguna , La Laguna, Tenerife, Spain; Université Paris-Cité , LERMA—Observatoire de Paris, PSL, Paris, FranceCenter for Computational Astrophysics, Flatiron Institute , 162 5th Avenue, New York, NY 10010, USACenter for Computational Astrophysics, Flatiron Institute , 162 5th Avenue, New York, NY 10010, USA; Department of Physics and Astronomy, Rutgers University , 136 Frelinghuysen Road, Piscataway, NJ 08854, USANew York University Abu Dhabi , PO Box 129188, Abu Dhabi, UAE; Center for Astrophysics and Space Science (CASS), New York University Abu Dhabi , PO Box 129188, Abu Dhabi, UAEInstitute for Computational Science, University of Zurich , CH-8057 Zurich, SwitzerlandDepartment of Physics & Astronomy and CIERA, Northwestern University , 1800 Sherman Avenue, Evanston, IL 60201, USASpace Telescope Science Institute , 3700 San Martin Drive, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA; Department of Physics & Astronomy, Johns Hopkins University , 3400 N Charles Street, Baltimore, MD 21218, USADepartment of Astrophysical Sciences, Princeton University , Princeton, NJ 08544, USANew York University Abu Dhabi , PO Box 129188, Abu Dhabi, UAE; Center for Astrophysics and Space Science (CASS), New York University Abu Dhabi , PO Box 129188, Abu Dhabi, UAESchool of Astrophysics, Presidency University , 86/1 College Street, Kolkata 700073, India; Department of Astronomy, University of Maryland , College Park, MD 20742, USAAn unprecedented array of new observational capabilities are starting to yield key constraints on models of the epoch of first light in the Universe. In this Letter we discuss the implications of the UV radiation background at cosmic dawn inferred by recent JWST observations for radio experiments aimed at detecting the redshifted 21 cm hyperfine transition of diffuse neutral hydrogen. Under the basic assumption that the 21 cm signal is activated by the Ly α photon field produced by metal-poor stellar systems, we show that a detection at the low frequencies of the EDGES and SARAS3 experiments may be expected from a simple extrapolation of the declining UV luminosity density inferred at z ≲ 14 from JWST early galaxy data. Accounting for an early radiation excess above the cosmic microwave background suggests a shallower or flat evolution to simultaneously reproduce low- and high- z current UV luminosity density constraints, which cannot be entirely ruled out, given the large uncertainties from cosmic variance and the faint-end slope of the galaxy luminosity function at cosmic dawn. Our findings raise the intriguing possibility that a high star formation efficiency at early times may trigger the onset of intense Ly α emission at redshift z ≲ 20 and produce a cosmic 21 cm absorption signal 200 Myr after the Big Bang.https://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8213/ad0239CosmologyJames Webb Space TelescopeRadio interferometersH I line emissionEarly universe |
| spellingShingle | Sultan Hassan Christopher C. Lovell Piero Madau Marc Huertas-Company Rachel S. Somerville Blakesley Burkhart Keri L. Dixon Robert Feldmann Tjitske K. Starkenburg John F. Wu Christian Kragh Jespersen Joseph D. Gelfand Ankita Bera JWST Constraints on the UV Luminosity Density at Cosmic Dawn: Implications for 21 cm Cosmology The Astrophysical Journal Letters Cosmology James Webb Space Telescope Radio interferometers H I line emission Early universe |
| title | JWST Constraints on the UV Luminosity Density at Cosmic Dawn: Implications for 21 cm Cosmology |
| title_full | JWST Constraints on the UV Luminosity Density at Cosmic Dawn: Implications for 21 cm Cosmology |
| title_fullStr | JWST Constraints on the UV Luminosity Density at Cosmic Dawn: Implications for 21 cm Cosmology |
| title_full_unstemmed | JWST Constraints on the UV Luminosity Density at Cosmic Dawn: Implications for 21 cm Cosmology |
| title_short | JWST Constraints on the UV Luminosity Density at Cosmic Dawn: Implications for 21 cm Cosmology |
| title_sort | jwst constraints on the uv luminosity density at cosmic dawn implications for 21 cm cosmology |
| topic | Cosmology James Webb Space Telescope Radio interferometers H I line emission Early universe |
| url | https://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8213/ad0239 |
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