Forecast for the detectability of patchy hydrogen reionization in WEAVE-QSO measurements of the Lyman-α forest power spectrum at redshift z ≥ 4
12 affiliations
- 1School of Physics and Astronomy, The University of Nottingham, University Park , Nottingham, NG7 2RD ,
- 2Astronomy and Mathematics Centre for Astrophysics Research, Department of Physics, , University of Hertfordshire, College Lane, Hatfield, AL10 9AB ,
- 3Astrophysics and Space Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Indore Department of Astronomy, , Simrol, MP 453552 ,
- 4Aix Marseille Université , CNRS, CNES, Laboratoire d’Astrophysique de Marseille , Marseille 13388 ,
- 5Università degli Studi di Milano-Bicocca Dipartimento di Fisica “G. Occhialini”, , Piazza della Scienza 3, 20126 Milano ,
- 6Camosun College , 3100 Foul Bay Rd, Victoria, BC V8P 5J2 ,
- 7IUCAA , Postbag 4, Ganeshkhind, Pune 411007, Maharashtra ,
- 8INAF - Osservatorio Astronomico di Brera , Via Brera 28, 20122 Milano, via E. Bianchi 46, 23807 Merate ,
- 9INAF - Osservatorio Astronomico di Trieste , via G.B. Tiepolo 11, I-34143 Trieste ,
- 10Isaac Newton Group of Telescopes , Apartado 321, 38700 Santa Cruz de la Palma, Tenerife ,
- 11Universitat Politécnica de Catalunya Departament de Física, EEBE, , c/Eduard Maristany 10, 08930 Barcelona ,
- 12National Centre for Nuclear Research , ul. Pasteura 7, 02-093 Warsaw ,
Abstract
We present the first detailed forecasts for the detectability of patchy hydrogen reionization in the one-dimensional Lyα forest power spectrum to be measured by the WEAVE-QSO survey. Using the Sherwood-relics reionization simulations and a WEAVE-QSO survey configuration, we generate mock spectra in four redshift bins, z = 4.0, 4.2, 4.4, and 4.6, in which relic ionization and temperature fluctuations from patchy hydrogen reionization enhance the Lyα forest power spectrum on large scales (i.e., at wavenumber k∼ 10−3 s km−1). Our Lyα forest pipeline forecasts the power spectrum covariance by considering sample size, spectral resolution, noise subtraction, continuum placement, metal contamination, and damping wings from high-column density absorbers. Applying our covariance forecast within a Bayesian parameter inference framework, we find that the signature of patchy hydrogen reionization should be detectable at a significance of ≃ 4.5σ. The forthcoming WEAVE-QSO 1D power spectrum measurements should therefore be able to directly detect and characterize the large-scale relic imprint of patchy hydrogen reionization in the Lyα forest power spectrum at z ≥ 4.
Versions
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BibTeX
@article{ma2026forecast,
title = {{Forecast for the detectability of patchy hydrogen reionization in WEAVE-QSO measurements of the Lyman-α forest power spectrum at redshift z ≥ 4}},
author = {Ke Ma and James S Bolton and Vid Iršič and Prakash Gaikwad and Matthew M Pieri and Trystyn A M Berg and Rajeshwari Dutta and Matteo Fossati and Michele Fumagalli and Emanuel Gafton and Ignasi Pérez Ràfols and Francesco Pistis},
journal = {Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.1093/mnras/stag2028},
url = {https://academic.oup.com/mnras/advance-article/doi/10.1093/mnras/stag2028/9004843},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Forecast for the detectability of patchy hydrogen reionization in WEAVE-QSO measurements of the Lyman-α forest power spectrum at redshift z ≥ 4
AU - Ke Ma
AU - James S Bolton
AU - Vid Iršič
AU - Prakash Gaikwad
AU - Matthew M Pieri
AU - Trystyn A M Berg
AU - Rajeshwari Dutta
AU - Matteo Fossati
AU - Michele Fumagalli
AU - Emanuel Gafton
AU - Ignasi Pérez Ràfols
AU - Francesco Pistis
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/29
JO - Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
DO - 10.1093/mnras/stag2028
UR - https://academic.oup.com/mnras/advance-article/doi/10.1093/mnras/stag2028/9004843
AB - We present the first detailed forecasts for the detectability of patchy hydrogen reionization in the one-dimensional Lyα forest power spectrum to be measured by the WEAVE-QSO survey. Using the Sherwood-relics reionization simulations and a WEAVE-QSO survey configuration, we generate mock spectra in four redshift bins, z = 4.0, 4.2, 4.4, and 4.6, in which relic ionization and temperature fluctuations from patchy hydrogen reionization enhance the Lyα forest power spectrum on large scales (i.e., at wavenumber k∼ 10^−3 s km^−1). Our Lyα forest pipeline forecasts the power spectrum covariance by considering sample size, spectral resolution, noise subtraction, continuum placement, metal contamination, and damping wings from high-column density absorbers. Applying our covariance forecast within a Bayesian parameter inference framework, we find that the signature of patchy hydrogen reionization should be detectable at a significance of ≃ 4.5σ. The forthcoming WEAVE-QSO 1D power spectrum measurements should therefore be able to directly detect and characterize the large-scale relic imprint of patchy hydrogen reionization in the Lyα forest power spectrum at z ≥ 4.
SN - 0035-8711
SN - 1365-2966
ER -