{"_id":"17678","extern":"1","volume":428,"title":"Evidence of Gunn–Peterson damping wings in high-z quasar spectra: Strengthening the case for incomplete reionization at z ∼ 6–7","intvolume":"       428","publication_status":"published","abstract":[{"text":"The spectra of several high-redshift (z>6) quasars have shown evidence for a Gunn-Peterson (GP) damping wing, indicating a substantial mean neutral hydrogen fraction (x_HI > 0.03) in the z ~ 6 intergalactic medium (IGM). However, previous analyses assumed that the IGM was uniformly ionized outside of the quasar's HII region. Here we relax this assumption and model patchy reionization scenarios for a range of IGM and quasar parameters. We quantify the impact of these differences on the inferred x_HI, by fitting the spectra of three quasars: SDSS J1148+5251 (z=6.419), J1030+0524 (z=6.308), and J1623+3112 (z=6.247). We find that the best-fit values of x_HI in the patchy models agree well with the uniform case. More importantly, we confirm that the observed spectra favor the presence of a GP damping wing, with peak likelihoods decreasing by factors of > few - 10 when the spectra are modeled without a damping wing. We also find that the Ly alpha absorption spectra, by themselves, cannot distinguish the damping wing in a relatively neutral IGM from a damping wing in a highly ionized IGM, caused either by an isolated neutral patch, or by a damped Ly alpha absorber (DLA). However, neutral patches in a highly ionized universe (x_HI < 0.01), and DLAs with the large required column densities (N_HI > few x 10^{20} cm^{-2}) are both rare. As a result, when we include reasonable prior probabilities for the line of sight (LOS) to intercept either a neutral patch or a DLA at the required distance of ~ 40-60 comoving Mpc away from the quasar, we find strong lower limits on the neutral fraction in the IGM, x_HI > 0.1 (at 95% confidence). This strengthens earlier claims that a substantial global fraction of hydrogen in the z~6 IGM is in neutral form.","lang":"eng"}],"article_processing_charge":"No","scopus_import":"1","month":"11","quality_controlled":"1","doi":"10.1093/mnras/sts253","publication":"Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society","year":"2012","publication_identifier":{"issn":["0035-8711","1365-2966"]},"oa":1,"date_updated":"2024-09-25T08:53:21Z","citation":{"ieee":"J. Schroeder, A. Mesinger, and Z. Haiman, “Evidence of Gunn–Peterson damping wings in high-z quasar spectra: Strengthening the case for incomplete reionization at z ∼ 6–7,” <i>Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society</i>, vol. 428, no. 4. Oxford University Press, pp. 3058–3071, 2012.","ista":"Schroeder J, Mesinger A, Haiman Z. 2012. Evidence of Gunn–Peterson damping wings in high-z quasar spectra: Strengthening the case for incomplete reionization at z ∼ 6–7. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. 428(4), 3058–3071.","apa":"Schroeder, J., Mesinger, A., &#38; Haiman, Z. (2012). Evidence of Gunn–Peterson damping wings in high-z quasar spectra: Strengthening the case for incomplete reionization at z ∼ 6–7. <i>Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society</i>. Oxford University Press. <a href=\"https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/sts253\">https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/sts253</a>","chicago":"Schroeder, Joshua, Andrei Mesinger, and Zoltán Haiman. “Evidence of Gunn–Peterson Damping Wings in High-z Quasar Spectra: Strengthening the Case for Incomplete Reionization at z ∼ 6–7.” <i>Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society</i>. Oxford University Press, 2012. <a href=\"https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/sts253\">https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/sts253</a>.","short":"J. Schroeder, A. Mesinger, Z. Haiman, Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society 428 (2012) 3058–3071.","ama":"Schroeder J, Mesinger A, Haiman Z. Evidence of Gunn–Peterson damping wings in high-z quasar spectra: Strengthening the case for incomplete reionization at z ∼ 6–7. <i>Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society</i>. 2012;428(4):3058-3071. doi:<a href=\"https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/sts253\">10.1093/mnras/sts253</a>","mla":"Schroeder, Joshua, et al. “Evidence of Gunn–Peterson Damping Wings in High-z Quasar Spectra: Strengthening the Case for Incomplete Reionization at z ∼ 6–7.” <i>Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society</i>, vol. 428, no. 4, Oxford University Press, 2012, pp. 3058–71, doi:<a href=\"https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/sts253\">10.1093/mnras/sts253</a>."},"oa_version":"Published Version","type":"journal_article","publisher":"Oxford University Press","main_file_link":[{"open_access":"1","url":"https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/sts253"}],"status":"public","day":"22","issue":"4","language":[{"iso":"eng"}],"date_published":"2012-11-22T00:00:00Z","article_type":"original","author":[{"last_name":"Schroeder","first_name":"Joshua","full_name":"Schroeder, Joshua"},{"first_name":"Andrei","full_name":"Mesinger, Andrei","last_name":"Mesinger"},{"last_name":"Haiman","id":"7c006e8c-cc0d-11ee-8322-cb904ef76f36","first_name":"Zoltán","full_name":"Haiman, Zoltán"}],"page":"3058-3071","user_id":"317138e5-6ab7-11ef-aa6d-ffef3953e345","date_created":"2024-09-06T08:04:35Z"}