Aviad Cohen

Charting the Parameter Space of the Global 21-cm Signal

The early star-forming Universe is still poorly constrained, with the properties of high-redshift stars, the first heating sources, and reionization highly uncertain. This leaves observers planning 21-cm experiments with little theoretical guidance. In this work we explore the possible range of high-redshift parameters including the star formation efficiency and the minimal mass of star-forming halos; the efficiency, spectral energy distribution, and redshift evolution of the first X-ray sources; and the history of reionization. These parameters are only weakly constrained by available observations, mainly the optical depth to the cosmic microwave background. We use realistic semi-numerical simulations to produce the global 21-cm signal over the redshift range

Constraining the redshifted 21-cm signal with the unresolved soft X-ray background

z = 6-40

Reconstructing the nature of the first cosmic sources from the anisotropic 21-cm signal.

for each of 193 different combinations of the astrophysical parameters spanning the allowed range. We show that the expected signal fills a large parameter space, but with a fixed general shape for the global 21-cm curve. Even with our wide selection of models we still find clear correlations between the key features of the global 21-cm signal and underlying astrophysical properties of the high redshift Universe, namely the Ly

First Results on the Epoch of Reionization from First Light with SARAS 2

alpha

The 21-cm BAO signature of enriched low-mass galaxies during cosmic reionization

intensity, the X-ray heating rate, and the production rate of ionizing photons. These correlations can be used to directly link future measurements of the global 21-cm signal to astrophysical quantities in a mostly model-independent way. We identify additional correlations that can be used as consistency checks.

SARAS 2 Constraints on Global 21 cm Signals from the Epoch of Reionization

We use the observed unresolved cosmic X-ray background (CXRB) in the 0.5-2 keV band and existing upper limits on the 21-cm power spectrum to constrain the high-redshift population of X-ray sources, focusing on their effect on the thermal history of the Universe and the cosmic 21-cm signal. Because the properties of these sources are poorly constrained, we consider hot gas, X-ray binaries and mini-quasars (i.e., sources with soft or hard X-ray spectra) as possible candidates. We find that (1) the soft-band CXRB sets an upper limit on the X-ray efficiency of sources that existed before the end of reionization, which is one-to-two orders of magnitude higher than typically assumed efficiencies, (2) hard sources are more effective in generating the CXRB than the soft ones, (3) the commonly-assumed limit of saturated heating is not valid during the first half of reionization in the case of hard sources, with any allowed value of X-ray efficiency, (4) the maximal allowed X-ray efficiency sets a lower limit on the depth of the absorption trough in the global 21-cm signal and an upper limit on the height of the emission peak, while in the 21-cm power spectrum it sets a minimum amplitude and frequency for the high-redshift peaks, and (5) the existing upper limit on the 21-cm power spectrum sets a lower limit on the X-ray efficiency for each model. When combined with the 21-cm global signal, the CXRB will be useful for breaking degeneracies and helping constrain the nature of high-redshift heating sources.

A New Perspective on the Risk of Hypercoagulopathy in Ovarian Hyperstimulation Syndrome Using Thromboelastography

The redshifted 21-cm background is expected to be a powerful probe of the early Universe, carrying both cosmological and astrophysical information from a wide range of redshifts. In particular, the power spectrum of fluctuations in the 21-cm brightness temperature is anisotropic due to the line-of-sight velocity gradient, which in principle allows for a simple extraction of this information in the limit of linear fluctuations. However, recent numerical studies suggest that the 21-cm signal is actually rather complex, and its analysis likely depends on detailed model fitting. We present the first realistic simulation of the anisotropic 21-cm power spectrum over a wide period of early cosmic history. We show that on observable scales, the anisotropy is large and thus measurable at most redshifts, and its form tracks the evolution of 21-cm fluctuations as they are produced early on by Lyman-α radiation from stars, then switch to x-ray radiation from early heating sources, and finally to ionizing radiation from stars. In particular, we predict a redshift window during cosmic heating (at z∼15), when the anisotropy is small, during which the shape of the 21-cm power spectrum on large scales is determined directly by the average radial distribution of the flux from x-ray sources. This makes possible a model-independent reconstruction of the x-ray spectrum of the earliest sources of cosmic heating.

Total bilateral salpingectomy versus partial bilateral salpingectomy for permanent sterilization during cesarean delivery

Long wavelength spectral distortions in the Cosmic Microwave Background arising from the 21-cm transition in neutral Hydrogen are a key probe of Cosmic Dawn and the Epoch of Reionization. These features may reveal the nature of the first stars and ultra-faint galaxies that transformed the spin temperature and ionization state of the primordial gas. SARAS~2 is a spectral radiometer purposely designed for precision measurement of these monopole or all-sky global 21-cm spectral distortions. We use 63~hr night time observing of the radio background in the frequency band 110-200~MHz with the radiometer deployed at the Timbaktu Collective in Southern India to derive likelihoods for plausible redshifted 21-cm signals predicted by theoretical models. First light with SARAS 2 disfavors the class of models that feature weak X-ray heating (with

Charting the parameter space of the 21-cm power spectrum

f_X leq 0.1

Surgical Intervention in Patients with Tubo-Ovarian Abscess: Clinical Predictors and a Simple Risk Score

) and rapid reionization (with peak