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Probing the Very First Galaxies with the SKA

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Book cover The Square Kilometre Array: Paving the way for the new 21st century radio astronomy paradigm

Part of the book series: Astrophysics and Space Science Proceedings ((ASSSP))

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Abstract

We describe the use of the high redshift 21 cm signal to probe the very first galaxies to appear in the Universe. Using fast large volume simulations of the pre-Reionization epoch we have shown that the Lyman alpha radiation emitted from these young galaxies makes a strong contribution to the 21 cm signal on large scales at z∼20. With the current setup the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) should be able to measure this signal, therefore making it probably the only telescope capable of giving us detailed information about the radiation emitted by the first stars and characterizing their host galaxies. SKA-pathfinders with∼10% of the full collecting area should be capable of making a statistical detection of the 21cm power spectrum at redshifts z<20. We then discuss the use of the redshift space distortions as a way to further constrain the Lyman alpha signal and demonstrate that they can be used as a model independent way to extract this signature with the SKA.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    http://www.lofar.org.

  2. 2.

    http://www.mwatelescope.org.

  3. 3.

    http://www.skatelescope.org.

  4. 4.

    Available at http://simfast21.org.

  5. 5.

    http://www.skads-eu.org.

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Acknowledgements

This work was partially supported by FCT-Portugal under grants PTDC/FIS/66825/2006 and PTDC/FIS/100170/2008.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. CENTRA, Departamento de Física, Instituto Superior Técnico, 1049-001, Lisboa, Portugal

    M. B. Silva

Authors
  1. M. B. Silva
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  2. M. G. Santos
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  3. J. R. Pritchard
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  4. R. Cen
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  5. A. Cooray
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to M. B. Silva .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. , Telecomunicações, Campus Univ. de Aveiro, Radio Astronomy Group, Instituto de, Aveiro, 3810-193, Portugal

    Domingos Barbosa

  2. , Departamento de Matemática, CICGE, Rua do Campo Alegre 687, Porto, 4169-007, Portugal

    Sonia Anton

  3. Joint Institute for VLBI in Europe, Dwingeloo, 7990 AA, Netherlands

    Leonid Gurvits

  4. , Observatorio Astronomico Manuel de Barro, CICGE-UP, Alameda do Monte da Virgem, Vila Nova de Gaia, 4430-146, Portugal

    Dalmiro Maia

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© 2012 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Silva, M.B., Santos, M.G., Pritchard, J.R., Cen, R., Cooray, A. (2012). Probing the Very First Galaxies with the SKA. In: Barbosa, D., Anton, S., Gurvits, L., Maia, D. (eds) The Square Kilometre Array: Paving the way for the new 21st century radio astronomy paradigm. Astrophysics and Space Science Proceedings. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-22795-0_11

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-22795-0_11

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-642-22794-3

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-22795-0

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