Title:	First Results on the Epoch of Reionization from First Light with SARAS 2
Authors:	Singh, Saurabh Subrahmanyan, Ravi Udaya Shankar, N. Sathyanarayana Rao, Mayuri Fialkov, Anastasia Cohen, Aviad Girish, B.S. Raghunathan, A. Somashekar, R. Srivani, K.S.
Keywords:	cosmic background radiation dark ages reionization first stars
Issue Date:	20-Aug-2017
Publisher:	IOP Sciences for The American Astronomical Society
Citation:	Astrophysical Journal Letters , 2017, Vol.845, L12
Abstract:	Long-wavelength spectral distortions in the cosmic microwave background arising from the 21 cm transition in neutral hydrogen are a key probe of the 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 the precision measurement of these monopole or all-sky global 21 cm spectral distortions. We use 63 hr nighttime observations 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 ${f}_{X}\leqslant 0.1$) and rapid reionization (with peak $\tfrac{{{dT}}_{b}}{{dz}}\geqslant 120$ mK per unit redshift interval).
Description:	Open Access
URI:	http://hdl.handle.net/2289/6779
ISSN:	1538-4357 (Online) 0004-637X
Alternative Location:	http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2017ApJ...845L..12S http://arxiv.org/abs/1703.06647 http://dx.doi.org/10.3847/2041-8213/aa831b
Copyright:	2017, The American Astronomical Society.
Appears in Collections:	Research Papers (A&A)

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