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K. Mack, S. P. Oh (Caltech)
Recent theoretical studies suggest that observation of the neutral hydrogen 21cm transition at high redshift may open up a window to structure formation in the early universe. Neutral hydrogen gas produces signals during the ``Dark Ages" prior to the reionization of the intergalactic medium by the first bright sources. These signals may be detectable with the next generation of radio telescopes, such as LOFAR (the Low-Frequency Array) and SKA (the Square Kilometer Array), and may be sought either as brightness fluctuations across an area of the sky, or as signatures in the spectra of distant sources. We present the preliminary findings of a study of confusing foregrounds for both types of observation, focusing on galactic and extragalactic radio recombination lines, free-free emission, and synchrotron radiation. We also discuss modeling and the prospects for observing the 21cm transition in mini-halos at high redshift.
The authors would like to thank the Caltech Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship program and NASA grant NAG5-10707 for funding support.
The author(s) of this abstract have provided an email address for comments about the abstract: kmack@caltech.edu
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Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, 34, #4
© 2002. The American Astronomical Soceity.