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S. Malhotra, J. E. Rhoads (STScI)
The visibility of Lyman-alpha emission from galaxies is suppressed substantially in a neutral inter-galactic medium (IGM). Because of this, Lyman-alpha emitting galaxies can be used as a local probe of the IGM neutral fraction. By comparing luminosity functions of Lyman-alpha emitters at redshifts z=5.7 and z=6.5, we can rule out suppression of Lyman-alpha emission and thus show that the IGM was largely ionized at z=6.5. This method can be extended to higher redshifts to trace the reionization history of the universe, and to derive the topoplogy of the ionized regions at the redshifts of reionization.
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Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, 37 #2
© 2005. The American Astronomical Soceity.