Collaborative Research: First Light and Reionization with Lyman Alpha Galaxies

该团队将使用配备了特殊用途滤光片的地面望远镜来寻找宇宙中最遥远的星系。这些星系是最早形成的，可能是年轻宇宙中物质从中性状态转变为电离状态的根本原因。这种改变状态的转变将年轻的宇宙带上了一条道路，导致了今天成熟的宇宙中丰富的星系、恒星和行星。为研究所获得的数据将显示信号强度随其电磁频率的函数的丰富模式。作为一项新的推广工作的一部分，该团队将对这些数据进行发声，即将它们转换为可听频率，并在信号的响度中印上丰富的模式。这使得人类的耳朵能够“探测”到已知的最遥远的星系。MP3文件将与解释材料一起开发和发布。该项目的目的是调查早期宇宙何时以及如何电离，这是宇宙学中一个关键的悬而未决的问题。将采取分阶段观测的方法。在第一阶段，将获得窄带观测的数据，以寻找红移为7.7和8.8的候选Lyman-Alpha星系。在第二阶段，将对候选星系进行光谱跟踪，以确认它们的高红移，并形成莱曼-阿尔法发射星系的光度函数。这一功能将对星系间介质(IGM)在红移时的电离度产生限制。该团队首创了这种光度函数方法，首次使用它来显示IGM在红移为6.5的情况下基本上是电离的。该团队的新工作将在更极端的红移上对IGM的电离度施加第一个限制。该光谱还将用于研究IGM的其他性质。为研究而获得的光谱数据将显示出信号强度随其电磁频率变化的丰富模式。作为一项新的推广工作的一部分，该团队将对这些数据进行发声，即将它们转换为可听频率，并在信号的响度中印上丰富的模式。这使得人类的耳朵可以模仿光谱仪。MP3文件将与解释材料一起开发和发布。

The team will use ground-based telesopes, kitted out with special purpose filters, to hunt for the most distant galaxies in theUniverse. These galaxies were the first to form and are probably responsible for radically transforming the matter in the youngUniverse from a neutral to an ionized state. That state-altering transition sent the young Universe down a path that led to the rich panoply of galaxies, stars, and planets in today's mature Universe. The data acquired for the research will exhibit richpatterns in the strength of the signal as a function of its electromagnetic frequency. As part of a novel outreach effort, the team will sonify these data, that is, convert them to audible frequencies and imprint them with rich patterns in the loudness of the signal. This allows the human ear to "detect" the most distant galaxies known. MP3 files will be developed and released along with explanatory material.The aim of the project is to investigate when and how the early Universe became reionized, a key unsolved problem in cosmology. Astaged observational approach will be taken. In the first stage, data from narrow-band surveys will be acquired to find candidateLyman-alpha-emitting galaxies at redshifts of 7.7 and 8.8. In the second stage, spectroscopic follow-up of the candidates will be doneto confirm their high redshifts and form a luminosity function of Lyman-alpha-emitting galaxies. That function will yield constraints onthe degree of ionization of the intergalactic medium (IGM) at those redshifts. The team pioneered this luminosity-function approach, usingit to show for the first time that the IGM is largely ionized at a redshift of 6.5. The team's new work will place the first constrainson the degree of ionization of the IGM at even more extreme redshifts. The spectroscopy will also be used to study other IGMproperties. The spectroscopic data acquired for the research will exhibit rich patterns in the strength of the signal as a function of its electromagnetic frequency. As part of a novel outreach effort, the team will sonify these data, that is, convert them to audible frequencies and imprint them with rich patterns in the loudness of the signal. This allows the human ear to emulate a spectrograph. MP3 files will be developed and released along with explanatory material.