Epoch of Reionziation: Course webpage




Teacher: Prof. Dr. Saleem Zaroubi
Kapteyn Astronomical Institute
Room 141, Tel: 3634055
Email: saleem@astro.rug.nl

Aim of Course

This is an advanced course that will cover our current understanding of the Epoch of Reionization (EoR), which is the second of two major phase transitions of hydrogen in the Universe, the first phase being recombination when the Cosmic Microwave background was emitted. The EoR is related to many fundamental questions in cosmology, galaxy formation, quasars and ultra-low metallicity stars; all leading research topics in modern astrophysics.

The course will start with reviewing the current observational facts and how they could be interpreted. Then it will discuss the formation of the first objects in the Universe, that probably drive the EoR, and what determine their properties. A special focus will be given to the physics of the first stars (so called Population III stars) and what are the various uncertainties related to them. We will also discuss the formation of the first black hole driven objects. Other possible causes of reionization, e.g., decaying dark matter particles, will be briefly discussed. The last part of the course will deal with the possible observability of the EoR, especially, through the redshifted 21 cm emission line from neutral hydrogen and the various physical issues related to its detectability from the fist 400 Myrs of the Universe' s life.

Course Material: The course lecture slides can be downloded: Lecture 1, Lecture 2, Lecture 3 and Lecture 4

Course Book: The course is based on a review I have a written that appeared as a chapter in the book entitled "The First Galaxies" by T. Wiklind, B. Mobasher and V. Bromm. Click here for review article

An important paper in this topic by George Field and publushed in 1958 and is normally hard to find, can be found if you click here.

Grading: The grade is based on attendance and a seminar that each student gives based on some recent paper on the topic. The list of papers that can be used for the seminars will be given here later.



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