Intensity Mapping across Cosmic Times with the Lyman-Alpha Line

Understand

We present a quantitative model of Lyman-alpha (Ly-alpha) emission throughout cosmic history and determine the prospects for intensity mapping of spatial fluctuations in the Ly-alpha signal.

• Since i) our model assumes at z>6 the minimum star formation required to sustain reionization and ii) is based at z<6 on a luminosity function extrapolated from the few observed bright Ly-alpha emitters, this should be considered a lower limit.
• Mapping the line emission allows probes of reionization, star formation, and large-scale structure (LSS) as a function of redshift.
• While Ly-alpha emission during reionization has been studied, we also predict the post-reionization signal to test predictions of the intensity and motivate future intensity mapping probes of reionization.