The Distribution and Evolution of Quasar Proximity Zone Sizes

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In this paper, we study the sizes of quasar proximity zones with synthetic quasar absorption spectra obtained by post-processing a Cosmic Reionization On Computers (CROC) simulation.

• CROC simulations have both relatively large box sizes and high spacial resolution, allowing us to resolve Lyman limit systems, which are crucial for modeling the quasar absorption spectra.
• We find that before reionization most quasar proximity zone sizes grow steadily for $\sim 10$ Myr, while after reionization they grow rapidly but only for $\sim 0.1$ Myr.
• We also find a slow growth of $R_{\rm obs}$ with decreasing turn-on redshift.