Searching for fluctuations in the IGM temperature using the Lyman alpha forest
Matias Zaldarriaga
Abstract
We propose a statistical method to search for fluctuations in the temperature of the intergalactic medium (IGM) using the Lyman α forest. The power on small scales ( 25 /) is used as a thermometer and fluctuations of this power are constrained. The method is illustrated using Q1422+231. We see no evidence of temperature fluctuations. We show that in a model with two temperatures that occupy comparable fractions of the spectra, the ratio of small scale powers is constrained to be smaller than 3.5 (corresponding to a factor of 2.5 in temperature). We show that approximately ten quasars are needed constrain factors of two fluctuations in small scale power power.
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