dc.contributor.author Heimersheim, Stefan dc.contributor.author Sartorio, Nina S dc.contributor.author Fialkov, Anastasia dc.contributor.author Lorimer, Duncan R dc.date.accessioned 2022-07-04T13:00:14Z dc.date.available 2022-07-04T13:00:14Z dc.date.issued 2022 dc.date.submitted 2021-12-30 dc.identifier.citation The Astrophysical Journal, volume 933, issue 1, article-number 57 dc.identifier.issn 0004-637X dc.identifier.other apjac70c9 dc.identifier.other ac70c9 dc.identifier.other aas36908 dc.identifier.uri https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/338735 dc.description.abstract Fast Radio Bursts (FRBs) are extra-galactic radio transients which exhibit a distance-dependent dispersion of their signal, and thus can be used as cosmological probes. In this article we, for the first time, apply a model-independent approach to measure reionization from synthetic FRB data assuming these signals are detected beyond redshift 5. This method allows us to constrain the full shape of the reionization history as well as the CMB optical depth $\tau$ while avoiding the problems of commonly used model-based techniques. 100 localized FRBs, originating from redshifts 5-15, could constrain (at 68% confidence level) the CMB optical depth to within 11%, and the midpoint of reionization to 4%, surpassing current state-of-the-art CMB bounds and quasar limits. Owing to the higher numbers of expected FRBs at lower redshifts, the $\tau$ constraints are asymmetric (+14%, -7%) providing a much stronger lower limit. Finally, we show that the independent constraints on reionization from FRBs will improve limits on other cosmological parameters such as the amplitude of the power spectrum of primordial fluctuations. dc.language en dc.publisher American Astronomical Society dc.subject 310 dc.subject Galaxies and Cosmology dc.title What it Takes to Measure Reionization with Fast Radio Bursts dc.type Article dc.date.updated 2022-07-04T13:00:13Z prism.publicationName The Astrophysical Journal: an international review of astronomy and astronomical physics dc.identifier.doi 10.17863/CAM.86146 dcterms.dateAccepted 2022-05-16 rioxxterms.versionofrecord 10.3847/1538-4357/ac70c9 rioxxterms.version VoR rioxxterms.licenseref.uri http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ dc.contributor.orcid Heimersheim, Stefan [0000-0001-9631-4212] dc.identifier.eissn 1538-4357 dc.publisher.url http://dx.doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/ac70c9 pubs.funder-project-id Science and Technology Facilities Council (2277533) cam.issuedOnline 2022-07-04
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