Astronomy & Astrophysics Seminar: Observing the Primordial Universe with the 21-cm Signal

Abstract: 

Upcoming observations of the redshifted 21-cm signal are the most promising tool for probing the high-redshift universe and the epoch of the first stars. In the talk I will review the evolution of the 21-cm signal from the cosmic dawn (z~30), at which the first stars were formed, to the end of reionization (z~6). Many different effects and processes shaped the signal, thus it is rich in information from an epoch that is currently unobservable. As a result, there are large uncertainties in the predictions of the signal. I will present these uncertainties and show how physical properties of the early universe can be extracted from the signal. Finally, I will show that we can use different observational constraints to limit our parameter space

Seminar Organizer: Prof. Sara Beck