Constraints on the temperature-density relation of the intergalactic medium with non-negligible absorber spatial structure

Abstract

Abstract We investigate evolution of physical parameters of the intergalactic medium using an analysis of Lya forest lines detected towards distant quasars. We used the enlarged sample of 98 quasars obtained with Keck/HIRES and VLT/UVES. We show that taking into account a finite spatial size of absorbers, regulated by pressure smoothing, significantly affects the inferred thermal parameters of the intergalactic gas, such as the hydrogen photoionization rate and parameters of the temperature-density relation. Using Bayesian framework we constrained for the first time the scale parameter between the Jeans length and characteristic size of the absorbers. We also discuss limitations of the method based on the analysis of the minimal broadending of Lya lines, which stem from the patchy nature of He II reionization.