Modelling the post-reionization neutral hydrogen (H i) 21-cm bispectrum

Abstract

ABSTRACT Measurements of the post-reionization 21-cm bispectrum $B_{{\rm H\,{\small I}}\, }(\boldsymbol {k_1},\boldsymbol {k_2},\boldsymbol {k_3})$ using various upcoming intensity mapping experiments hold the potential for determining the cosmological parameters at a high level of precision. In this paper, we have estimated the 21-cm bispectrum in the z range 1 ≤ z ≤ 6 using seminumerical simulations of the neutral hydrogen (H i) distribution. We determine the k and z range where the 21-cm bispectrum can be adequately modelled using the predictions of second-order perturbation theory, and we use this to predict the redshift evolution of the linear and quadratic H i bias parameters b1 and b2, respectively. The b1 values are found to decrease nearly linearly with decreasing z, and are in good agreement with earlier predictions obtained by modelling the 21-cm power spectrum $P_{{\rm H\,{\small I}}\, }(k)$. The b2 values fall sharply with decreasing z, becomes zero at z ∼ 3 and attains a nearly constant value b2 ≈ −0.36 at z < 2. We provide polynomial fitting formulas for b1 and b2 as functions of z. The modelling presented here is expected to be useful in future efforts to determine cosmological parameters and constrain primordial non-Gaussianity using the 21-cm bispectrum.