Probing the evolution of the stellar-to-neutral hydrogen ratio using halo-based power spectra with HIRAX and LSST

Project Description:

This project aims to constrain the redshift evolution of the stellar-to-neutral-hydrogen fraction in galaxies based on the measurements of the galaxy and HI auto and cross power spectra. The ratio between the stellar fraction and the neutral hydrogen fraction traces how efficiently baryonic matter is converted from cold gas into stars within dark matter halos. By connecting galaxy evolution parameters to clustering observables, we intend to determine how accurately future surveys can measure the stellar fraction, the neutral hydrogen fraction, and their ratio as functions of redshift.

Research Area:

Astrophysics

Project Level:

Masters

This Project Is Offered At The Following Node(s):

(UCT)(UKZN)(NWU)

Special Requirements:

The student must have good programming skills in Python, and a basic knowledge of cosmology.