Cosmology with Line-Intensity Mapping

Prof. Ely Kovetz - Ben-Gurion University, Beer-Sheva, Israel
Cosmology with Line-Intensity Mapping

Abstract
Line-intensity mapping (LIM) is an emerging approach to survey the Universe, using relativelylow-aperture instruments to scan large portions of the sky andcollect the total spectral-line emission from galaxies and theintergalactic medium. Mapping the intensity fluctuations of anarray of atomic and molecular emission lines offers a uniqueopportunity to probe redshifts well beyond the reach of other cosmological observations, access regimes that cannot beexplored otherwise, and exploit the enormous potential of crosscorrelations with other measurements. Over the next decade, LIM will transition from a pathfinder era of first detections to anearly-science era where data from more than a dozen missionswill be harvested to yield new insights and discoveries. I will review the primary target lines for these missions, describe thedifferent approaches to modeling their intensities andfluctuations, survey the scientific prospects of their measurement, present the formalism behind the statistical methods to analyze the data, and motivate the opportunities forsynergy with other observables. I will then describe novel comprehensive data analysis and simulation pipelines intendedto extract cosmological information from line-intensity maps, accounting for the degeneracy with known and unknownastrophysical processes. As concrete examples, focusing onsearches for scattering and ultralight dark matter models, I will present preliminary bounds from existing data as well asforecasts for future searches with the hydrogen 21cm andLyman-alpha lines.