Neutrino signatures on the high-transmission regions of the Lyman $\boldsymbol {\alpha }$ forest

2013

We quantify the impact of massive neutrinos on the statistics of low density regions in the intergalactic medium (IGM) as probed by the Lyman-� forest at redshifts z = 2.2– 4. Based on mock but realistic quasar (QSO) spectra extracted from hydrodynamic simulations with cold dark matter, baryons and neutrinos, we find that the probability distribution of weak Lyman-� absorption features, as sampled by Lyman-� flux regions at high transmissivity, is strongly affected by the presence of massive neutrinos. We show that systematic errors affecting the Lyman-� forest reduce but do not erase the neutrino signal. Using the Fisher matrix formalism, we conclude that the sum of the neutrino masses can…