Lyman-alpha forest beyond 2-point statistics: From Three-Point Clustering to Machine Learning Applications

by Dr Soumak Maitra (TIFR, Mumbai)

Friday 31 Jan 2025, 14:30 → 16:30 Asia/Kolkata

A (304)

The Intergalactic Medium (IGM), which constitutes the majority of the baryonic content of the Universe, traces large-scale dark matter density fluctuations while being influenced by small-scale astrophysical processes. The HI Lyman-alpha forest absorption, observed along the sightlines of distant luminous quasar spectra, provides a unique probe of the IGM's matter distribution across a wide redshift range and has been instrumental in advancing our understanding of cosmology and astrophysics. The current availability of a large number of quasar spectra has now allowed us to move beyond the traditional two-point clustering statistics of Lyman-alpha absorbers and start probing the non-gaussianity in the matter density distribution caused by non-linear gravitational evolution and other astrophysical processes. While three-point clustering has been studied largely using low-z galaxies, Lyman-alpha forest as an observable could act as a sensitive probe for the matter distribution at smaller scales and higher redshifts. 

In this talk, the speaker will briefly describe his work investigating the three-point correlation of Lyman-alpha absorbers. 

The speaker will also talk about his current endeavors of using machine learning and deep learning techniques to study the clustering of Lyman-alpha absorbers.