Lyman alpha Transmission in Quasar Proximity Zones

At z=2-4, the Lyman alpha forest has provided us with enormous information about cosmology. However, at z>=6, most of this information are lost due to saturation in Lya absorption. Yet, immediately around a quasar, the ionizing radiation is so intense that hydrogen are fully ionized. Such regions thus offer us a new window to peek into the conditions of the intergalactic medium.

Check out what we learned about large-scale density field
theory paper observation paper
and quasar variability
light curve