Quasars are bright beacons which can be observed with intermediate to high resolution spectroscopy up to redshifts z~7.5, well within the reionization epoch. Quasar absorption spectra provide a complementary tool with respect to surveys of high redshift galaxies to build the complete picture of the Reionization process, being sensitive to the properties of the gaseous medium. In particular, quasar spectra allow us to reconstruct the thermal history of the intergalactic medium and to investigate its properties on small scales. This special session is meant to gather the international community working on quasar spectroscopy in the early Universe after the common effort of the XQR-30 survey, with the aim of presenting state-of-the-art results and discussing the grand challenges and perspectives of near and far future developments in the field.

Programme

We will focus on the following topics, foreseeing invited and contributed talks and e-posters:

• Constraints on the Reionization process with multiple probes
• Metal enrichment and feedback mechanisms in the early Universe
• Future perspectives: techniques to identify higher redshift quasars, new instrumentation, etc.

Invited speakers

• Manuela Bischetti, University of Trieste, Italy
• James Bolton, University of Nottingham, UK
• Sarah Bosman, Institute for Theoretical Physics, Heidelberg University, Germany
• Roberto Maiolino University of Cambridge, UK
• Emma Ryan Weber, Swinburne University of Technology, Victoria, Australia (co-chair)

Scientific organisers

• Valentina D'Odorico, INAF - Astronomical Observatory of Trieste, Italy (chair)
• Chiara Feruglio, INAF - Astronomical Observatory of Trieste, Italy (co-chair)
• Emma Ryan Weber, Swinburne University of Technology, Victoria, Australia (co-chair)
• George Becker, University of California Riverside, USA
• Sarah Bosman, Institute for Theoretical Physics, Heidelberg University, Germany
• Girish Kulkarni, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai, India
• Masafusa Onoue, Kavli IPMU, University of Tokyo, Japan

Contact

Valentina D'Odorico valentina.dodorico @ inaf.it