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# On the possibility of quantum computation based on photon exchange interactions

## I Introduction

The fact that photons almost do not interact with each other limits our ability to build photonic logical gates for two and more qubits. Nonlinear effects whereby one light beam influences another require large numbers of photons or else photon confinement in high-$`Q`$ cavities . Therefore a gate in which one photon-qubit would influence another is difficult to construct. This difficulty has motivated Franson et al.  to search for a new effect that would enable the creation of a simple gate operating at the two-photon level.

Their basic proposal for the photonic computer is introduced in . Each qubit is represented by a photon which can travel along two alternate paths in an interferometer. Single qubit manipulation can be easily performed by setting proper phases in the relevant interferometer. The reading of the computed result is done by photodetection. The initial state should be prepared as a multi-mode product of single-photon Fock states. The authors of  propose using quantum non-demolition photon number measurements to select such states from a larger set of coherent states.

The essential and most difficult part of the proposed scheme is an efficient two-bit quantum gate. Physically, the phase which one photon picks up in an interferometer should be determined by the path which the other photon chooses in another interferometer. For this to occur both interferometers should share one common branch in a nonlinear medium, such that when both photons travel along this branch an extra phase equal to $`\pi `$ would arise. This would require a giant cross-Kerr effect with negligible photon loss. The main advantage of such a scheme would be experimental simplicity, as compared to cavity-based schemes .

Here we examine the main assumptions and results of the schemes detailed in Ref. . We concentrate on the physical principle for the logic gates, leaving out the questions of the preparation and detection stages. In Sec. II an overview of these schemes is outlined. In Sec. III we present our detailed evaluation. Our conclusions are given in Sec. IV.

## II Overview of non-local photon exchange schemes

The underlying model of  can be described as follows. Two light pulses simultaneously enter a medium of $`N`$ off-resonant atoms. The two pulses contain $`n_{1,2}`$ photons, respectively. Applying perturbation theory we can find the energy eigenvalues of the joint system of atoms and photons (within the dipole and rotating-wave approximation). Some of the fourth-order perturbation terms contain products of the photon numbers $`n_1n_2`$. Such terms can be characterized by Feynman diagrams in which a photon from pulse 1 is virtually absorbed by atom A and re-emitted by atom B, whereas a photon from pulse 2 is absorbed by atom B and re-emitted by atom A. The number of such terms is proportional to the number of various atomic pairs, i.e., $`N(N1)/2`$. If such terms contributed to the total energy, the physical result would be a nonlinear refractive index of the medium with very interesting properties: (i) the non-linear term would be proportional to the number of atoms squared $`N^2`$; (ii) the index of refraction caused by pulse 1 would be proportional to the photon number in pulse 2 and vice versa. However, after summing them up, all the terms containing $`n_1n_2`$ exactly cancel each other. We may ask whether such non-linear terms are just a mathematical artifact of perturbation theory or whether they correspond to some real physical situation. If the latter is true, the question is how to suppress some of the terms so that the remaining terms contribute to an experimentally observable non-linear effect.

Franson’s first suggestion for suppressing some of the $`n_1n_2`$ terms was to take advantage of collisional line broadening . The model used $`N`$ two-level atoms and the resulting non-linear part of the total atom-photon energy was claimed to be

$`\mathrm{\Delta }E{\displaystyle \frac{2M^4N^2n_1n_2f_R}{\delta ^3}}{\displaystyle \frac{w^2}{(\delta _1\delta _2)^2}},`$ (1)
where $`M`$ is the transition matrix element, $`f_R`$ ($`<1`$) is a factor taking into account decoherence due to a possible which-way information about the position of the photon absorption and re-emission, $`\delta _{1,2}`$ $``$ $`\delta `$ are the detunings of the modes 1 and 2 from the atomic resonance, and $`w`$ is the collisional line-width. For an efficient non-linear coupling between single-photon pulses one should find a sufficiently dense medium ($`N`$ large) and a broad collisional line-width, so that $`w^2/(\delta _1\delta _2)^2`$ $`1`$, which would yield a considerable non-linear energy shift.

The next suggestion was to manipulate the atomic resonance frequencies . The authors considered three-level atomic media, where strong laser pulses coupled to one of the atomic transitions would manipulate the resonance frequency of another transition, e.g., by Stark shifts. Thus, the medium would be turned on and off resonance with the incident photons, which would be absorbed and re-emitted in a controlled way.

In Ref.  it is assumed that the photonic states would be coupled to collective $`N`$-atom excitations (Dicke states). The coupling frequency is then proportional to $`\sqrt{N}`$ and is assumed to be larger than any decay and decoherence rates. In both schemes with external driving pulses the authors claim that the photon of one kind would exhibit Rabi oscillations whose frequency depends on the presence or absence of the photon of the other kind. A proper choice of the external strong laser pulses is then claimed to effectively induce the required non-linear coupling of two single-photon pulses.

## III Detailed examination of the schemes

### A Collisional scheme

In the derivation of the results of  there are several unjustified assumptions:

(1) The model of  assumes two weak off-resonant light pulses propagating in a medium of two-level atoms. It is supposed that the effective Hilbert space describing the system is spanned by quantum states with different numbers of photons in the two relevant optical modes (1 and 2) and with different excited and de-excited atoms. All other optical modes are ignored: processes where photons can be re-emitted to modes other than 1 and 2 are disregarded. This is an arbitrary assumption: in open space photons are re-emitted into a continuum of modes, so that the main effect would be scattering. This would, of course, invalidate the potential application of the proposed effect as a quantum gate.

(2) Even if we go along with the model where only two optical modes are present, we cannot accept the main result Eq. (1). Its derivation is based on replacing in the fourth-order perturbation expansion the energy levels $`ϵ_m`$ which are influenced by collisions by the complex values $`ϵ_m`$ $``$ $`iw`$. However, in doing so, we always obtain zero for the non-linear $`n_1n_2`$ terms. The only way to obtain Eq. (1) is to assume that the states with no excited atoms ($`n_1\pm 1`$ photons in mode 1 and $`n_21`$ in mode 2) suffer from collisional decoherence and their energy levels should be modified by adding the $`iw`$ term. Of course, this assumption is not physically justified.

(3) Finally, even under the unlikely assumption that states with all atoms in the ground level decohere by collisions, the non-linear term (1) would be accompanied by an imaginary part

$`\mathrm{\Delta }E^{}=2if_RM^4N^2n_1n_2{\displaystyle \frac{w}{\delta ^2(\delta _1\delta _2)^2}},`$ (2)
whose magnitude is larger by a factor of $`\delta /w`$ than the real part. Hence, decay would always dominate any such non-linear phase shift and render the effect unobservable. We note that in Ref.  the authors mention that there are difficulties with the collisional scheme.

### B Laser-induced nonlinear phase shift in “ladder” systems

In the scheme of  one applies strong laser pulses which induce AC Stark shifts and thereby change the detuning of the near-resonant atomic transition from the relevant single-photon-carrying modes. Again, this model assumes that after photons 1 and 2 are absorbed by the atoms (not only virtually but also really, when the atoms are on resonance), they can only be re-emitted into the useful modes 1 and 2. Thus, it is assumed in  that in open space, a single optical photon on resonance with the atomic medium can perform a Rabi oscillation without being scattered to the continuum of other modes. In other words, a resonant atom which absorbs the only photon from the traveling field would re-emit it to exactly the same (now empty) mode. In Ref. , no mechanism has been presented that would justify the assumed mode selectivity.

On the other hand, if the mode selectivity is guaranteed (e.g., by a cavity or by the Dicke cooperativity mechanism described in , see below), then for off resonant photons a weak non-linear phase shift may occur, whose magnitude is of the same order as their absorption probability. We think that a two-photon interference experiment revealing such a phase shift would be an interesting (though demanding) challenge. We feel, however, that such a phase shift would be too small to be useful for quantum logic gates.

### C The Dicke cooperative mechanism in Raman transitions

A mechanism supporting mode selectivity and the elimination of the mode continuum is presented in the e-print . It is argued there that a field mode of the wavevector $`𝐤`$ is effectively only coupled to a particular superposition of atomic excited states (Dicke state ), namely

$`|p(𝐤)={\displaystyle \frac{1}{\sqrt{N}}}{\displaystyle \underset{j}{}}\mathrm{exp}(i𝐤𝐫_j)|e_j,`$ (3)
where $`|e_j`$ determines the state with $`j`$th atom excited and all the other atoms being in the ground state; the summation runs over all $`N`$ atoms. The coupling between the field mode and the corresponding Dicke state is $`\sqrt{N}M`$, $`M`$ being the coupling between the field and a single atom. In an original extension of the standard formalism in  the same cooperative enhancement is shown to apply to Raman transitions: The Dicke collective state will then be excited for the ground state by the operator

$`\widehat{R}_+(\stackrel{}{k}\stackrel{}{K})={\displaystyle \underset{j=1}{\overset{N}{}}}\widehat{R}_+^{(j)}e^{(\stackrel{}{k}\stackrel{}{K})\stackrel{}{r}_j}`$ (4)
where $`\stackrel{}{k}`$ and $`\stackrel{}{K}`$ are the wavevectors of the incident photon and the external laser field, respectively, and $`\widehat{R}_+^{(j)}`$ is the $`j`$th atom raising operator.

The spectacular feature of the Dicke formalism is that, in the absence of decoherence or losses, any distribution of atomic positions is guaranteed to have a state of maximal cooperation, such that the corresponding transition rate (Rabi frequency) is enhanced by $`\sqrt{N}`$ compared to that of a single atom. For Raman transitions we estimate that the cooperatively enhanced Rabi frequency is (in SI units)

$`\mathrm{\Omega }_{\mathrm{Raman}}^{(\mathrm{coop})}\sqrt{\rho \omega /(ϵ_0\mathrm{})}\mu \mathrm{\Omega }_0/\mathrm{\Delta }`$ (5)
where $`\rho `$ is the atomic density, $`\omega `$ the transition frequency, $`ϵ_0`$ the vacuum permittivity, $`\mu `$ the transition dipole moment, $`\mathrm{\Delta }`$ the detuning from the single-photon resonance and $`\mathrm{\Omega }_0=\mu E/\mathrm{}`$ is the strong-field Rabi frequency.

The crux of the effect is that during the relevant time, energy can only be exchanged between two states - a photon in a single field mode and a single-excitation atomic collective state (3), thus exhibiting Rabi oscillations. The decay and decoherence rates leading to scattering into other modes could be presumably slower, due to the $`\sqrt{N}`$ proportionality of the Rabi frequency. Because of linearity and the weak dependence of the Rabi frequency on the photonic frequency $`\omega `$, the same would be valid for photonic wavepackets. Under these assumptions, any sufficiently dense medium of resonant (or Raman-resonant) atoms could be transparent for single-photon light pulses: the photon would travel inside the medium “dressed” by the atomic excitations.

#### Evaluation

The cooperative Dicke effect discussed in  is essentially the well-known excitonic enhancement of absorption and emission in crystals  except that Raman transitions are discussed in  instead of the standard direct transitions. Thus far, single-photon Rabi oscillations associated with cooperative (excitonic) enhancement have only been observed in semiconducting cavities , where they have the character of the single-mode Tavis-Cummings cooperative effect known for atoms in high-$`Q`$ cavities . By contrast, single-photon cooperative Rabi oscillations in open space of mode continuum suggested in  have never been observed. The reason is that decoherence usually prevails, i.e., is faster than the achievable Rabi oscillation. This can be clarified using the estimate (5) in the two possible regimes:

(a) In the high-density regime, $`\rho /k^31`$, corresponding to interatomic distances $`r_{ij}\rho ^{1/3}`$ much smaller than the photon wavelength, the dominant source of decoherence detrimental to cooperation are resonant dipole-dipole interactions  whose rate is $`\mathrm{\Omega }_{\mathrm{dip}}\gamma /(kr_{ij})^3`$, $`\gamma `$ being the radiative linewidth (for direct transitions), i.e., $`\mathrm{\Omega }_{\mathrm{dip}}`$ scales as $`\rho /k^3`$. For both direct transitions and Raman transitions Eq. (5) typically yields a lower rate than the dipole-dipole rate. Only for spatially symmetric atomic arrangements cooperative effects prevail over the dipole-dipole dephasing . For example, for interatomic distances of 10 nm $`\rho 10^{18}`$ cm-3, $`\mathrm{\Omega }_{\mathrm{Raman}}^{(\mathrm{coop})}10^{12}`$ s$`{}_{}{}^{1}\mathrm{\Omega }_{\mathrm{dip}}10^6\gamma `$.

(b) In the low-density regime $`\rho /k^31`$, the dipole-dipole rate is less than $`\gamma `$ and does not have to hamper cooperation. However, other sources of dephasing set $`T_2`$ (the decoherence time during which the off-diagonal density matrix elements go to zero) to be shorter than the cooperative Rabi period (typically $`\mathrm{\Omega }_{\mathrm{Raman}}^{(\mathrm{coop})}10^6`$ s-1) both in thermal gases ($`T_210^{10}`$ s) and in semiconductors ($`T_210^{12}`$ s).

However, the most important, ingenious assumption in  concerns the initial condition for the atom-field system: the atoms are suddenly switched on resonance in the vicinity of the photon wavepacket, which is already within the medium. This is achieved by an appropriate geometry in which the photonic wavepacket overlaps with the strong rapidly-switched laser pulse, propagating perpendicularly to the single photon. Thus, only a photon being initially within the resonant medium can perform Rabi oscillations with the corresponding Dicke state. This is in contrast with the usual situation when a photon arrives at the medium which already has been resonant: the photon is then reflected or absorbed at the medium boundary, but cannot enter inside. We think that if this intriguing effect is realizable, its experimental observation would be very interesting. The following experiment could be planned: Photons would be sent into a transparent medium one by one. When inside the medium, a strong perpendicularly propagating pulse would bring the medium into resonance with the photons. The probability of detecting the photons as they exit the medium would be a periodic function of the duration of the strong pulse, thus demonstrating the single-photon Rabi oscillations.

Let us mention that several mechanisms of mapping the quantum state of light onto a collective state of atoms in the presence of a strong field have been suggested recently . The challenge of such mechanisms would be to allow coherent excitation and de-excitation of collective states with single photons. A detailed comparison of these intriguing approaches would be of great interest.

### D Two-photon entanglement and conditional phase shifts

Notwithstanding the chances of realizing the cooperative effect discussed above, the question is whether this effect can be used to produce the required conditional phase shift of the photonic states. In  the authors argue that a proper sequence of external laser pulses would accomplish this task. Concrete suggestions for the pulse sequences were given in  (five-pulse sequence), and in  (three-pulse sequence). In the following we discuss these two suggestions separately.

#### 1 Five-pulse sequence

The first pulse brings the medium into resonance with photon 1 causing a $`\pi `$ Rabi transition: if photon 1 was initially present, it is absorbed creating a single-excitation Dicke state. The second pulse brings the medium into resonance with photon 2. The Rabi frequency now depends on whether the medium is excited or not. The authors of  assume that the second pulse causes a $`2\pi `$ transition if there is no initial excitation (photon 1 is absent) or a $`\sqrt{2}2\pi `$ transition if there is initial medium excitation (photon 1 is present). In the latter case it is assumed that a superposition of two states is produced: a state with two atomic excitations and no photon, and a state with a single atomic excitation and a single photon in mode 2. The third pulse is used to produce a phase-shift in this superposition, and the remaining two pulses reverse the evolution of the first two pulses, to a state with the initial number of photons.

Our objection is that during the second pulse, also a state with two photons in mode 2 can be produced (as can be seen from the Hamiltonian, Eq. (31) of ): stimulated photon emission would occur with the same rate as photon absorption. Of course, the presence of such a two-photon state would invalidate the function of a quantum gate, where qubits are represented by single-photon states.

#### 2 Three-pulse sequence

The above flaw is removed in the scheme of : during the second pulse in the case of initially one atomic excitation and one photon in mode 2, the system oscillates between this state and the superposition of the state with two atomic excitations and no photons and the state with two photons and no atomic excitations. The frequency of this oscillation is twice as large as the Rabi frequency in the absence of the initial atomic excitation. Thus, if there was no photon in mode 1, the photon 2 exhibits a $`2\pi `$ Rabi transition during the second pulse, whereas if there was a photon in mode 1, the system exhibits a $`4\pi `$ Rabi transition. A $`2\pi `$ Rabi transition returns the original state with additional sign $`1`$, whereas a $`4\pi `$ Rabi transition simply reproduces the original state. The authors of  claim that this difference in sign produces the required conditional phase shift.

Let us investigate in more detail the evolution of the states, denoting the basis of the logical gate as $`|0,0`$, $`|0,1`$, $`|1,0`$, and $`|1,1`$. Here, e.g., $`|1,0`$ means that photon 1 goes through the medium whereas photon 2 does not, etc. The evolution is then as follows. (a) State $`|0,0`$: there are no Rabi transitions, therefore $`|0,0`$ $``$ $`|0,0`$. (b) State $`|0,1`$: no change during the first pulse (photon 1 is absent), a $`2\pi `$ Rabi transition during the second pulse and no change during the third pulse, therefore $`|0,1`$ $``$ $`|0,1`$. (c) State $`|1,0`$: a $`\pi `$ transition during the first pulse, a $`2\pi `$ transition during the second pulse and a $`\pi `$ transition during the third pulse, therefore $`|1,0`$ $``$ $`|1,0`$. (d) State $`|1,1`$: a $`\pi `$ transition during the first pulse, a $`4\pi `$ transition during the second pulse and a $`\pi `$ transition during the third pulse, therefore $`|1,1`$ $``$ $`|1,1`$. Thus, the transformation matrix is

$`U=\left(\begin{array}{cccc}\hfill 1& \hfill 0& \hfill 0& \hfill 0\\ \hfill 0& \hfill 1& \hfill 0& \hfill 0\\ \hfill 0& \hfill 0& \hfill 1& \hfill 0\\ \hfill 0& \hfill 0& \hfill 0& \hfill 1\end{array}\right),`$ (10)
which is not the required conditional phase shift. This transformation does not entangle the two photons and is thus not suitable for building quantum logical gates.

## IV Conclusion

In the works  we have not found a convincing proof that the suggested mechanisms could produce the conditional phase shift required for a quantum gate. On the other hand, we cannot disprove such a mechanism altogether, i.e., claim that it is principally impossible. Be it as it may, we find the idea of coupling the photonic state to an atomic Dicke state by fast switching, which would result in single-photon Rabi oscillations, very interesting and ingenious, even though the prospects for its realization are presently unclear.

Note added in proof: A proof has been given  that exchange interactions between photons in a large ensemble of atoms cannot generate entanglement: if the process generates two photons in distinguishable modes, then the two-mode state can be factorized.

## Acknowledgments

We thank A. Ben-Reuven, I. Cirac, M. Fleischhauer, Ph. Grangier, A. Kofman, A. Kozhekin, M. Lukin, J. Peřina, S. Scheel, E. Schmidt, Y. Silberberg and D.-G. Welsch for stimulating discussions. This work was supported by ISF and DFG grants.


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# Cosmological Reionization

## 1 Introduction

At epochs corresponding to $`z1000`$ the intergalactic medium (IGM) is expected to recombine and remain neutral until sources of radiation and heat develop that are capable of reionizing it. The detection of transmitted flux shortward of the Ly$`\alpha `$wavelength in the spectra of sources at $`z5`$ implies that the hydrogen component of this IGM was ionized at even higher redshifts. There is some evidence that the double reionization of helium may have occurred later, but this is still controversial. It appears then that substantial sources of ultraviolet photons and mechanical energy were already present when the Universe was less than 7% of its current age, perhaps quasars and/or young star-forming galaxies: an episode of pre-galactic star formation may provide a possible explanation for the widespread existence of heavy elements (like carbon, oxygen, and silicon) in the IGM, while the integrated radiation emitted from quasars is likely responsible for the reionization of the intergalactic helium. Establishing the epoch of reionization and reheating is crucial for determining its impact on several key cosmological issues, from the role reionization plays in allowing protogalactic objects to cool and make stars, to determining the small-scale structure in the temperature fluctuations of the cosmic microwave background. Conversely, probing the reionization epoch may provide a means for constraining competing models for the formation of cosmic structures, and of detecting the onset of the first generation of stars, galaxies, and black holes in the Universe.

## 2 The transition from a neutral to an ionized Universe

Popular cosmological models predict that most of the intergalactic hydrogen was reionized by the first generation of stars or accreting black holes at $`z=715`$. One should note, however, that while numerical N-body$`+`$hydrodynamical simulations have convincingly shown that the IGM is expected to fragment into structures at early times in cold dark matter (CDM) cosmogonies (e.g. Cen et al. 1994; Zhang, Anninos, & Norman 1995; Hernquist et al. 1996), the same simulations are much less able to predict the efficiency with which the first gravitationally collapsed objects lit up the Universe at the end of the ‘dark age’ (Rees, this volume).

### 2.1 Photo- versus collisional ionization

The scenario that has received the most theoretical studies is one where hydrogen is photoionized by the UV radiation emitted either by quasars or by stars with masses $`\mathrm{}>10\mathrm{M}_{}`$, rather than ionized by collisions with electrons heated up by, e.g. supernova-driven winds from early pregalactic (‘Pop III’) objects. In the former case a high degree of ionization requires about $`13.6\times (1+t/\overline{t}_{\mathrm{rec}})`$eV per hydrogen atom, where $`\overline{t}_{\mathrm{rec}}`$ is the volume-averaged hydrogen recombination timescale, $`t/\overline{t}_{\mathrm{rec}}`$ being much greater than unity already at $`z10`$ according to the numerical simulations of Gnedin & Ostriker (1997), and Gnedin (2000). Collisional ionization to a neutral fraction of only few parts in $`10^5`$ requires a comparable energy input, i. e. an IGM temperature close to $`10^5`$K or about $`25`$eV per atom.

Massive stars will deposit both radiative and mechanical energy into the interstellar medium of Pop III objects. A complex network of ‘feedback’ mechanisms is likely at work in these systems, as the gas in shallow potential is more easily blown away thereby quenching further star formation (Mac Low & Ferrara 1999), and the blastwaves produced by supernova explosions reheat the surrounding intergalactic gas and enrich it with newly formed heavy elements and dust. It is therefore difficult to establish whether an early input of mechanical energy will actually play a major role in determining the thermal and ionization state of the IGM on large scales (Tegmark, Silk, & Evrard 1993). What can be easily shown is that, during the evolution of a a ‘typical’ stellar population, more energy is lost in ultraviolet radiation than in mechanical form. This is because in nuclear burning from zero to solar metallicity ($`Z_{}=0.02`$), the energy radiated per baryon is $`0.02\times 0.007\times m_\mathrm{H}c^2`$; about one third of it goes into H-ionizing photons. The same massive stars that dominate the UV light also explode as supernovae (SNe), returning most of the metals to the interstellar medium and injecting about $`10^{51}`$ergs per event in kinetic energy. For a Salpeter initial mass function (IMF), one has about one SN every $`150\mathrm{M}_{}`$ of baryons that forms stars. The mass fraction in mechanical energy is then approximately $`4\times 10^6`$, ten times lower than the fraction released in photons above 1 ryd.

The relative importance of photoionization versus shock ionization will depend, however, on the efficiency with which radiation and mechanical energy actually escape into the IGM. Consider, for example, the case of an early generation of halos with circular speed $`v_c=50\mathrm{km}\mathrm{s}^1`$, corresponding in top-hat spherical collapse to a virial temperature $`T_v=0.5\mu m_pv_c^2/k10^{5.3}`$K and halo mass $`M=0.1v_c^3/GH10^9[(1+z)/10]^{3/2}h^1\mathrm{M}_{}`$.111This assumes an Einstein-de Sitter (EdS) Universe with $`H_0=100h\mathrm{km}\mathrm{s}^1\mathrm{Mpc}^1`$. In these systems rapid cooling by atomic hydrogen can take place and a significant fraction, $`f\mathrm{\Omega }_B`$, of their total mass may be converted into stars over a dynamical timescale (here $`\mathrm{\Omega }_B`$ is the baryon density parameter). For $`f=0.05`$, $`\mathrm{\Omega }_Bh^2=0.02`$, and $`h=0.5`$, the explosive output of $`50,000`$ SNe would inject an energy $`E_010^{55.7}`$ergs. The hot gas will escape its host, shock the IGM, and eventually form a cosmological blast wave. If the explosion occurs at cosmic time $`t=4\times 10^8`$yr, corresponding in the adopted cosmology (EdS with $`h=0.5`$) to $`z=9`$, at time $`\mathrm{\Delta }t=0.2t`$ after the event the proper radius of the (adiabatic) shock is given by the standard Sedov-Taylor self-similar solution,

$$R_s\left(\frac{12\pi GE_0}{\mathrm{\Omega }_B}\right)^{1/5}t^{2/5}\mathrm{\Delta }t^{2/5}23\mathrm{kpc}.$$
$`(1)`$
At this instant the shock velocity relative to the Hubble flow is

$$v_s2R_s/5\mathrm{\Delta }t110\mathrm{km}\mathrm{s}^1,$$
$`(2)`$
still much higher than the escape velocity from the halo. The gas temperature just behind the shock front is $`T_s=3\mu m_pv_s^2/16k4\times 10^5`$K, more than enough to efficiently ionize all the incoming hydrogen. At these redshifts, it is the onset of Compton cooling off cosmic microwave background photons that ends the adiabatic stage of blast wave propagation. According to the Press-Schechter formalism, the comoving abundance of collapsed dark halos with mass $`M=10^9h^1M_{}`$ at $`z=9`$ is $`dn/d\mathrm{ln}M5h^3`$Mpc-3, corresponding to a mean proper distance between neighboring halos of $`40h^1`$kpc, and to a total mass density parameter of order $`0.02`$. With the assumed star formation efficiency, only a small fraction, about one percent, of the stars seen today would have to be formed at these early epochs. Still, our simple analysis shows that the blast waves from such a population of pregalactic objects could overlap with large enough velocities to initially drive the intergalalactic medium to a significantly higher adiabat, $`T\mathrm{}>10^5`$K, than expected from photoionization, and pollute the entire IGM with metal-enriched material. A lower density of sources – which would therefore have to originate from higher amplitude peaks – would suffice if the typical efficiency of star formation were larger than assumed here.

Quasar-driven blast waves ($`E_0\mathrm{}>10^{60}`$ergs) are instead quite inefficient at ionizing the IGM, since much of the initial explosion energy is lost into the collisionless component (Voit 1996). They would also be too rare to fill the IGM without violating the COBE limit on the $`y`$-distortion of the microwave background.

### 2.2 Cosmological $`\mathrm{II}`$regions

In the following sections we will focus our attention to the photoionization of the IGM, i.e. we will assume that UV photons from an early generation of stars and/or quasars are the main source of energy for the reionization and reheating of the Universe, and that star formation and quasar activity occurs in collapsed galaxy halos. The process then begins as individual sources start to generate expanding $`\mathrm{II}`$regions in the surrounding IGM; throughout an $`\mathrm{II}`$region, H is ionized and He is either singly or doubly ionized. As more and more sources of ultraviolet radiation switch on, the ionized volume grows in size while the neutral phase shrinks. Reionization is completed when the $`\mathrm{II}`$regions overlap, and every point in the intergalactic space gets exposed for the first time to a nearly uniform Lyman-continuum (Lyc) background.

When an isolated point source of ionizing radiation turns on, an ionization (I) front separating the $`\mathrm{II}`$and $`\mathrm{I}`$regions propagates into the neutral gas, and the proper volume $`V_I`$ of the ionized zone grows according to the equation

$$\frac{dV_I}{dt}3HV_I=\frac{\dot{N}_{\mathrm{ion}}}{\overline{n}_\mathrm{H}}\frac{V_I}{\overline{t}_{\mathrm{rec}}},$$
$`(3)`$
(Shapiro & Giroux 1987), where $`\dot{N}_{\mathrm{ion}}`$ is the number of ionizing photons emitted by the central source per unit time, $`\overline{n}_\mathrm{H}(0)=1.7\times 10^7`$ $`(\mathrm{\Omega }_Bh^2/0.02)`$ cm-3 is today’s mean hydrogen density, and all other symbols have their usual meaning. Most photons travel freely in the ionized gas, and are absorbed in a transition layer. In the case of stellar sources the I-front is quite sharp, and the degree of ionization changes on a short distance of the order of the mean free path for an ionizing photon. When $`\overline{t}_{\mathrm{rec}}t`$, the growth of the $`\mathrm{II}`$region is slowed down by recombinations in the highly inhomogeneous IGM, and its evolution can be decoupled from the Hubble expansion. Just like in the static case, the ionized bubble then fills its time-varying Strömgren sphere after a few recombination timescales,

$$V_I=\frac{\dot{N}_{\mathrm{ion}}\overline{t}_{\mathrm{rec}}}{\overline{n}_\mathrm{H}}(1e^{t/\overline{t}_{\mathrm{rec}}}).$$
$`(4)`$
While the volume that is ionized depends on the luminosity of the central source, the time it takes to produce an ionization-bounded region is only a function of $`\overline{t}_{\mathrm{rec}}`$.

In the presence of a population of ionizing sources, the transition from a neutral IGM to one that is almost fully ionized can be statistically described by the evolution with redshift of the volume filling factor (or porosity) $`Q`$ of $`\mathrm{II}`$, He $`\mathrm{II}`$, and He $`\mathrm{III}`$regions. The radiation emitted by spatially clustered stellar-like and quasar-like sources – the number densities and luminosities of which may change rapidly as a function of redshift – coupled with absorption processes in a medium that becomes more and more clumpy owing to the non-linear collapse of structures (Figure 1), all determine the complex topology of neutral and ionized zones in the Universe (Gnedin 2000; Ciardi et al. 2000; Abel, Norman, & Madau 1999). When $`Q1`$ and the radiation sources are randomly distributed, the ionized regions are spatially isolated, every UV photon is absorbed somewhere in the IGM, and the UV radiation field is highly inhomogeneous. As $`Q`$ grows, the crossing of ionization fronts becomes more and more common, until percolation occurs at $`Q=1`$.

Since the mean free path of Lyc radiation is always much smaller than the horizon (this is also true after ‘overlapping’ because of the residual $`\mathrm{I}`$still present in the Ly$`\alpha `$forest clouds and the Lyman-limit systems), the filling factor of cosmological $`\mathrm{II}`$regions is equal at any given time $`t`$ to the total number of ionizing photons emitted per hydrogen atom by all radiation sources present at earlier epochs, $`_0^t\dot{n}_{\mathrm{ion}}𝑑t^{}/\overline{n}_\mathrm{H}`$, minus the total number of radiative recombinations per atom, $`_0^tQ𝑑t^{}/\overline{t}_{\mathrm{rec}}`$. This statement reflects the simple fact that every ultraviolet photon that is emitted is either absorbed by a newly ionized hydrogen atom or by a recombining one. Differentiating one gets

$$\frac{dQ}{dt}=\frac{\dot{n}_{\mathrm{ion}}}{\overline{n}_\mathrm{H}}\frac{Q}{\overline{t}_{\mathrm{rec}}}$$
$`(5)`$
(Madau, Haardt, & Rees 1999). It is this differential equation – and its equivalent for expanding helium zones – that statistically describes the transition from a neutral Universe to a fully ionized one independently, for a given UV photon emissivity per unit cosmological volume $`\dot{n}_{\mathrm{ion}}`$, of the complex and possibly short-lived emission histories of individual radiation sources, e.g. on whether their comoving space density is constant or varies with cosmic time. Initially, when the filling factor is $`1`$, recombinations can be neglected and the ionized volume increases at a rate fixed solely by the ratio $`\dot{n}_{\mathrm{ion}}/\overline{n}_\mathrm{H}`$. As time goes on and more and more Lyc photons are emitted, radiative recombinations become important and slow down the growth of the ionized volume, until $`Q`$ reaches unity, the recombination term saturates, and reionization is finally completed (except for the high density regions far from any source which are only gradually eaten away, Miralda-Escudé, Haehnelt, & Rees 2000). In the limit of a fast recombining IGM ($`\overline{t}_{\mathrm{rec}}t`$), one can neglect the derivative on the left-hand side of equation (5) and derive

$$Q\mathrm{}<\frac{\dot{n}_{\mathrm{ion}}}{\overline{n}_\mathrm{H}}\overline{t}_{\mathrm{rec}},$$
$`(6)`$
i.e. the volume filling factor of ionized bubbles must be less (or equal) to the number of Lyc photons emitted per hydrogen atom in one recombination time. In other words, because of radiative recombinations, only a fraction $`\overline{t}_{\mathrm{rec}}/t1`$ of the photons emitted above 1 ryd is actually used to ionize new IGM material. The Universe is completely reionized when

$$\dot{n}_{\mathrm{ion}}\overline{t}_{\mathrm{rec}}\mathrm{}>\overline{n}_\mathrm{H},$$
$`(7)`$
i.e. when emission rate of ultraviolet photons exceeds the mean rate of recombinations.

### 2.3 A clumpy Universe

The simplest way to treat reionization in a inhomogeneous medium is in terms of a clumping factor that increases the effective gas recombination rate. In this case the volume-averaged recombination time is

$$\overline{t}_{\mathrm{rec}}=[(1+2\chi )\overline{n}_p\alpha _BC]^1=0.06\mathrm{Gyr}\left(\frac{\mathrm{\Omega }_Bh^2}{0.02}\right)^1\left(\frac{1+z}{10}\right)^3\frac{\overline{n}_\mathrm{H}}{\overline{n}_p}C_{10}^1,$$
$`(8)`$
where $`\alpha _B`$ is the recombination coefficient to the excited states of hydrogen (at an assumed gas temperature of $`10^4`$K), $`\chi `$ the helium to hydrogen abundance ratio, and the factor $`Cn_p^2/\overline{n}_p^2>1`$ takes into account the degree of clumpiness of photoionized regions (hereafter $`C_{10}C/10`$). If ionized gas with density $`n_p`$ filled uniformly a fraction $`1/C`$ of the available volume, the rest being empty space, the mean square density would be $`n_p^2=n_p^2/C=\overline{n}_p^2C`$. More in general, if $`f_m`$ is the fraction of baryonic mass in photoionized gas at an overdensity $`\delta `$ relative to the mean, and the remaining (underdense) medium is distributed uniformly, then the fractional volume occupied by the denser component is

$$f_v=f_m/\delta ,$$
$`(9)`$
the density of the diffuse component is

$$\overline{n}_p\frac{1f_m}{1f_v},$$
$`(10)`$
and the recombination rate is larger than that of a homogeneous Universe by the factor

$$C=f_m\delta +\frac{(1f_m)^2}{1f_v}$$
$`(11)`$
(e.g. Chiu & Ostriker 1999; Valageas & Silk 1999). It is difficult to estimate the clumping factor accurately. According to hydrodynamics simulations of structure formation in the IGM (within the framework of CDM-dominated cosmologies), Ly$`\alpha `$forest clouds with moderate overdensities, $`5\mathrm{}<\delta \mathrm{}<10`$, occupy a fraction of the available volume which is too small for them to dominate the clumping at high redshifts (e.g. Zhang et al. 1998; Theuns et al. 1998). In hierarchical clustering models, it is the virialized gas (with $`\delta 180`$ if one ignores the slope of the density profile) in dark matter halos with temperatures $`\mathrm{}<10^4`$K (masses $`M\mathrm{}<10^7h^1M_{}`$) which will plausibly boost the recombination rate by large factors as soon as the collapsed mass fraction exceeds 0.5%. Halos or halo cores which are dense and thick enough to be self-shielded from UV radiation will stay neutral and will not contribute to the recombination rate. This is also true of gas in more massive halos, which will be virialized to higher temperatures and ionized by collisions with thermal electrons. With a large comoving space density at $`z=9`$ of $`dn/d\mathrm{ln}M1000h^3`$Mpc-3, corresponding to a mean proper distance of only $`6h^1`$kpc, and to a mass fraction of $`0.04`$, halos with $`T_v10^4`$K will contribute significantly, $`f_m\delta 7`$, to the clumping. Recent calculations by Benson et al. (2000), which instead include all halos with $`T_v>10^4`$K and adopt an isothermal density profile with a flat core, give $`C30`$ already at $`z=9`$. Because of finite resolution effects, numerical simulations may underestimate clumping: in those of Gnedin & Ostriker (1997), for example, $`C`$ rises above unity at $`z\mathrm{}<20`$, and grows to $`C10`$ (40) at $`z9`$ (5).

It is important to note that the use of the volume-averaged clumping factor in the recombination timescale is only justified when the size of the $`\mathrm{II}`$regions is much larger compared to the scale of the clumping, so that the effect of many halos within the ionized volume can be averaged over. This will be a good approximation either at late epochs, when the $`\mathrm{II}`$zones have had time to grow (or when overlapping ionized regions from an ensemble of sources are able to proper sample the small-scale density fluctuations), or at earlier epochs if the ionized bubbles are produced by more luminous sources like quasars or the stars within halos collapsing from high-$`\sigma `$ peaks. As mentioned above, the mean free path between halos having $`T_v10^4`$K is $`\lambda 6h^1`$kpc at $`z=9`$, but their virial radius is only $`r_v0.4h^1`$kpc. It is only on scales greater than $`\lambda ^3/r_v^22h^1`$Mpc that the clumping can then be averaged over, and the covering factor of halos within the Strömgren sphere exceeds unity.

## 3 Sources of UV photons

### 3.1 Quasars

In recent years, several optical surveys (Warren, Hewett, & Osmer 1994; Schmidt, Schneider, & Gunn 1995; Kennefick, Djorgovski, & de Carvalho 1995) have consistently provided evidence for a turnover in the QSO counts. The space density of radio-loud quasars also appears to decrease strongly for $`z>3`$ (Shaver et al. 1996), suggesting that the turnover is indeed real and not an effect on optically-selected QSOs induced by dust along the line of sight. The density of optically bright and flat-spectrum radio-loud quasars has a relatively flat maximum at $`1.8\mathrm{}<z\mathrm{}<2.8`$, and declines gradually at higher redshifts (Figure 2).

The QSO emission rate of hydrogen Lyc photons per unit comoving volume, $`\dot{𝒩}_Q`$, is also shown in Figure 2. The procedure adopted to derive this quantity implies a large correction for incompleteness at high-$`z`$. With a fit to the quasar luminosity function (LF) which goes as $`\varphi (L)L^\beta `$, with $`\beta =1.64`$ at the faint end (Pei 1995), the contribution to the emissivity converges rather slowly, as $`L^{0.36}`$. At $`z=4`$, for example, the blue magnitude at the break of the LF is $`M_{}25.4`$, comparable or slightly fainter than the limit of current high-$`z`$ QSO surveys. While a large fraction, about 90% at $`z=4`$ and even higher at earlier epochs, of the ionizing emissivity shown in the figure is therefore produced by quasars that have not been actually observed, and are assumed to be present based on an extrapolation from lower redshifts, it is also fair to ask whether an excess of low-luminosity QSOs, relative to the best-fit LF, could actually boost the estimated Lyc emissivity at early epochs. The interest in models where the quasar LF significantly steepens with lookback time, and therefore predict many more QSOs at faint magnitudes than the extrapolation of Pei’s (1995) fitting functions, stems from recent claims of a strong linear correlation between bulge and observed black hole masses (Magorrian et al. 1998), linked to the steep mass function of dark matter haloes predicted by hierarchical cosmogonies (e.g. Haehnelt, Natarajan, & Rees 1998; Haiman & Loeb 1998). As discussed by Haiman, Madau, & Loeb (1999), the space density of low-luminosity quasars at high-$`z`$ is constrained by the observed lack of red, unresolved faint objects in the Hubble Deep Field (HDF). Down to a 50% completeness limit of $`V_{\mathrm{AB}}=29.6`$ ($`I_{\mathrm{AB}}=28.6`$), no $`z>4`$ quasar candidates have actually been found by Conti et al. (1999): by contrast, about 10 objects would be predicted by a QSO evolution model characterized by a steep LF with slope $`\beta =2`$ and a comoving space density that remains constant above $`z=2.5`$ instead of dropping (Figure 3), and choosen to boost the emission rate of ultraviolet photons at $`z5`$ by a factor of 5. A large population of faint AGNs at high-$`z`$ would still be consistent with the data if, at these faint magnitude levels and high image resolution, the host galaxies of active nuclei could actually be resolved by the Hubble Space Telescope.

### 3.2 Star-forming galaxies

Galaxies with ongoing star-formation are another obvious source of Lyc photons. The recent progress in our understanding of faint galaxy data made possible by the identification of star-forming galaxies at $`2\mathrm{}<z\mathrm{}<4`$ in ground-based surveys and in the HDF has provided new clues to the long-standing issue of whether galaxies at high redshifts can provide a significant contribution to the ionizing background flux. Since the rest-frame UV continuum at 1500 Å (redshifted into the visible band for a source at $`z3`$) is dominated by the same short-lived, massive stars which are responsible for the emission of photons shortward of the Lyman edge, the needed conversion factor, about one Lyc photon every 10 photons at 1500 Å, is fairly insensitive to the assumed IMF and is independent of the galaxy history for $`t10^{7.3}`$ yr.

Composite ultraviolet luminosity functions of Lyman-break galaxies (LBG) at $`z3`$ and $`z4`$ have been recently derived by Steidel et al. (1999). They are based on a large catalog of spectroscopically and photometrically selected galaxies from the ground-based and HDF samples, and span about a factor of 40 in luminosity from the faint to the bright end. Integrating these LF over all luminosities $`L>0.1L^{}`$, and using the conversion $`L(1500)/L(912)6`$ valid for a Salpeter mass function and constant star formation rate, we derive for the comoving emissivities at 1 ryd the values of $`9\pm 2\times 10^{25}h\mathrm{ergs}\mathrm{s}^1\mathrm{Hz}^1\mathrm{Mpc}^3`$ at $`z3`$, and $`7\pm 2\times 10^{25}h\mathrm{ergs}\mathrm{s}^1\mathrm{Hz}^1\mathrm{Mpc}^3`$ at $`z4`$, about 4 times higher than the estimated quasar contribution at $`z=3`$. These numbers do not include any correction for local $`\mathrm{I}`$absorption (since the color excess $`E_{9121500}`$ is expected to be small, dust exinction can probably be neglected in correcting from observed rest-frame far-UV to the Lyman edge). The data points plotted in Figure 2 assumes a value of $`f_{\mathrm{esc}}=0.5`$ for the unknown fraction of Lyc photons which escapes the dense sites of star formation (not included in our clumping factor) into the halos and the intergalalactic space. Note that, at $`z=3`$, Lyman-break galaxies radiate more ionizing photons than QSOs for $`f_{\mathrm{esc}}\mathrm{}>25\%`$.

## 4 Implications

### 4.1 First light

We have seen in the previous sections that, in the approximation the clumping can be averaged over, only the photons emitted within one recombination timescale can actually be used to ionize new material. As $`\overline{t}_{\mathrm{rec}}t`$ at high redshifts, it is possible to compute using equation (7) a critical value for the photon emission rate per unit cosmological comoving volume at a given epoch, $`\dot{𝒩}_c`$, independently of the (unknown) previous emission history of the Universe: only rates above this value will provide enough UV photons to keep the IGM ionized at that epoch. Equation (7) can then be rewritten as

$$\dot{𝒩}_c(z)=\frac{\overline{n}_\mathrm{H}(0)}{\overline{t}_{\mathrm{rec}}(z)}=(10^{51.4}\mathrm{s}^1\mathrm{Mpc}^3)C_{10}\left(\frac{1+z}{10}\right)^3\left(\frac{\mathrm{\Omega }_Bh^2}{0.02}\right)^2.$$
$`(12)`$
The uncertainty on this value is difficult to estimate, as it depends on the clumping factor and the nucleosynthesis constrained baryon density. It is interesting to convert this rate into a ‘minimum’ star formation rate per unit (comoving) volume, $`\dot{\rho }_{}`$ (for $`\mathrm{\Omega }_Bh^2=0.02`$):

$$\dot{\rho }_{}=\frac{\dot{𝒩}_c\times 10^{53.1}}{f_{\mathrm{esc}}}(0.12\mathrm{M}_{}\mathrm{yr}^1\mathrm{Mpc}^3)\left(\frac{0.5}{f_{\mathrm{esc}}}\right)C_{10}\left(\frac{1+z}{10}\right)^3.$$
$`(13)`$
(The conversion factor can be understood by noting that, for each 1 $`M_{}`$ of stars formed, 8% goes into massive stars with $`M>20M_{}`$ that dominate the Lyc luminosity of a stellar population. At the end of the C-burning phase, roughly half of the initial mass is converted into helium and carbon, with a mass fraction released as radiation of 0.007. About 25% of the energy radiated away goes into Lyc photons of mean energy 20 eV. For each 1 $`M_{}`$ of stars formed every year, we then expect $`0.08\times 0.5\times 0.007\times 0.25\times M_{}c^2/20\mathrm{eV}\mathrm{yr}10^{53}\mathrm{phot}\mathrm{s}^1`$ to be emitted shortward of 1 ryd.)

Taken at face value, equations (12) and (13) have perhaps a surprising implication. In a inhomogeneous Universe, early reionization at $`z9`$ requires an ionizing emissivity which is comparable or larger than that radiated by QSOs at the peak of their activity, $`z3`$. In a similar manner, photoionization by massive stars can only play a role if the star formation density at this epoch were significantly larger than the value directly ‘observed’ (i.e. uncorrected for dust reddening) at $`z=2`$ (Madau, Pozzetti, & Dickinson 1998).

### 4.2 Delayed He $`\mathrm{II}`$reionization

Because of its higher ionization potential and the steep spectra of UV radiation sources, the most abundant (by a factor $`100`$) absorbing ion in the post-reionization Universe is not $`\mathrm{I}`$but He $`\mathrm{II}`$. The importance of intergalactic helium in the context of this study stems from the possibility of detecting the effect of ‘incomplete’ He $`\mathrm{II}`$reionization in the spectra of $`z3`$ quasars as, depending on the clumpiness of the IGM (Madau & Meiksin 1994), the photoionization of singly ionized helium may be delayed until much later than for $`\mathrm{I}`$.

Since $`\mathrm{I}`$and He $`\mathrm{I}`$do not absorb a significant fraction of $`h\nu >54.4`$ eV photons, the problem of He $`\mathrm{II}`$reionization can be decoupled from that of other ionizations, and the equivalent of equation (5) for expanding He $`\mathrm{III}`$regions becomes

$$\frac{dQ}{dt}=\frac{\dot{n}_{\mathrm{ion4}}}{\overline{n}_{\mathrm{He}}}\frac{Q}{\overline{t}_{\mathrm{HeIII}}},$$
$`(14)`$
where $`\dot{n}_{\mathrm{ion4}}`$ now includes only photons above 4 ryd, and $`\overline{t}_{\mathrm{HeIII}}`$ is $`6.5`$ times shorter than the hydrogen recombination timescale if ionized hydrogen and doubly ionized helium have similar clumping factors.222This last assumption appears, however, rather dubious: the reason is that self-shielding of He $`\mathrm{II}`$Lyc radiation occurs at much lower hydrogen columns than self-shielding of photons at $`1`$ryd (by about a factor of $`S/2`$, where the spectral ‘softness’ $`S`$ is the the ratio of the radiation flux at the hydrogen Lyman edge to the flux at 4 ryd), and self-shielded gas will remain neutral and not add to the recombination rate. Ionized hydrogen may then be more clumpy than doubly ionized helium. It is interesting to note that, if the intrinsic photon spectrum of ionizing sources has slope $`\dot{n}(\nu )\nu ^{2.8}`$, the first terms on the right-hand side of equations (5) and (14) are actually equal, and a significant delay between the complete overlapping of $`\mathrm{II}`$and He $`\mathrm{III}`$regions can only arise if recombinations are important. This effect is illustrated in Figure 4, where the expected evolution of the He $`\mathrm{III}`$filling factor (obtained by numerical integration of eq. 14) is plotted for a QSO-photoionization model with a source decline at high redshifts: He $`\mathrm{II}`$reionization is never completed before $`z=3`$ in models with $`C\mathrm{}>10`$. A significant contribution to the UV background at 4 ryd from massive stars, which could push the helium reionization epoch to higher redshifts, has been traditionally ruled out on the basis that the ratio between the number of He $`\mathrm{II}`$and $`\mathrm{I}`$Lyc photons emitted from low-metallicity starbursts is only about two percent (Leitherer & Heckman 1995), five times smaller than in typical QSO spectra. It has been recently pointed out by Tumlinson & Shull (2000), however, that metal-free stars exhibit higher effective temperatures and dramatically harder stellar spectra, particularly in the He $`\mathrm{II}`$continuum. This enhanced He-ionizing capabilities of Pop III stars could have interesting implications for reionization.

To date, various studies of the HeII Ly$`\alpha `$forest in the spectra of distant QSOs (Hogan, Anderson, & Rugers 1997; Reimers et al. 1997; Heap et al. 2000) have revealed patchy absorption with low He $`\mathrm{II}`$opacity ‘voids’ alternating several Mpc sized regions with vanishing flux. These observations suggest that helium absorption does not increase smoothly with lookback time, but rather in the abrupt manner expected in the final stages of inhomogeneous reionization by quasar sources. Radiative transfer effects during He $`\mathrm{II}`$reionization could affect the thermal history of the IGM (Abel & Haehnelt 1999, Efstathiou, this volume). Here it is important to remark that, while delayed He $`\mathrm{II}`$reionization in a clumpy Universe appears to be naturally linked to the observed decline in the space density of quasars beyond $`z3`$, the complete overlapping of He $`\mathrm{III}`$regions occurs instead much earlier ($`z5`$) in models that predict many more faint QSOs at high redshifts (Haiman & Loeb 1998).

I would like to thank my collaborators, T. Abel, F. Haardt, Z. Haiman, and M. Rees, for many useful discussions on the topics discussed here.