{"paper":{"title":"The mean free path of ionizing photons at 5 < z < 6: evidence for rapid evolution near reionization","license":"http://arxiv.org/licenses/nonexclusive-distrib/1.0/","headline":"","cross_cats":["astro-ph.GA"],"primary_cat":"astro-ph.CO","authors_text":"Anson D'Aloisio, G\\'abor Worseck, George D. Becker, Holly M. Christenson, James S. Bolton, Yongda Zhu","submitted_at":"2021-03-30T18:29:27Z","abstract_excerpt":"The mean free path of ionizing photons, $\\lambda_{\\rm mfp}$, is a key factor in the photoionization of the intergalactic medium (IGM). At $z \\gtrsim 5$, however, $\\lambda_{\\rm mfp}$ may be short enough that measurements towards QSOs are biased by the QSO proximity effect. We present new direct measurements of $\\lambda_{\\rm mfp}$ that address this bias and extend up to $z \\sim 6$ for the first time. Our measurements at $z \\sim 5$ are based on data from the Giant Gemini GMOS survey and new Keck LRIS observations of low-luminosity QSOs. At $z \\sim 6$ we use QSO spectra from Keck ESI and VLT X-Sho"},"claims":{"count":0,"items":[],"snapshot_sha256":"258153158e38e3291e3d48162225fcdb2d5a3ed65a07baac614ab91432fd4f57"},"source":{"id":"2103.16610","kind":"arxiv","version":2},"verdict":{"id":null,"model_set":{},"created_at":null,"strongest_claim":"","one_line_summary":"","pipeline_version":null,"weakest_assumption":"","pith_extraction_headline":""},"integrity":{"clean":true,"summary":{"advisory":0,"critical":0,"by_detector":{},"informational":0},"endpoint":"/pith/2103.16610/integrity.json","findings":[],"available":true,"detectors_run":[],"snapshot_sha256":"c28c3603d3b5d939e8dc4c7e95fa8dfce3d595e45f758748cecf8e644a296938"},"references":{"count":0,"sample":[],"resolved_work":0,"snapshot_sha256":"258153158e38e3291e3d48162225fcdb2d5a3ed65a07baac614ab91432fd4f57","internal_anchors":0},"formal_canon":{"evidence_count":0,"snapshot_sha256":"258153158e38e3291e3d48162225fcdb2d5a3ed65a07baac614ab91432fd4f57"},"author_claims":{"count":0,"strong_count":0,"snapshot_sha256":"258153158e38e3291e3d48162225fcdb2d5a3ed65a07baac614ab91432fd4f57"},"builder_version":"pith-number-builder-2026-05-17-v1"}