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Part II

43. The Gunn-Peterson Opacity Rise Does Not Require a Unique Global Reionisation Epoch

The sharp rise in absorption seen in quasar spectra at high redshift is presented as unique evidence for a single global cosmic reionisation epoch. BFUT Paper 11 reinterprets the same feature as an absorption percolation threshold: when absorber coverage in the intergalactic medium crosses a critical threshold, transmitted light collapses sharply, without requiring any single, universal reionisation boundary. A smooth absorber gradient with no imposed epoch boundary produces transmitted flux declining from 1.000 at low redshift to 0.042 at high redshift, with both the 20-percent and 10-percent transmission thresholds crossed within the same narrow transition window centred near redshift 6.35 [P11].

Source papers: P11

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