Benedetta Ciardi

Cosmic reionization is the last major phase transition undergone by our Universe. Although most studies agree on the general characteristics of H reionization (for example that it is driven by stars and it is mostly if not fully complete by z~6), its details are still largely unknown, among which the contribution from and role played by more energetic sources.

In this talk I will discuss the ingredients needed for a correct modeling of cosmic reionization and present results from recent radiative transfer simulations accounting for a variety of source types (such as stars, quasars, X-ray binaries). I will also discuss the observability of reionization in terms of the 21cm signal from neutral hydrogen and present the latest results from the LOFAR radio telescope.