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In the fields of Big Bang theory and cosmology, reionization is the process that caused electrically neutral atoms in the universe to reionize after the lapse of the "dark ages".
Reionization is the second of two major phase transitions of gas in the universe[citation needed] (the first is recombination). While the majority of baryonic matter in the universe is in the form of hydrogen and helium, reionization usually refers strictly to the reionization of hydrogen, the element.
It is believed that the primordial helium also experienced a similar reionization phase change, but at a later epoch in the history of the universe.[1] This is usually called "helium reionization".
- ^ Furlanetto, Steven R.; Oh, S. Peng (July 2008). "The History and Morphology of Helium Reionization". The Astrophysical Journal. 681 (1): 1–17. arXiv:0711.1542. Bibcode:2008ApJ...681....1F. doi:10.1086/588546. ISSN 0004-637X.