Cosmic reionization and the LOFAR project

In this talk I have presented theoretical models of the cosmic reionization process and discussed ongoing activities within the LOFAR Epoch of Reionization Working Group.It has long been known that the most promising tool to investigate the EoR is via the 21cm line from neutral hydrogen, which is expected to be seen in emission or absorption against the CMB.The generation of radio interferometers which is presently being built should be able to detect such line.Among these telescopes, LOFAR is in a very advanced construction phase and data are flowing.Thus, a great effort is being done within the Working Group to produce a number of ad hoc theoretical models to be compared with observations.The ultimate challenge for the detection of the cosmological signal though will be to separate it from the foreground signal, which is orders of magnitude higher.Thus, in addition to simulating mock reionization histories, an ongoing effort is being done to identify the best technique to extract the primary signal.