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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 19 July 2016
Although current models of galaxy formation differ widely, it seems likely that just prior to their formation, a significant fraction of the matter in the Universe was in the form of neutral hydrogen (HI) clouds at redshifts z greater than about 3, beyond which the quasar density decreases rapidly. In this paper we have taken a semi-empirical approach for estimating values of measurable parameters for a variety of scale sizes and masses expected in the epoch prior to galaxy formation and have compared these with the results of searches made so far.