High-redshift Lyman-alpha Emitters Research Articles

Survey parameters for detecting 21-cm-Ly α emitter cross-correlations with the Square Kilometre Array

Abstract Detections of the cross-correlation signal between the 21 cm signal during reionization and high-redshift Lyman-α (Ly α) emitters (LAEs) are subject to observational uncertainties which mainly include systematics associated with radio interferometers and LAE selection. These uncertainties can be reduced by increasing the survey volume and/or the survey luminosity limit, i.e. the faintest detectable Ly α luminosity. We use our model of high-redshift LAEs and the underlying reionization state to compute the uncertainties of the 21-cm-LAE cross-correlation function at $z$ ≃ 6.6 for observations with SKA1-Low and LAE surveys with Δ$z$ = 0.1 for three different values of the average inter-galactic medium (IGM) ionization state (⟨χHi⟩ ≃ 0.1, 0.25, 0.5). At $z$ ≃ 6.6, we find SILVERRUSH type surveys, with a field of view of 21 deg2 and survey luminosity limits of Lα ≥ 7.9 × 1042 erg s−1, to be optimal to distinguish between an IGM that is 50 , 25 , and 10 per cent neutral, while surveys with smaller fields of view and lower survey luminosity limits, such as the 5 and 10 deg2 surveys with WFIRST, can only discriminate between a 50 and 10 per cent neutral IGM.

The UV, Lyman α, and dark matter halo properties of high-redshift galaxies

We explore the properties of high-redshift Lyman-alpha emitters (LAE), and their link with the Lyman-Break galaxy population (LBG), using a semi-analytic model of galaxy formation that takes into account resonant scattering of Lya photons in gas outflows. We can reasonably reproduce the abundances of LAEs and LBGs from redshift 3 to 7, as well as most UV LFs of LAEs. The stronger dust attenuation for (resonant) Lya photons compared to UV continuum photons in bright LBGs provides a natural interpretation to the increase of the LAE fraction in LBG samples, X_LAE, towards fainter magnitudes. The redshift evolution of X_LAE seems however very sensitive to UV magnitudes limits and EW cuts. In spite of the apparent good match between the statistical properties predicted by the model and the observations, we find that the tail of the Lya equivalent width distribution (EW > 100 A) cannot be explained by our model, and we need to invoke additional mechanisms. We find that LAEs and LBGs span a very similar dynamical range, but bright LAEs are about 4 times rarer than LBGs in massive halos. Moreover, massive halos mainly contain weak LAEs in our model, which might introduce a bias towards low-mass halos in surveys which select sources with high EW cuts. Overall, our results are consistent with the idea that LAEs and LBGs make a very similar galaxy population. Their apparent differences seem mainly due to EW selections, UV detection limits, and a decreasing Lya-to-UV escape fraction ratio in high SFR galaxies.

The visibility of Lyman α emitters: constraining reionization, ionizing photon escape fractions and dust

We build a physical model for high-redshift Lyman Alpha emitters (LAEs) by coupling state of the art cosmological simulations (GADGET-2) with a dust model and a radiative transfer code (pCRASH). We post-process the cosmological simulation with pCRASH using five different values of the escape fraction of hydrogen ionizing photons (f_esc=0.05,0.25,0.5,0.75,0.95) until reionization is complete, i.e. the average neutral hydrogen fraction drops to <X_HI>~10^-4. Then, the only free-parameter left to match model results to the observed Lya and UV luminosity functions of LAEs at z~6.6 is the relative escape of Lyman Alpha (Lya) and continuum photons from the galactic environment (f_alpha/f_c). We find a three-dimensional degeneracy such that the theoretical model can be reconciled with observations for an IGM Lya transmission <T_alpha>_LAE~38-50% (which translates to <X_HI>~0.5-10^-4 for Gaussian emission lines), f_esc~0.05-0.50 and f_alpha/f_c~0.6-1.8.

Clustering at high redshift: the connection between Lyman α emitters and Lyman break galaxies

We present a physically motivated semi-analytic model to understand the clustering of high redshift Lyman Alpha Emitters (LAEs). We show that the model parameters constrained by the observed luminosity functions, can be used to predict large scale bias and angular correlation function of LAEs. These predictions are shown to reproduce the observations remarkably well. We find that average masses of dark matter halos hosting LAEs brighter than threshold narrow band magnitude ~ 25 are ~ 10^11 M_\odot. These are smaller than that of typical Lyman Break Galaxies (LBGs) brighter than similar threshold continuum magnitude by a factor ~ 10. This results in a smaller clustering strength of LAEs compared to LBGs. However, using the observed relationship between UV continuum and Lyman-alpha luminosity of LAEs, we show that both LAEs and LBGs belong to the same parent galaxy population with narrow band techniques having greater efficiency in picking up galaxies with low UV luminosity. We also show that the lack of evidence for the presence of the one halo term in the observed LAE angular correlation functions can be attributed to sub-Poisson distribution of LAEs in dark matter halos as a result of their low halo occupations.

Joint Lyman α emitters - quasars reionization constraints

We present a novel method to investigate cosmic reionization, using joint spectral information on high redshift Lyman Alpha Emitters (LAE) and quasars (QSOs). Although LAEs have been proposed as reionization probes, their use is hampered by the fact their Ly{\alpha} line is damped not only by intergalactic HI but also internally by dust. Our method allows to overcome such degeneracy. First, we carefully calibrate a reionization simulation with QSO absorption line experiments. Then we identify LAEs in two simulation boxes at z=5.7 and z=6.6 and we build synthetic images/spectra of a prototypical LAE. At redshift 5.7, we find that the Ly{\alpha} transmissivity (T_LAE) ~ 0.25, almost independent of the halo mass. This constancy arises from the conspiracy of two effects: (i) the intrinsic Ly{\alpha} line width and (ii) the infall peculiar velocity. At higher redshift, z=6.6, where the transmissivity is instead largely set by the local HI abundance and LAE transmissivity consequently increases with halo mass from 0.15 to 0.3. Although outflows are present, they are efficiently pressure-confined by infall in a small region around the LAE; hence they only marginally affect transmissivity. Finally, we cast LOS originating from background QSOs passing through foreground LAEs at different impact parameters, and compute the quasar transmissivity (T_QSO). At smaller impact parameters, d < 1 cMpc, a positive correlation between T_QSO and halo mass is found at z = 5.7, which tends to become less pronounced (i.e. flatter) at larger distances. By cross-correlating T_LAE and T_QSO, we can obtain a HI density estimate unaffected by dust. At z= 5.7, the cross-correlation is relatively weak,whereas at z = 6.6 we find a clear positive correlation. We conclude by briefly discussing the perspectives for the application of the method to existing and forthcoming data.

Modelling high redshift Lyman α emitters

We present a new model for high redshift Lyman-Alpha Emitters (LAEs) in the cosmological context which takes into account the resonant scattering of Ly-a photons through expanding gas. The GALICS semi-analytic model provides us with the physical properties of a large sample of high redshift galaxies. We implement a gas outflow model for each galaxy based on simple scaling arguments. The coupling with a library of numerical experiments of Ly-a transfer through expanding or static dusty shells of gas allows us to derive the Ly-a escape fractions and profiles. The predicted distribution of Ly-a photons escape fraction shows that galaxies with a low star formation rate have a f_esc of the order of unity, suggesting that, for those objects, Ly-a may be used to trace the star formation rate assuming a given conversion law. In galaxies forming stars intensely, the escape fraction spans the whole range from 0 to 1. The model is able to get a good match to the UV and Ly-a luminosity function (LF) data at 3 < z < 5. We find that we are in good agreement with both the bright Ly-a data and the faint population observed by Rauch et al. (2008) at z=3. Most of the Ly-a profiles of our LAEs are redshifted by the diffusion in the outflow which suppresses IGM absorption. The bulk of the observed Ly-a equivalent width (EW) distribution is recovered by our model, but we fail to obtain the very large values sometimes detected. Predictions for stellar masses and UV LFs of LAEs show a satisfactory agreement with observational estimates. The UV-brightest galaxies are found to show only low Ly-a EWs in our model, as it is reported by many observations of high redshift LAEs. We interpret this effect as the joint consequence of old stellar populations hosted by UV-bright galaxies, and high HI column densities that we predict for these objects, which quench preferentially resonant Ly-a photons via dust extinction.

High-redshift Lyα emitters: clues on the Milky Way infancy

Abstract With the aim of determining if Milky Way (MW) progenitors could be identified as high-redshift Lyman Alpha Emitters (LAEs), we have derived the intrinsic properties of z ≈ 5.7 MW progenitors, which are then used to compute their observed Lyα luminosity, Lα, and equivalent width (EW). MW progenitors visible as LAEs are selected according to the canonical observational criterion, Lα &amp;gt; 1042 erg s−1 and EW &amp;gt; 20 Å. Progenitors of MW-like galaxies have Lα = 1039−43.25 erg s−1, making some of them visible as LAEs. In any single MW merger tree realization, typically only one (out of ≈50) progenitor meets the LAE selection criterion, but the probability of having at least one LAE is very high, P = 68 per cent. The identified LAE stars have ages t* ≈ 150–400 Myr at z ≈ 5.7, with the exception of five small progenitors with t* &amp;lt; 5 Myr and large EW = 60–130 Å. LAE MW progenitors provide &amp;gt;10 per cent of the halo very metal-poor stars [Fe/H] &amp;lt; −2, thus establishing a potentially fruitful link between high-z galaxies and the local Universe.

A Keck Survey for Gravitationally Lensed Lyα Emitters in the Redshift Range 8.5 &lt; z &lt; 10.4: New Constraints on the Contribution of Low‐Luminosity Sources to Cosmic Reionization

We discuss new observational constraints on the abundance of faint high redshift Lyman-alpha emitters secured from a deep Keck near-infrared spectroscopic survey which utilizes the strong magnification provided by lensing galaxy clusters at intermediate redshift (z=0.2-0.5). In each of 9 clusters we have undertaken a systematic `blind' search for line emission with NIRSPEC in the J-band within carefully-selected regions which offer very high magnifications (>10-50x) for background sources with redshifts z~10. The high magnification enables the detection of emission at unprecedented limits (10^41 - 10^42 erg/s), much fainter than those of conventional narrow band imaging and other spectroscopic searches. As the comoving volumes probed are small, our survey is designed to address the important question of whether intrinsically feeble star forming galaxies could provide the dominant ionizing flux at z~10. Our survey has yielded six promising (>5 sigma) candidate Lyman-alpha emitters which lie between z=8.7 and z=10.2. While the predicted reionization photon budget depends upon a large number of physical assumptions, our first glimpse at the z~10 Universe suggests that low luminosity star-forming galaxies contribute a significant proportion of the UV photons necessary for cosmic reionization. [Abridged]

On the narrowband detection properties of high-redshift Lyman-alpha emitters

The last decade has seen huge advances in studies of astrophysical cosmology, primarily as a result of developments in telescopic facilities. One of the primary observational signatures of actively star forming galaxies in the distant universe is the Lyman-alpha emission line (Lyα). The line is used either to search for objects or as a spectral feature for definite redshift confirmation. In recent years, high-z Lyα surveys have been used to constrain cosmic star formation history, investigate large scale structure, and examine the neutral hydrogen fraction of the universe. This doctoral thesis is directly concerned with studies of the Lyα emission from star-forming galaxies and the validity of Lyα as a cosmological tool.The approach is to study a sample of local actively star forming galaxies using data obtained with the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). Imaging observations have been performed in the Lyα line, Hα, and various continuum bandpasses in the ultraviolet and optical wavelength domains. Sophisticated tools have been developed for the analysis of the images, resulting also in theoretical exploration of Lyα-related observables from galaxies at high-z. Model simulations are presented, along with a methodology by which to interpret high-z survey data. HST imaging results call into question the interpretations of many high-z Lyα surveys. More specifically, the first direct observational evidence is presented for the emission of Lyα photons after resonant scattering in neutral hydrogen and low surface-brightness Lyα halos are found as a result. Imaging reveals Lyα morphologies that systematically differ from morphologies probed by stellar light or non-resonant tracers of the nebular gas. Based upon Hα observations and recombination theory, the fraction of Lyα photons that escape is found never to exceed 20% in any of the observed targets, despite the violent star-formation known to be taking place. Even after internal dust corrections, a deficit from the predicted Lyα/Hα line ratio is always found. The interpretation is that scattering events systematically enhance the probability of absorption of Lyα by dust grains. If these galaxies are representative of those that fall into the data-sets of high-z Lyα surveys, some cosmological estimates may be in error by an order of magnitude.

The evolution of galaxies from primeval irregulars to present-day ellipticals

Galaxy formation is believed to proceed in a 'bottom up' manner, starting with the formation of small clumps of gas and stars that then merge hierarchically into giant systems. The baryonic gas loses thermal energy by radiative cooling and falls towards the centres of the new galaxies, while supernovae blow gas out. Any realistic model therefore requires a proper treatment of these processes, but hitherto this has been far from satisfactory. Here we report a simulation that follows evolution from the earliest stages of galaxy formation through the period of dynamical relaxation, at which point the resulting galaxy is in its final form. The bubble structures of gas revealed in our simulation (for times of less than 3 x 10(8) years) resemble closely high-redshift Lyman-alpha emitters. After 10(9) years, these bodies are dominated by stellar continuum radiation and then resemble the Lyman break galaxies, which are high-redshift star-forming galaxies. At this point, the abundance of elements heavier than helium ('metallicity') appears to be solar. After 1.3 x 10(10) years, these galaxies resemble present-day ellipticals.

The Detectability of the First Stars and Their Cluster Enrichment Signatures

We conduct a comprehensive investigation of the detectability of the first stars and their enrichment signatures in galaxy clusters. We show that the mean metallicity of outflows from objects containing these Population III (PopIII) stars is well above the critical transition metallicity (Z_cr \sim 10^-4) that marks the formation of normal stars. Thus the fraction of PopIII objects formed as a function of redshift is heavily dependent on the distribution of metals and fairly independent of the precise value of Z_cr. Using an analytical model of inhomogenous structure formation, we study the evolution of PopIII objects as a function of the star formation efficiency, IMF, and efficiency of outflow generation. For all models, PopIII objects tend to be in the 10^6.5-10^7.0 solar mass range, just large enough to cool within a Hubble time, but small enough that they are not clustered near areas of previous star formation. Although the mean metallicity exceeds Z_cr at a redshift of 15 in all models, the peak of PopIII star formation occurs at z \sim 10, and such stars continue to form well into the observable range. We discuss the observational properties of these objects, some of which may have already been detected in ongoing surveys of high-redshift Lyman-alpha emitters. Finally, we combine our PopIII distributions with the yield models of Heger and Woosley (2002) to study their impact on the intracluster medium (ICM) in galaxy clusters. We find that PopIII stars can contribute no more than 20% of the iron observed in the ICM, although their peculiar elemental yields help to reconcile theoretical models with the observed Fe and Si/Fe abundances. However, these stars tend to overproduce S/Fe and their associated SN heating falls far short of the observed level of 1 keV per ICM gas particle.