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ABSTRACT Our understanding of reionization has advanced considerably over the past decade, with several results now demonstrating that the intergalactic medium transitioned from substantially neutral at z = 7 to largely reionized at z = 6. However, little remains known about the sizes of ionized bubbles at z ≳ 7 as well as the galaxy overdensities which drive their growth. Fortunately, rest-ultraviolet (UV) spectroscopic observations offer a pathway towards characterizing these ionized bubbles thanks to the resonant nature of Lyman-alpha photons. In a previous work, we presented Ly α detections from three closely separated Lyman-break galaxies at z ≃ 6.8, suggesting the presence of a large (R > 1 physical Mpc) ionized bubble in the 1.5 deg2 COSMOS field. Here, we present new deep Ly α spectra of 10 UV-bright ($$\mathrm{\mathit{ M}}_{\mathrm{UV}}^{} \le -20.4$$) z ≃ 6.6–6.9 galaxies in the surrounding area, enabling us to better characterize this potential ionized bubble. We confidently detect (S/N > 7) Ly α emission at z = 6.701–6.882 in nine of ten observed galaxies, revealing that the large-scale volume spanned by these sources (characteristic radius R = 3.2 physical Mpc) traces a strong galaxy overdensity (N/〈N〉 ≳ 3). Our data additionally confirm that the Ly α emission of UV-bright galaxies in this volume is significantly enhanced, with 40 per cent (4/10) showing strong Ly α emission (equivalent width >25 Å) compared to the 8–9 per cent found on average at z ∼ 7. The median Ly α equivalent width of our observed galaxies is also ≈2 times that typical at z ∼ 7, consistent with expectations if a very large (R ∼ 3 physical Mpc) ionized bubble is allowing the Ly α photons to cosmologically redshift far into the damping wing before encountering H i.
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MMT spectroscopy of Lyman-alpha at z ≃ 7: evidence for accelerated reionization around massive galaxies
ABSTRACT Reionization-era galaxies tend to exhibit weak Ly α emission, likely reflecting attenuation from an increasingly neutral IGM. Recent observations have begun to reveal exceptions to this picture, with strong Ly α emission now known in four of the most massive z = 7–9 galaxies in the CANDELS fields, all of which also exhibit intense [O iii]+H β emission (EW > 800 Å). To better understand why Ly α is anomalously strong in a subset of massive z ≃ 7–9 galaxies, we have initiated an MMT/Binospec survey targeting a larger sample (N = 22) of similarly luminous (≃1–6 L$$^{\ast }_{\mathrm{UV}}$$) z ≃ 7 galaxies selected over very wide-area fields (∼3 deg2). We confidently (>7σ) detect Ly α in 78 per cent (7/9) of galaxies with strong [O iii]+H β emission (EW > 800 Å) as opposed to only 8 per cent (1/12) of galaxies with more moderate (EW = 200–800 Å) [O iii]+H β. We argue that the higher Ly α EWs of the strong [O iii]+H β population likely reflect enhanced ionizing photon production efficiency owing to their large sSFRs (≳30 Gyr−1). We also find evidence that Ly α transmission from massive galaxies declines less rapidly over 6 < z < 7 than in low-mass lensed systems. In particular, our data suggest no strong evolution in Ly α transmission, consistent with a picture wherein massive z ≃ 7 galaxies often reside in large ionized regions. We detect three closely separated (R = 1.7 physical Mpc) z ≃ 7 Ly α emitters in our sample, conceivably tracing a large ionized structure that is consistent with this picture. We detect tentative evidence for an overdensity in this region, implying a large ionizing photon budget in the surrounding volume.
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- Award ID(s):
- 1828315
- PAR ID:
- 10313055
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
- Volume:
- 502
- Issue:
- 4
- ISSN:
- 0035-8711
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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Accepted Manuscript1.0
- Journal Article:
- https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stab432
