Subscribe to the gold package and get unlimited access to Shamra Academy
Register a new userMUSEQuBES: Calibrating the redshifts of Ly {alpha} emitters using stacked circumgalactic medium absorption profiles
137
0
0.0
(
0
)
Ask ChatGPT about the research
No Arabic abstract
Lyman$-alpha$ (Ly$alpha$) emission lines are typically found to be redshifted with respect to the systemic redshifts of galaxies, likely due to resonant scattering of Ly$alpha$ photons. Here we measure the average velocity offset for a sample of 96 $zapprox3.3$ Ly$alpha$ emitters (LAEs) with a median Ly$alpha$ flux (luminosity) of $approx 10^{-17}~rm erg~cm^{-2}~s^{-1}$ ($approx10^{42}~rm erg~s^{-1}$) and a median star formation rate (SFR) of $approx1.3 rm M_{odot} yr^{-1}$ (not corrected for possible dust extinction), detected by the Multi-Unit Spectroscopic Explorer as part of our MUSEQuBES circumgalactic medium (CGM) survey. By postulating that the stacked CGM absorption profiles of these LAEs, probed by 8 background quasars, must be centered on the systemic redshift, we measure an average velocity offset, V$_{rm offset} = 171 pm 8$ $rm km s^{-1}$, between the Ly$alpha$ emission peak and the systemic redshift. The observed V$_{rm offset}$ is lower by factors of $approx1.4$ and $approx2.6$ compared to the velocity offsets measured for narrow-band selected LAEs and Lyman break galaxies, respectively, which probe galaxies with higher masses and SFRs. Consistent with earlier studies based on direct measurements for individual objects, we find that the V$_{rm offset}$ is correlated with the full width at half-maximum of the red peak of the Ly$alpha$ line, and anti-correlated with the rest-frame equivalent width. Moreover, we find that $V_{rm offset}$ is correlated with SFR with a sub-linear scaling relation, V$_{rm offset}propto rm SFR^{0.16pm0.03}$. Adopting the mass scaling for main sequence galaxies, such a relation suggests that V$_{rm offset}$ scales with the circular velocity of the dark matter halos hosting the LAEs.
rate research
Read More
We present the first characterization of the diffuse gas and metals in the circumgalactic medium of 96 z = 2.9-3.8 Ly$alpha$ emitters (LAEs) detected with the Multi-Unit Spectroscopic Explorer (MUSE) in fields centered on 8 bright background quasars as part of our MUSEQuBES survey. The LAEs have relatively low Ly$alpha$ luminosities (~$10^{42}$ erg/s) and star formation rates ~1 $M_odot$/yr, which for main sequence galaxies corresponds to stellar masses of only ~$10^{8.6}$ $M_{odot}$. The median transverse distance between the LAEs and the quasar sightlines is 165 proper kpc (pkpc). We stacked the high-resolution quasar spectra and measured significant excess HI and CIV absorption near the LAEs out to 500 km/s and at least 250 pkpc (corresponding to ~7 virial radii). At < 30 km/s from the galaxies the median HI and CIV optical depths are enhanced by an order of magnitude. The average rest-frame equivalent width of Ly$alpha$ absorption is comparable to that for Lyman-break galaxies (LBGs) at z~2.3 and ~L* galaxies at z~0.2, but considerably higher than for sub-L*/dwarf galaxies at low redshift. The CIV equivalent width is comparable to those measured for low-z dwarf galaxies and z~2.3 LBGs but significantly lower than for z~2.3 quasar-host galaxies. The absorption is significantly stronger around the ~ 1/3 of our LAEs that are part of groups, which we attribute to the large-scale structures in which they are embedded. We do not detect any strong dependence of either the HI or CIV absorption on transverse distance (over the range 50-250 pkpc), redshift, or the properties of the Ly$alpha$ emission line (luminosity, full width at half maximum, or equivalent width). However, for HI, but not CIV, the absorption at < 100 km/s from the LAE does increase with the star formation rate. This suggests that LAEs surrounded by more neutral gas tend to have higher star formation rates.
In this work we model the observed evolution in comoving number density of Lyman-alpha blobs (LABs) as a function of redshift, and try to find which mechanism of emission is dominant in LAB. Our model calculates LAB emission both from cooling radiation from the intergalactic gas accreting onto galaxies and from star formation (SF). We have used dark matter (DM) cosmological simulation to which we applied empirical recipes for Ly$alpha$ emission produced by cooling radiation and SF in every halo. In difference to the previous work, the simulated volume in the DM simulation is large enough to produce an average LABs number density. At a range of redshifts $zsim 1-7$ we compare our results with the observed luminosity functions of LABs and LAEs. Our cooling radiation luminosities appeared to be too small to explain LAB luminosities at all redshifts. In contrast, for SF we obtained a good agreement with observed LFs at all redshifts studied. We also discuss uncertainties which could influence the obtained results, and how LAB LFs could be related to each other in fields with different density.
We present a study of the galaxy environment of 9 strong HI+CIV absorption line systems ($16.2<{rm log}(N({rm HI}))<21.2$) spanning a wide range in metallicity at $zsim4-5$, using MUSE integral field and X-Shooter spectroscopic data collected in a $zapprox 5.26$ quasar field. We identify galaxies within a 250 kpc and $pm1000$ km s$^{-1}$ window for 6 out of the 9 absorption systems, with 2 of the absorption line systems showing multiple associated galaxies within the MUSE field of view. The space density of Ly$alpha$ emitting galaxies (LAEs) around the HI and CIV systems is $approx10-20$ times the average sky density of LAEs given the flux limit of our survey, showing a clear correlation between the absorption and galaxy populations. Further, we find that the strongest CIV systems in our sample are those that are most closely aligned with galaxies in velocity space, i.e. within velocities of $pm500$ km s$^{-1}$. The two most metal poor systems lie in the most dense galaxy environments, implying we are potentially tracing gas that is infalling for the first time into star-forming groups at high redshift. Finally, we detect an extended Ly$alpha$ nebula around the $zapprox 5.26$ quasar, which extends up to $approx50$ kpc at the surface brightness limit of $3.8 times 10^{-18}$ erg s$^{-1}$ cm$^{-2}$ arcsec$^{-2}$. After scaling for surface brightness dimming, we find that this nebula is centrally brighter, having a steeper radial profile than the average for nebulae studied at $zsim3$ and is consistent with the mild redshift evolution seen from $zapprox 2$.
In this series of lectures, I review our observational understanding of high-$z$ Ly$alpha$ emitters (LAEs) and relevant scientific topics. Since the discovery of LAEs in the late 1990s, more than ten (one) thousand(s) of LAEs have been identified photometrically (spectroscopically) at $zsim 0$ to $zsim 10$. These large samples of LAEs are useful to address two major astrophysical issues, galaxy formation and cosmic reionization. Statistical studies have revealed the general picture of LAEs physical properties: young stellar populations, remarkable luminosity function evolutions, compact morphologies, highly ionized inter-stellar media (ISM) with low metal/dust contents, low masses of dark-matter halos. Typical LAEs represent low-mass high-$z$ galaxies, high-$z$ analogs of dwarf galaxies, some of which are thought to be candidates of population III galaxies. These observational studies have also pinpointed rare bright Ly$alpha$ sources extended over $sim 10-100$ kpc, dubbed Ly$alpha$ blobs, whose physical origins are under debate. LAEs are used as probes of cosmic reionization history through the Ly$alpha$ damping wing absorption given by the neutral hydrogen of the inter-galactic medium (IGM), which complement the cosmic microwave background radiation and 21cm observations. The low-mass and highly-ionized population of LAEs can be major sources of cosmic reionization. The budget of ionizing photons for cosmic reionization has been constrained, although there remain large observational uncertainties in the parameters. Beyond galaxy formation and cosmic reionization, several new usages of LAEs for science frontiers have been suggested such as the distribution of {sc Hi} gas in the circum-galactic medium and filaments of large-scale structures. On-going programs and future telescope projects, such as JWST, ELTs, and SKA, will push the horizons of the science frontiers.
The presence of neutral hydrogen in the inter-stellar medium (ISM) and inter-galactic medium (IGM) induces radiative transfer (RT) effects on Ly{alpha} photons which affect the observability of Ly{alpha} emitters (LAEs). We use the GALFORM semi-analytic model of galaxy formation and evolution to analyse how these effects shape the spatial distribution of LAEs with respect to H{alpha} emitters (HAEs) around high density regions at high redshift. We find that when a large sample of protoclusters is considered, HAEs showing also Ly{alpha} emission (HAEs+LAEs) populate the same regions as those that do not display the Ly{alpha} line at $z=2.2$. We compare against the protocluster USS1558-003, one of the most massive protoclusters located at $z=2.53$. Our results indicate that the strong depletion of HAEs+LAEs present in the high density regions of USS1558-003 may be due to cosmic variance. We find that at $z=2.2$ and $z=3.0$, RT of the ISM produces a strong decline ($30$-$50$ per cent) of the clustering amplitude of HAEs+LAEs with respect to HAEs towards the protoclusters centre. At $z=5.7$, given the early evolutionary state of protoclusters and galaxies, the clustering of HAEs+LAEs has a smaller variation ($10$-$20$ per cent) towards the protoclusters centre. Depending on the equivalent width and luminosity criteria of the emission-line galaxy sample, the IGM can have a mild or a null effect on galaxy properties and clustering in high density regions.
Log in to be able to interact and post comments
comments
Fetching comments
Sign in to be able to follow your search criteria
