The Relationship Between Stellar Populations and Lyman Alpha Emission in Lyman Break Galaxies

Abstract

We present the results of a photometric and spectroscopic survey of 321 Lyman break galaxies (LBGs) at z ~ 3 to investigate systematically the relationship between Lya emission and stellar populations. Lya equivalent widths (EW) were calculated from rest-frame UV spectroscopy and optical/near-infrared/Spitzer photometry was used in population synthesis modeling to derive the key properties of age, dust extinction, star formation rate (SFR), and stellar mass. We directly compare the stellar populations of LBGs with and without strong Lya emission, where we designate the former group (EW > 20 AA) as Lya emitters (LAEs) and the latter group (EW < 20 AA) as non-LAEs. This controlled method of comparing objects from the same UV luminosity distribution represents an improvement over previous studies in which the stellar populations of LBGs and narrowband-selected LAEs were contrasted, where the latter were often intrinsically fainter in broadband filters by an order of magnitude simply due to different selection criteria. Using a variety of statistical tests, we find that Lya equivalent width and age, SFR, and dust extinction, respectively, are significantly correlated in the sense that objects with strong Lya emission also tend to be older, lower in star formation rate, and less dusty than objects with weak Lya emission, or the line in absorption. We accordingly conclude that, within the LBG sample, objects with strong Lya emission represent a later stage of galaxy evolution in which supernovae-induced outflows have reduced the dust covering fraction. We also examined the hypothesis that the attenuation of Lya photons is lower than that of the continuum, as proposed by some, but found no evidence to support this picture.

23 pages, 13 figures, accepted to ApJ, replaced with accepted version

References in corpus (23)

• The Mass-Metallicity Relation at z~2
• The Subaru/XMM-Newton Deep Survey (SXDS). IV. Evolution of Lya Emitters from z=3.1 to 5.7 in the 1 deg^2 Field: Luminosity Functions and AGN
• The Stellar, Gas and Dynamical Masses of Star-Forming Galaxies at z~2
• UV Continuum Slope and Dust Obscuration from z~6 to z~2: The Star Formation Rate Density at High Redshift
• Multi-Wavelength Constraints on the Cosmic Star Formation History from Spectroscopy: the Rest-Frame UV, H-alpha, and Infrared Luminosity Functions at Redshifts 1.9<z<3.4
• Ly-alpha Emission-Line Galaxies at z = 3.1 in the Extended Chandra Deep Field South
• The Direct Detection of Lyman-Continuum Emission from Star-forming Galaxies at z~3
• A galaxy at a redshift z = 6.96
• z~7-10 Galaxies in the HUDF and GOODS fields, and their UV Luminosity Functions
• A Spectroscopic Survey of Redshift 1.4<z<3.0 Galaxies in the Goods-North Field: Survey Description, Catalogs, and Properties
• Rest-Frame Optical Spectra of Three Strongly Lensed Galaxies at z~2
• 3D Lyman-alpha radiation transfer. III. Constraints on gas and stellar properties of z~3 Lyman break galaxies (LBG) and implications for high-z LBGs and Lyman-alpha emitters(LAEs)
• The luminosity function, halo masses and stellar masses of luminous Lyman-break galaxies at redshifts 5<z<6
• Lyman-break galaxies at z~5 -I. First significant stellar mass assembly in galaxies that are not simply z~3 LBGs at higher redshift
• Deficiency of large equivalent width Lyman-alpha emission in luminous Lyman break galaxies at z~5-6?
• Lyman alpha emitting galaxies at 0.2 < z < 0.35 from GALEX spectroscopy
• Lyman alpha emission in high-redshift galaxies
• The physical properties of Lyalpha emitting galaxies: not just primeval galaxies?
• Spitzer Observations of the z=2.73 Lensed Lyman Break Galaxy, MS1512-cB58
• The Varied Fates of z~2 Star-forming Galaxies
• Physical properties of z~4 LBGs: differences between galaxies with and without Ly-alpha emission
• The GLARE Survey II. Faint z=6 Ly-alpha Line Emitters in the HUDF
• On the dependence between UV luminosity and Lyman-alpha equivalent width in high redshift galaxies

Cited by in corpus (135)

• The Structure and Kinematics of the Circum-Galactic Medium from Far-UV Spectra of z~2-3 Galaxies
• Keck Spectroscopy of Faint 3<z<7 Lyman Break Galaxies: - I. New constraints on cosmic reionisation from the luminosity and redshift-dependent fraction of Lyman-alpha emission
• Diffuse Lyman Alpha Emitting Halos: A Generic Property of High Redshift Star Forming Galaxies
• Ionization State of Inter-Stellar Medium in Galaxies: Evolution, SFR-M_star-Z Dependence, and Ionizing Photon Escape
• New Measurements of the Ionizing Ultraviolet Background over 2 < z < 5 and Implications for Hydrogen Reionization
• The Keck Lyman Continuum Spectroscopic Survey (KLCS): The Emergent Ionizing Spectrum of Galaxies at $z\sim 3$
• Physical Conditions in a Young, Unreddened, Low Metallicity Galaxy at High Redshift
• Lyman Alpha Emitting Galaxies as a Probe of Reionization
• Extreme Feedback and the Epoch of Reionization: Clues in the Local Universe
• On the redshift-evolution of the Lyman-alpha escape fraction and the dust content of galaxies
• Lyman-alpha Cooling Emission from Galaxy Formation
• The Stellar Mass Content of Submillimeter-Selected Galaxies
• Escape of about five per cent of Lyman-alpha photons from high-redshift star-forming galaxies
• The Ly-alpha Properties of Faint Galaxies at z2-3 with Systemic Redshifts and Velocity Dispersions from Keck-MOSFIRE
• Stellar Populations of Lyman Alpha Emitters at z~6-7: Constraints on the Escape Fraction of Ionizing Photons from Galaxy Building Blocks
• The HETDEX Pilot Survey. II. The Evolution of the Ly-alpha Escape Fraction from the UV Slope and Luminosity Function of 1.9<z<3.8 LAEs
• The Spectroscopic Properties of Lyα-Emitters at z $\approx$ 2.7: Escaping Gas and Photons from Faint Galaxies
• Q1549-C25: A Clean Source of Lyman-Continuum Emission at $z=3.15$
• A Refined Estimate of the Ionizing Emissivity from Galaxies at z~3: Spectroscopic Follow-up in the SSA22a Field
• HETDEX pilot survey for emission-line galaxies - I. Survey design, performance, and catalog
• Physical Properties of Galaxies from z=2-4
• On The Detection Of Ionizing Radiation Arising From Star-Forming Galaxies At Redshift z ~ 3-4 : Looking For Analogs Of "Stellar Reionizers"
• The Lyman alpha Reference Sample: II. HST imaging results, integrated properties and trends
• The MOSDEF Survey: Significant Evolution in the Rest-Frame Optical Emission Line Equivalent Widths of Star-Forming Galaxies at z=1.4-3.8
• A Window On The Earliest Star Formation: Extreme Photoionization Conditions of a High-Ionization, Low-Metallicity Lensed Galaxy at z~2
• The Lyman alpha Reference Sample: Extended Lyman alpha Halos Produced at Low Dust Content
• The Connection Between Reddening, Gas Covering Fraction, and the Escape of Ionizing Radiation at High Redshift
• The VIMOS Ultra-Deep Survey (VUDS): fast increase of the fraction of strong Lyman alpha emitters from z=2 to z=6
• Average Metallicity and Star Formation Rate of Lya Emitters Probed by a Triple Narrow-Band Survey
• Line Transfer through Clumpy, Large-Scale Outflows: Lyman Alpha Absorption and Halos around Starforming Galaxies
• Gas Motion Study of Lya Emitters at z~2 Using UV and Optical Spectral Lines
• Bright and Faint Ends of Ly$\alpha$ Luminosity Functions at $\text{z}=2$ Determined by the Subaru Survey: Implications for AGN, Magnification Bias, and ISM HI Evolution
• Understanding the escape of LyC and Ly$\alpha$ photons from turbulent clouds
• The Kinematics of Multiple-Peaked Ly-alpha Emission in Star-Forming Galaxies at z~2-3
• Consensus report on 25 years of searches for damped Ly$\alpha$ galaxies in emission: Confirming their metallicity-luminosity relation at $z\gtrsim 2$
• An uncontaminated measurement of the escaping Lyman continuum at $z\sim 3$
• Discovery of a compact gas-rich DLA galaxy at z = 2.2: evidences for a starburst-driven outflow
• Ly-alpha Emitting Galaxies at z = 2.1: Stellar Masses, Dust and Star Formation Histories from Spectral Energy Distribution Fitting
• First spectroscopic measurements of [OIII] emission from Lyman-alpha selected field galaxies at z ~ 3.1
• A Close Comparison between Observed and Modeled Lyα Lines for z ~ 2.2 Lyman Alpha Emitters
• A systematic study of Lyman-Alpha transfer through outflowing shells: Model parameter estimation
• The Rest Frame Ultraviolet Spectra of UV-Selected Active Galactic Nuclei at z ~ 2-3
• The CALYMHA survey: Ly$\alpha$ escape fraction and its dependence on galaxy properties at $z=2.23$
• The Rest-Frame Optical Spectroscopic Properties of Ly$\alpha$-Emitters at $z\sim 2.5$: The Physical Origins of Strong Ly$\alpha$ Emission
• Lyα Emission from High Redshift Sources in COSMOS
• A connection between extremely strong Damped Lyman-alpha Systems and Lyman-alpha Emitting Galaxies at small impact parameters
• An HST/WFC3-IR Morphological Survey of Galaxies at z = 1.5-3.6: II. The Relation between Morphology and Gas-Phase Kinematics
• MMT Spectroscopy of Lyman-alpha at z$\simeq$7: Evidence for Accelerated Reionization Around Massive Galaxies
• Linking Ly-alpha and Low-Ionization Transitions at Low Optical Depth
• Narrowband Lyman-Continuum Imaging of Galaxies at z ~ 2.85
• Scattered Emission from z~1 Galactic Outflows
• A VLT/FORS2 view at $z\sim 6$: Lyman-$\alpha$ emitter fraction and galaxy physical properties at the edge of the epoch of cosmic reionization
• Sizing up Lyman-alpha and Lyman Break Galaxies
• Evolution in the Escape Fraction of Ionizing Photons and the Decline in Strong Lya Emission from z>6 Galaxies
• VIMOS Ultra-Deep Survey (VUDS): Witnessing the Assembly of a Massive Cluster at z~3.3
• Ly alpha emitting galaxies as early stages in galaxy formation
• The Effects of Stellar Population and Gas Covering Fraction on the Emergent Lyman Alpha Emission of High-Redshift Galaxies
• Escape of Lyman-alpha and continuum photons from star-forming galaxies
• The redshift evolution of rest-UV spectroscopic properties in Lyman Break Galaxies at z ~ 2-4
• Lyman Alpha Emitters and Lyman Break Galaxies: dichotomous twins?
• Can galactic outflows explain the properties of Ly-alpha emitters?
• On the UV compactness and morphologies of typical Lyman-a emitters from z~2 to z~6
• A High Fraction of Ly-alpha-Emitters Among Galaxies with Extreme Emission Line Ratios at z ~ 2
• HST Emission Line Galaxies at z ~ 2: Comparing Physical Properties of Lyman Alpha and Optical Emission Line Selected Galaxies
• Confirmation of a Steep Luminosity Function for Lyman-alpha Emitters at z = 5.7: A Major Component of Reionization
• Strong Ly$\alpha$ Emission in an Overdense Region at $z=6.8$: A Very Large ($R\sim 3$ physical Mpc) Ionized Bubble in COSMOS?
• On the influence of physical galaxy properties on Lyman-alpha escape in star-forming galaxies
• Constraints on Hyperluminous QSO Lifetimes via Fluorescent Lya Emitters at Z~2.7
• The UV-brightest Lyman continuum emitting star-forming galaxy
• The VANDELS survey: a measurement of the average Lyman-continuum escape fraction of star-forming galaxies at z=3.5
• The Spectrally Resolved Lyman-alpha Emission of Three Lyman-alpha Selected Field Galaxies at z~2.4 from the HETDEX Pilot Survey
• Lyman-alpha spectroscopy of extreme [OIII] emitting galaxies at $z\simeq 2-3$: Implications for Ly$\alpha$ visibility and LyC leakage at $z>6$
• Dust Extinction and Metallicities of Star-Forming Lyman Alpha Emitting Galaxies at Low Redshift
• The environments of high redshift radio galaxies and quasars: probes of protoclusters
• The VLT LBG Redshift Survey I: Clustering and Dynamics of ~1000 Galaxies at z~3
• The VIMOS Ultra Deep Survey: Ly$\alpha$ Emission and Stellar Populations of Star-Forming Galaxies at 2<z<2.5
• The ALPINE-ALMA [CII] survey: Small Lya-[CII] velocity offsets in main-sequence galaxies at 4.4 < z < 6
• AGN-enhanced outflows of low-ionization gas in star-forming galaxies at 1.7<z<4.6
• Searching for z > 6.5 Analogs Near the Peak of Cosmic Star Formation
• Fine-Structure FeII* Emission and Resonant MgII Emission in z = 1 Star-Forming Galaxies
• The VANDELS survey: the role of ISM and galaxy physical properties on the escape of Lyα emission in z $\sim$ 3.5 star-forming galaxies
• The Redshift Evolution of Rest-UV Spectroscopic Properties to z~5
• Herschel Detection of Dust Emission from UV-Luminous Star-Forming Galaxies at 3.3<z<4.3
• z~1 Lya Emitters I. The Luminosity Function
• The KBSS-KCWI Survey: The connection between extended Ly$\alpha$ halos and galaxy azimuthal angle at $z\sim 2-3$
• Stacked Rest-Frame UV Spectra of Ly$\alpha$-Emitting and Continuum-Selected Galaxies at 2<z<3.5
• MUSE integral-field spectroscopy towards the Frontier Fields cluster Abell S1063: II. Properties of low luminosity Lyman alpha emitters at z>3
• Lyα emission from galaxies in the Epoch of Reionization
• The Lyman-alpha emission of high-z damped Lyman-alpha systems
• The MUSE eXtremely Deep Field: Individual detections of Lyα haloes around rest-frame UV-selected galaxies at z~2.9-4.4
• The VANDELS survey: A strong correlation between Ly$\alpha$ equivalent width and stellar metallicity at $3\le \mathbf{z}\le 5$
• CLARA's view on the escape fraction of Lyman-Alpha photons in high redshift galaxies
• Constraining the lifetime and opening angle of quasars using fluorescent Lyman $\alpha$ emission: the case of Q0420-388
• Stellar Populations of Lyman-alpha Emitters at z=4.86: A Comparison to $z\sim 5$ LBGs
• HST Emission Line Galaxies at z ~ 2: The Ly-alpha Escape Fraction
• Lyman Alpha and MgII as Probes of Galaxies and their Environments
• The Circumgalactic Medium of Extreme Emission Line Galaxies at z ~ 2: Resolved Spectroscopy and Radiative Transfer Modeling of Spatially Extended Lyman-alpha Emission in the KBSS-KCWI Survey
• Extended Lyman-alpha emission from interacting galaxies at high redshifts
• Lyman-alpha Emitters in Cosmological Simulations I: Lyman-alpha Escape Fraction and Statistical Properties at z=3.1
• A 52 hours VLT/FORS2 spectrum of a bright z~7 HUDF galaxy: no Ly-alpha emission
• PACS-Herschel FIR detections of Lyman-alpha emitters at 2.0<z<3.5
• The HETDEX Survey: Emission Line Exploration and Source Classification
• The VIMOS Ultra Deep Survey: The role of HI kinematics and HI column density on the escape of Lyalpha photons in star-forming galaxies at 2<z<4
• What do observations of the Lyman-alpha fraction tell us about reionization?
• Clustering at high redshift: The connection between Lyman Alpha emitters and Lyman break galaxies
• Probing High-Redshift Galaxy Formation at the Highest Luminosities: New Insights from DEIMOS Spectroscopy
• Rest-frame UV Properties of Luminous Strong Gravitationally Lensed Ly$\alpha$ Emitters from the BELLS GALLERY Survey
• Morphological Properties of Lyman Alpha Emitters at Redshift 4.86 in the COSMOS Field: Clumpy Star Formation or Merger?
• The dominant origin of diffuse Ly$\alpha$ halos around LAEs explored by SED fitting and clustering analysis
• Lyman-Alpha Escape from Low-Mass, Compact, High-Redshift Galaxies
• Sub-kiloparsec Imaging of Lyman-alpha Emission in a Low Mass, Highly Ionized, Gravitationally Lensed Galaxy at z = 1.84
• The HETDEX Survey: The Ly$\alpha$ Escape Fraction from 3D-HST Emission Line Galaxies at $z\sim 2$
• The VANDELS ESO public spectroscopic survey: The spectroscopic measurements catalogue
• Early Results from GLASS-JWST XXIII: The transmission of Lyman-alpha from UV-faint z ~ 3-6 galaxies
• The MOSDEF-LRIS Survey: Connection between Galactic-scale Outflows and the Properties of $z$~2 star-forming Galaxies
• A coronagraphic absorbing cloud reveals the narrow-line region and extended Lyman-$\alpha$ emission of QSO J0823+0529
• The MOSDEF-LRIS Survey: Probing ISM/CGM Structure of Star-Forming Galaxies at z~2 Using Rest-UV Spectroscopy
• Galaxies of the $z\sim 2$ Universe. I. Grism-Selected Rest-Frame Optical Emission Line Galaxies
• Revealing the Nature of a Lyman-$\alpha$ Halo in a Strongly Lensed Interacting System at $z=2.92$
• Stellar Populations of Lyman-alpha Emitting Galaxies in the HETDEX Survey I: An Analysis of LAEs in the GOODS-N Field
• Introducing the Texas Euclid Survey for Lyman Alpha (TESLA) Survey: Initial Study Correlating Galaxy Properties to Lyman-Alpha Emission
• The Lyman Alpha Reference Sample XII: Morphology of extended Lyman alpha emission in star-forming galaxies
• Searching for the connection between ionizing-photon escape and the surface density of star formation at z~3
• Metal content of the circumgalactic medium around star-forming galaxies at z $\sim$ 2.6 as revealed by the VIMOS Ultra-Deep Survey
• The Lyman $\alpha$ Reference Sample XIV: Lyman $\alpha$ imaging of 45 low redshift star-forming galaxies and inferences on global emission
• Identifying Lyα emitter candidates with Random Forest: learning from galaxies in CANDELS survey
• On the star formation efficiency in high redshift Lyman-α emitters
• A z ~ 5.7 Lyα Emission Line with an Ultra Broad Red Wing
• New Results from the Magellan IMACS Spectroscopic Lyman Alpha Survey: NICMOS Observations of Lyman Alpha emitters at z=5.7
• Lyman-alpha at Cosmic Noon I: Ly-alpha Spectral Type Selection of z ~ 2-3 Lyman Break Galaxies with Broadband Imaging
• Discovery of a damped Ly$\alpha$ galaxy at z $\sim$ 3 towards the quasar SDSS J011852+040644
• LATIS Data Release: $\sim 4200$ Spectra of $z\sim 2-3$ Galaxies, Redshifts, and Intergalactic Medium Tomography Maps
• Lyman-alpha at Cosmic Noon II: The relationship between kinematics and Lyman-alpha in z~2-3 Lyman Break Galaxies
• The VIMOS Ultra Deep Survey: Lyman Alpha Emission and Stellar Populations of Star-Forming Galaxies at 2<z<6
• Resolving dust and Lyα emission in a lensed galaxy at the epoch of reionization with JWST/CANUCS