On the Use of Ly-alpha Emitters as Probes of Reionization

Abstract

We use numerical simulations to study the effects of the patchiness of a partly reionized intergalactic medium (IGM) on the observability of Ly-alpha emitters (LAEs) at high redshifts (z ~ 6). We present a new model that divides the Ly-alpha radiative transfer into a (circum-)galactic and an extragalactic (IGM) part, and investigate how the choice of intrinsic line model affects the IGM transmission results. We use our model to study the impact of neutral hydrogen on statistical observables such as the Ly-alpha restframe equivalent width (REW) distribution, the LAE luminosity function and the two-point correlation function. We find that if the observed changes in LAE luminosity functions and equivalent width distributions between z ~ 6 and z ~ 7 are to be explained by an increased IGM neutral fraction alone, we require an extremely late and rapid reionization scenario, where the Universe was ~ 40 % ionized at z = 7, ~ 50 % ionized at z = 6.5 and ~ 100 % ionized at z = 6. This is in conflict with other observations, suggesting that intrinsic LAE evolution at z > 6 cannot be completely neglected. We show how the two-point correlation function can provide more robust constraints once future observations obtain larger LAE samples, and provide predictions for the sample sizes needed to tell different reionization scenarios apart.

Accepted for publication in MNRAS

References in corpus (17)

• Five-Year Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) Observations: Cosmological Interpretation
• 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 End of the Reionization Epoch Probed by Ly-alpha Emitters at z=6.5 in the Subaru Deep Field
• Studying Reionization with Ly-alpha Emitters
• Cosmological Radiative Transfer Codes Comparison Project I: The Static Density Field Tests
• Self-regulated reionization
• The Impact of The IGM on High-Redshift Lyman Alpha Emission Lines
• 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)
• High Performance P3M N-body code: CUBEP3M
• Where are the ``Missing'' Galactic Baryons?
• Lyman alpha Resonant Scattering in Young Galaxies - Predictions from Cosmological Simulations
• Lyman alpha Radiative Transfer in Cosmological Simulations using Adaptive Mesh Refinement
• Lyman alpha emission in high-redshift galaxies
• Towards optimal parallel PM N-body codes: PMFAST
• Effect of the intergalactic environment on the observability of Ly-alpha emitters during reionization
• Signatures of reionization on Lyman alpha emitters
• The clustering of Ly-alpha emitters in a LambdaCDM Universe

Cited by in corpus (90)

• New Constraints on Cosmic Reionization from the 2012 Hubble Ultra Deep Field Campaign
• Model-independent evidence in favor of an end to reionization by z~6
• The Universe is Reionizing at z~7: Bayesian Inference of the IGM Neutral Fraction Using Ly$\alpha$ Emission from Galaxies
• Reionization and the Cosmic Dawn with the Square Kilometre Array
• New Measurements of the Ionizing Ultraviolet Background over 2 < z < 5 and Implications for Hydrogen Reionization
• Lyman Alpha Emitting Galaxies as a Probe of Reionization
• New observations of z~7 galaxies: evidence for a patchy reionization
• Detection of an oxygen emission line from a high redshift galaxy in the reionization epoch
• The Grism Lens-Amplified Survey from Space (GLASS). I. Survey overview and first data release
• First Results from HERA Phase I: Upper Limits on the Epoch of Reionization 21 cm Power Spectrum
• Can the intergalactic medium cause a rapid drop in Lyman alpha emission at z>6?
• Spectroscopic detections of CIII]1909 at z~6-7: A new probe of early star forming galaxies and cosmic reionisation
• The spectral evolution of the first galaxies. II. Spectral signatures of Lyman continuum leakage from galaxies in the reionization epoch
• Rapid Decline of Lyman-alpha Emission Toward the Reionization Era
• HERA Phase I Limits on the Cosmic 21-cm Signal: Constraints on Astrophysics and Cosmology During the Epoch of Reionization
• First Results from the Lyman Alpha Galaxies in the Epoch of Reionization (LAGER) Survey: Cosmological Reionization at z ~ 7
• The LyA-LyC Connection: Evidence for an Enhanced Contribution of UV-faint Galaxies to Cosmic Reionization
• Observational Searches for Galaxies at z > 6
• Blueberry galaxies: the lowest mass young starbursts
• Through the looking GLASS: HST spectroscopy of faint galaxies lensed by the Frontier Fields cluster MACS0717.5+3745
• The THESAN project: properties of the intergalactic medium and its connection to Reionization-era galaxies
• Lyman-alpha emitters gone missing: evidence for late reionization?
• CANDELSz7: a large spectroscopic survey of CANDELS galaxies in the reionization epoch
• Quantifying the non-Gaussianity in the EoR 21-cm signal through bispectrum
• The physics of Lyman-alpha escape from high-redshift galaxies
• The Global History of Reionisation
• On the rapid demise of Lyman-alpha emitters at z>7 due to the increasing incidence of optically thick absorption systems
• On the (non-)enhancement of the Lyman α equivalent width by a multiphase interstellar medium
• The THESAN project: Lyman-alpha emission and transmission during the Epoch of Reionization
• Intensity Mapping of Lyman-alpha Emission During the Epoch of Reionization
• 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
• Evolution in the Escape Fraction of Ionizing Photons and the Decline in Strong Lya Emission from z>6 Galaxies
• A New Constraint on Reionization from Evolution of the Ly$\alpha$ Luminosity Function at $z\sim 6-7$ Probed by a Deep Census of $z=7.0$ Ly$\alpha$ Emitter Candidates to 0.3 $L^{\ast }$
• The Evolution of the Lyman-Alpha Luminosity Function During Reionization
• The Lyman-alpha signature of the first galaxies
• SILVERRUSH. VI. A simulation of Ly$\alpha$ emitters in the reionization epoch and a comparison with Subaru Hyper Suprime-Cam survey early data
• Spatially adaptive radiation-hydrodynamical simulations of galaxy formation during cosmological reionization
• The Grism Lens-Amplified Survey from Space (GLASS). III. A census of Lyα Emission at $z\gtrsim$7 from HST Spectroscopy
• Modeling $237$ Lyman-$\alpha$ spectra of the MUSE-Wide survey
• Lyman-$\alpha$ as a tracer of cosmic reionisation in the SPHINX radiation-hydrodynamics cosmological simulation
• Modelling the observed luminosity function and clustering evolution of Lyman-$\alpha$ emitters: growing evidence for late reionization
• Evidence for a direct collapse black hole in the Lyman-alpha source CR7
• Lyman-Alpha Emitting Galaxies as a Probe of Reionization: Large-Scale Bubble Morphology and Small-Scale Absorbers
• The visibility of Lyman Alpha Emitters: constraining reionization, ionizing photons and dust
• Exploring 21cm - Lyman Alpha emitter synergies for SKA
• Studying reionization with the next generation of Ly-alpha emitter surveys
• Chasing Lyman alpha-emitting galaxies at z = 8.8
• Redshifted 21-cm Bispectrum I: Impact of the Redshift Space Distortions on the Signal from the Epoch of Reionization
• Connecting Faint End Slopes of the Lyman-$\alpha$ emitter and Lyman-break Galaxy Luminosity Functions
• MUSE integral-field spectroscopy towards the Frontier Fields cluster Abell S1063: II. Properties of low luminosity Lyman alpha emitters at z>3
• Cross-correlation of the cosmic 21-cm signal and Lyman Alpha Emitters during reionization
• Lyman-alpha transmission properties of the intergalactic medium in the CoDaII simulation
• Predictions for the 21cm-galaxy cross-power spectrum observable with LOFAR and Subaru
• Hubble Space Telescope Wide Field Camera 3 Observations of Escaping Lyman Continuum Radiation from Galaxies and Weak AGN at Redshifts $z$$\simeq$2.3-4.1
• Constraining the X-ray heating and reionization using 21-cm power spectra with Marginal Neural Ratio Estimation
• Lyman Alpha and MgII as Probes of Galaxies and their Environments
• Modelling of Lyman-alpha Emitting Galaxies and Ionized Bubbles at the Era of Reionization
• Large-scale environment of z~5.7 CIV absorption systems I: projected distribution of galaxies
• Large-scale environment of $z\sim 5.7$ CIV absorption systems -II. Spectroscopy of Lyman-$\alpha$ emitters
• Clustering and lifetime of Lyman Alpha Emitters in the Epoch of Reionization
• What do observations of the Lyman-alpha fraction tell us about reionization?
• Lyman-α Emitters in the context of hierarchical galaxy formation: predictions for VLT/MUSE surveys
• Neutral gas in Lyman-alpha emitting galaxies Haro 11 and ESO 338-IG04 measured through sodium absorption
• The impact of non-Gaussianity on the Epoch of Reionization parameter forecast using 21-cm power spectrum measurements
• A Halo Model Approach to the $21\mathrm{cm}$ and $\mathrm{Ly}\alpha$ Cross-correlation
• Astraeus VIII: A new framework for Lyman-$\alpha$ emitters applied to different reionisation scenarios
• Survey parameters for detecting 21cm - Ly$\alpha$ emitter cross correlations with the Square Kilometre Array
• Constraining the epoch of reionization from the observed properties of the high-z Universe
• The THESAN project: Lyman-alpha emitter luminosity function calibration
• A Lyman Break Galaxy in the Epoch of Reionization from HST Grism Spectroscopy
• On the general nature of 21cm-Lyman-$\alpha$ emitters cross-correlations during reionisation
• Deep LBT/LUCI Spectroscopy of a Lyman-alpha Emitter Candidate at z ~ 7.7
• Predictions for the 21cm-galaxy cross-power spectrum observable with SKA and future galaxy surveys
• Mapping the low surface brightness Universe in the UV band with Lya emission from IGM filaments
• Probing delayed-end reionization histories with the 21cm-LAE cross-power spectrum
• Simulation-Based Inference of the sky-averaged 21-cm signal from CD-EoR with REACH
• Trident: A three-pronged galaxy survey. I. Lyman alpha emitting galaxies at z~2 in GOODS North
• The Lyman $\alpha$ Reference Sample XIV: Lyman $\alpha$ imaging of 45 low redshift star-forming galaxies and inferences on global emission
• Constraining Reionization with Lyman Alpha Emitting Galaxies
• Void Probability Function of Simulated Surveys of high-redshift Lyman-Alpha Emitters
• Lyman Alpha Emitters and the 21cm Power Spectrum as Probes of Density-Ionization Correlation in the Epoch of Reionization
• Constraining the 21cm brightness temperature of the IGM at $z$=6.6 around LAEs with the Murchison Widefield Array
• Identifying Lyα emitter candidates with Random Forest: learning from galaxies in CANDELS survey
• Probing Patchy Reionization with the Void Probability Function of Lyman-$\alpha$ Emitters
• Probing the Epoch of Reionization using synergies of line intensity mapping
• Galaxy formation from a timescale perspective
• Star Formation for Predictive Primordial Galaxy Formation
• Double-Peaked Ly$\alpha$ Emission during Reionization Requires Nearby Voids and a Favorable Local Ionizing Background
• The MUSE Hubble Ultra Deep Field Survey XIV. The evolution of the Lya emitter fraction from z=3 to z=6
• Constraints on the Epoch of Reionization with Roman Space Telescope and the Void Probability Function of Lyman-Alpha Emitters