WERE PROGENITORS OF LOCAL L* GALAXIES Ly{alpha} EMITTERS AT HIGH REDSHIFT?

Journal Article · Wed Aug 01 04:00:00 EDT 2012 · Astrophysical Journal

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1088/0004-637X/754/2/118· OSTI ID:22039239

Yajima, Hidenobu; Yuexing, Li; Qirong, Zhu; Gronwall, Caryl; Ciardullo, Robin ^[1]; Abel, Tom ^[2]

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1. Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, Pennsylvania State University, 525 Davey Lab, University Park, PA 16802 (United States)
2. Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology, SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, Stanford University, 2575 Sand Hill Road, Menlo Park, CA 94025 (United States)

The Ly{alpha} emission has been observed from galaxies over a redshift span z {approx} 0-8.6. However, the evolution of high-redshift Ly{alpha} emitters (LAEs), and the link between these populations and local galaxies, remains poorly understood. Here, we investigate the Ly{alpha} properties of progenitors of a local L* galaxy by combining cosmological hydrodynamic simulations with three-dimensional radiative transfer calculations using the new ART{sup 2} code. We find that the main progenitor (the most massive one) of a Milky-Way-like galaxy has a number of Ly{alpha} properties close to those of observed LAEs at z {approx} 2-6, but most of the fainter ones appear to fall below the detection limits of current surveys. The Ly{alpha} photon escape fraction depends sensitively on a number of physical properties of the galaxy, such as mass, star formation rate, and metallicity, as well as galaxy morphology and orientation. Moreover, we find that high-redshift LAEs show blueshifted Ly{alpha} line profiles characteristic of gas inflow, and that the Ly{alpha} emission by excitation cooling increases with redshift, and becomes dominant at z {approx}> 6. Our results suggest that some observed LAEs at z {approx} 2-6 with luminosity of L{sub Ly{alpha}} {approx} 10{sup 42}-10{sup 43} erg s{sup -1} may be similar to the main progenitor of the Milky Way at high redshift, and that they may evolve into present-day L* galaxies.

• OSTI ID: 22039239
• Journal Information: Astrophysical Journal, Journal Name: Astrophysical Journal Journal Issue: 2 Vol. 754; ISSN ASJOAB; ISSN 0004-637X
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS
ASTRONOMY
ASTROPHYSICS
COSMOLOGY
EXCITATION
GALACTIC EVOLUTION
GALAXIES
LUMINOSITY
LYMAN LINES
MASS
ORIENTATION
RADIANT HEAT TRANSFER
RED SHIFT
SENSITIVITY
STARS
THREE-DIMENSIONAL CALCULATIONS
UNIVERSE