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Title: LAGER Lyα Luminosity Function at z ~ 7: Implications for Reionization

Journal Article · · The Astrophysical Journal
ORCiD logo [1]; ORCiD logo [1]; ORCiD logo [1]; ORCiD logo [2]; ORCiD logo [2]; ORCiD logo [3]; ORCiD logo [4];  [1]; ORCiD logo [5]; ORCiD logo [6]; ORCiD logo [7]; ORCiD logo [3]; ORCiD logo [8]; ORCiD logo [4]; ORCiD logo [3];  [6]; ORCiD logo [9]; ORCiD logo [6]; ORCiD logo [10]; ORCiD logo [8]
  1. NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC), Greenbelt, MD (United States)
  2. Univ. of Science and Technology of China, Hefei (China)
  3. Arizona State Univ., Tempe, AZ (United States)
  4. Shanghai Astronomical Observatory (China)
  5. Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory (CTIO), La Serena (Chile)
  6. Pontifica Universidad Catolica de Chile, Santiago (Chile)
  7. Pontifica Universidad Catolica de Chile, Santiago (Chile); Universidad Diego Portales, Santiago (Chile)
  8. Carnegie Inst. of Washington, La Serena (Chile). Las Campanas Observatory
  9. Pontifica Universidad Catolica de Chile, Santiago (Chile); Millennium Institute of Astrophysics, Santiago (Chile); Space Science Institute, Boulder, CO (United States)
  10. National Optical Astronomy Observatory (NOAO), Tucson, AZ (United States)
+ Show Author Affiliations

We present a new measurement of the Lyα luminosity function (LF) at redshift z = 6.9, finding moderate evolution from z = 5.7 that is consistent with a fully or largely ionized z ~ 7 intergalactic medium. Our result is based on four fields of the LAGER (Lyman Alpha Galaxies in the Epoch of Reionization) project. Our survey volume of 6.1 × 106 Mpc3 is double that of the next largest z ~ 7 survey. We combine two new LAGER fields (WIDE12 and GAMA15A) with two previously reported LAGER fields (COSMOS and CDFS). In the new fields, we identify N = 95 new z = 6.9 Lyα emitter (LAEs) candidates, characterize our survey's completeness and reliability, and compute Lyα LFs. The best-fit Schechter LF parameters for all four LAGER fields are in good general agreement. Two fields (COSMOS and WIDE12) show evidence for a bright-end excess above the Schechter function fit. We find that the Lyα luminosity density declines at the same rate as the UV continuum LF from z = 5.7 to 6.9. This is consistent with an intergalactic medium that was fully ionized as early as redshift z ~ 7 or with a volume-averaged neutral hydrogen fraction of xH I < 0.33 at 1σ.

Research Organization:
Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education (ORISE), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA); National Science Foundation (NSF); National Science Foundation of China (NSFC); USDOE Office of Science (SC)
Grant/Contract Number:
SC0014664
OSTI ID:
1983230
Journal Information:
The Astrophysical Journal, Journal Name: The Astrophysical Journal Journal Issue: 1 Vol. 927; ISSN 0004-637X
Publisher:
IOP PublishingCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS
Astronomy &amp; Astrophysics
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Reionization