GRB 130606A AS A PROBE OF THE INTERGALACTIC MEDIUM AND THE INTERSTELLAR MEDIUM IN A STAR-FORMING GALAXY IN THE FIRST Gyr AFTER THE BIG BANG
- Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, 60 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA 02138 (United States)
- Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, Pennsylvania State University, 525 Davey Laboratory, University Park, PA 16802 (United States)
We present high signal-to-noise ratio Gemini and MMT spectroscopy of the optical afterglow of the gamma-ray burst (GRB) 130606A at redshift z = 5.913, discovered by Swift. This is the first high-redshift GRB afterglow to have spectra of comparable quality to those of z Almost-Equal-To 6 quasars. The data exhibit a smooth continuum at near-infrared wavelengths that is sharply cut off blueward of 8410 A due to absorption from Ly{alpha} at redshift z Almost-Equal-To 5.91, with some flux transmitted through the Ly{alpha} forest between 7000 and 7800 A. We use column densities inferred from metal absorption lines to constrain the metallicity of the host galaxy between a lower limit of [Si/H] {approx}> -1.7 and an upper limit of [S/H] {approx}< -0.5 set by the non-detection of S II absorption. We demonstrate consistency between the dramatic evolution in the transmission fraction of Ly{alpha} seen in this spectrum over the redshift range z = 4.9-5.85 with that previously measured from observations of high-redshift quasars. There is an extended redshift interval of {Delta}z = 0.12 in the Ly{alpha} forest at z = 5.77 with no detected transmission, leading to a 3{sigma} upper limit on the mean Ly{alpha} transmission fraction of {approx}<0.2% (or {tau}{sub GP}{sup eff} (Ly{alpha}) > 6.4). This is comparable to the lowest-redshift Gunn-Peterson troughs found in quasar spectra. Some Ly{beta} and Ly{gamma} transmission is detected in this redshift window, indicating that it is not completely opaque, and hence that the intergalactic medium (IGM) is nonetheless mostly ionized at these redshifts. We set a 2{sigma} upper limit of 0.11 on the neutral fraction of the IGM at the redshift of the GRB from the lack of a Ly{alpha} red damping wing, assuming a model with a constant neutral density. GRB 130606A thus for the first time realizes the promise of GRBs as probes of the first galaxies and cosmic reionization.
- OSTI ID:
- 22133984
- Journal Information:
- Astrophysical Journal, Vol. 774, Issue 1; Other Information: Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0004-637X
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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