Ly alpha emission from galaxies in the Epoch of eionization

• The intrinsic strength of the Ly alpha line in young, star-forming systems makes it a special tool for studying high-redshift galaxies. However, interpreting observations remains challenging due to the complex radiative transfer involved. Here, we combine state-of-the-art hydrodynamical simulations of 'Althaea', a prototypical Lyman Break Galaxy (LBG; stellar mass M-star similar or equal to 10(10) M-circle dot) at z = 7.2, with detailed radiative transfer computations of dust/continuum, [C II] 158 mu m, and Ly alpha to clarify the relation between the galaxy properties and its Ly alpha emission. Althaea exhibits low (f(alpha) < 1 per cent) Ly alpha escape fractions and equivalent widths, EW less than or similar to 6 angstrom for the simulated lines of sight, with a large scatter. The correlation between escape fraction and inclination is weak, as a result of the rather chaotic structure of high-redshift galaxies. Low f(alpha) values persist even if we artificially remove neutral gas around star-forming regions to mimic the presence of H II regions. The high attenuation is primarily caused by dust clumps co-located with young stellar clusters. We can turn Althaea into a Lyman Alpha Emitter (LAE) only if we artificially remove dust from the clumps, yielding EWs up to 22 angstrom. Our study suggests that the LBG-LAE duty-cycle required by recent clustering measurements poses the challenging problem of a dynamically changing dust attenuation. Finally, we find an anticorrelation between the magnitude of Ly alpha-[C II] line velocity shift and Ly alpha luminosity.

Ämnesord

NATURVETENSKAP  -- Fysik (hsv//swe)

NATURAL SCIENCES  -- Physical Sciences (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

radiative transfer

galaxies: high-redshift

(cosmology:) dark ages

reionization

first stars

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