Gravitationally lensed galaxies at 2 < z < 3.5 : direct abundance measurements of Ly alpha emitters

• Strong gravitational lensing magnifies the flux from distant galaxies, allowing us to detect emission lines that would otherwise fall below the detection threshold for medium-resolution spectroscopy. Here we present the detection of temperature-sensitive oxygen emission lines from three galaxies at 2 ? z ? 3.5, which enables us to directly determine the oxygen abundances and thereby double the number of galaxies at z > 2 for which this has been possible. The three galaxies have similar to 10?per?cent solar oxygen abundances in agreement with strong emission-line diagnostics. Carbon and nitrogen ratios relative to oxygen are subsolar as expected for young metal-poor galaxies. Two of the galaxies are Lyman a (Lya) emitters with rest-frame equivalent widths of 20 and 40 angstrom, respectively, and their high magnification factors allow us for the first time to gain insight into the physical characteristics of high-redshift Lya emitters. Using constraints from the physical properties of the galaxies, we accurately reproduce their line profiles with radiative transfer models. The models show a relatively small outflow in agreement with the observed small velocity offsets between nebular emission and interstellar absorption lines.

Subject headings

NATURVETENSKAP  -- Fysik -- Astronomi, astrofysik och kosmologi (hsv//swe)

NATURAL SCIENCES  -- Physical Sciences -- Astronomy, Astrophysics and Cosmology (hsv//eng)

Keyword

gravitational lensing: strong

galaxies: abundances

galaxies: evolution

galaxies: high-redshift

Publication and Content Type

ref (subject category)

art (subject category)