Journal
ASTROPHYSICAL JOURNAL
Volume 677, Issue 1, Pages 12-26Publisher
IOP PUBLISHING LTD
DOI: 10.1086/529006
Keywords
cosmology : observations; early universe; galaxies : evolution; galaxies : high-redshift
Categories
Funding
- Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research [19104004] Funding Source: KAKEN
Ask authors/readers for more resources
We have performed narrowband NB973 ( bandwidth 200 angstrom centered at 9755 angstrom) imaging of the Subaru Deep Field (SDF) and found two z = 7 Ly alpha emitter (LAE) candidates down to NB973 = 24.9. Carrying out deep follow-up spectroscopy, we identified one of them as a real z 6: 96 LAE. This has established a new redshift record, showing that galaxy formation was in progress just 750 Myr after the big bang. Meanwhile, the Ly alpha line luminosity function of LAEs is known to decline from z = 5.7 to 6.6 in the SDF; L* at z = 6.6 is 40% - 60% that at z = 5.7. We also confirm that the number density of z = 7 LAEs is only 17% of the density at z = 6.6 comparing the latest SDF LAE samples. This series of significant decreases in LAE density with increasing redshift could be the result of galaxy evolution during these epochs. However, using the UV continuum luminosity functions of LAEs and Lyman break galaxies, and a LAE evolution model based on hierarchical clustering, we find that galaxy evolution alone cannot entirely explain the decrease in density. This extra density deficit might reflect the attenuation of the Ly alpha photons from LAEs by the neutral hydrogen possibly left at the last stage of cosmic reionization at z similar to 6-7.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available