Physical and morphological properties of z ∼ 3 Lyman break galaxies: dependence on Lyα line emission

Aims. We investigate the physical and morphological properties of Lyman break galaxies (LBGs) at redshift similar to 2.5 to similar to 3.5, to determine if and how they depend on the nature and strength of the Ly alpha emission. Methods. We selected U-dropout galaxies from the z-detected GOODS-MUSIC catalog by adapting the classical Lyman break criteria on the GOODS filter set. We kept only those galaxies with spectroscopic confirmation, mainly from VIMOS and FORS public observations. Using the full multi-wavelength 14-bands information (U to IRAC), we determined the physical properties of the galaxies through a standard spectral energy distribution fitting procedure with the updated Charlot & Bruzual (2009) templates. We also added other relevant observations of the GOODS field, i.e. the 24 mu m observations from Spitzer/MIPS and the 2 MSec Chandra X-ray observations. Finally, using non parametric diagnostics (Gini, Concentration, Asymmetry, M-20 and ellipticity), we characterized the rest-frame UV morphologies of the galaxies. We then analyzed how these physical and morphological properties correlate with the presence of the Ly alpha emission line in the optical spectra. Results. We find that unlike at higher redshift, the dependence of physical properties on the Ly alpha line is milder: galaxies without Ly alpha in emission tend to be more massive and dustier than the rest of the sample, but all other parameters, ages, star formation rates (SFR), X-ray emission and UV morphology do not depend strongly on the presence of the Ly alpha emission. A simple scenario where all LBGs have intrinsically high Ly alpha emission, but where the dust and neutral hydrogen content (which shapes the final appearance of the Ly alpha) depend on the mass of the galaxies, is able to reproduce the majority of the observed properties at z similar to 3. Some modification might be needed to account for the observed evolution of these properties with cosmic epoch, which is also discussed.