The VANDELS survey: a measurement of the average Lyman-continuum escape fraction of star-forming galaxies at z=3.5

被引:27
|
作者
Begley, R. [1 ]
Cullen, F. [1 ]
McLure, R. J. [1 ]
Dunlop, J. S. [1 ]
Hall, A. [1 ]
Carnall, A. C. [1 ]
Hamadouche, M. L. [1 ]
McLeod, D. J. [1 ]
Amorin, R. [2 ,3 ]
Calabro, A. [4 ]
Fontana, A. [4 ]
Fynbo, J. P. U. [5 ]
Guaita, L. [4 ,6 ]
Hathi, N. P. [7 ]
Hibon, P. [8 ]
Ji, Z. [9 ]
Llerena, M. [3 ]
Pentericci, L. [4 ]
Saldana-Lopez, A. [10 ]
Schaerer, D. [10 ]
Talia, M. [11 ,12 ]
Vanzella, E. [13 ]
Zamorani, G. [13 ]
机构
[1] Univ Edinburgh, Inst Astron, Royal Observ, Edinburgh EH9 3HJ, Midlothian, Scotland
[2] Univ La Serena, Inst Invest Multidisciplinar Ciencia & Tecnol, La Serena 1305, Chile
[3] Univ La Serena, Dept Fis & Astron, Av Juan Cisternas 1200 Norte, La Serena, Chile
[4] INAF Osservatorio Astron Roma, Via Frascati 33, I-00078 Monte Porzio Catone, Italy
[5] Univ Copenhagen, Cosm Dawn Ctr, Niels Bohr Inst, Juliane Maries Vej 30, DK-2100 Copenhagen O, Denmark
[6] Univ Diego Portales, Fac Ingn, Nucleo Astron, Av Ejercito 441, Santiago, Chile
[7] Space Telescope Sci Inst, 3700 San Martin Dr, Baltimore, MD 21218 USA
[8] European Southern Observ ESO, Vitacura 19001, Casilla, Chile
[9] Univ Massachusetts, Dept Astron, 710 N Pleasant Str, Amherst, MA 01003 USA
[10] Univ Geneva, Dept Astron, 51 Chemin Pegasi, CH-1290 Versoix, Switzerland
[11] INAF Osservatorio Astron Bologna, Via P Gobetti 93-3, I-40129 Bologna, Italy
[12] Univ Bologna, Dept Phys & Astron DIFA, Via Gobetti 93-2, I-40129 Bologna, Italy
[13] INAF OAS Osservatorio Astrofis & Sci Spazio Bolog, Via Gobetti 93-3, I-40129 Bologna, Italy
基金
瑞士国家科学基金会;
关键词
galaxies: fundamental parameters; galaxies: high-redshift; intergalactic medium; LY-ALPHA EMISSION; UV LUMINOSITY FUNCTIONS; GAS COVERING FRACTION; SIMILAR-TO; 4; IONIZING-RADIATION; COSMIC REIONIZATION; DUST ATTENUATION; CIRCUMGALACTIC MEDIUM; STELLAR METALLICITY; EQUIVALENT WIDTH;
D O I
10.1093/mnras/stac1067
中图分类号
P1 [天文学];
学科分类号
0704 ;
摘要
We present a study designed to measure the average Lyman-continuum escape fraction (< f(esc)>) of star-forming galaxies at similar or equal to 3.5. We assemble a sample of 148 galaxies from the VANDELS spectroscopic survey at 3.35 <= z(spec) <= 3.95, selected to minimize line-of-sight contamination of their photometry. For this sample, we use ultra-deep, ground-based, U-band imaging and Hubble Space Telescope V-band imaging to robustly measure the distribution of R-obs = (L-LyC/L-UV)(obs). We then model the R-obs distribution as a function of < f(esc)>, carefully accounting for attenuation by dust, the intergalactic medium and the circumgalactic medium. A maximum likelihood fit to the R(obs )distribution returns a best-fitting value of < f(esc)> = 0.07(-0.02)(+0.02), a result confirmed using an alternative Bayesian inference technique (both techniques exclude < f(esc)> = 0.0 at >3 sigma). By splitting our sample in two, we find evidence that < f(esc)> is positively correlated with Ly a equivalent width (W-lambda(Ly alpha)), with high and low W-lambda(Ly alpha) subsamples returning values of < f(esc)> = 0.12(-0.04)(+0.06) and < f(esc)> = 0.02(-0.01)(+0.02), respectively. In contrast, we find evidence that < f(esc)> is anticorrelated with intrinsic UV luminosity and UV dust attenuation; with low UV luminosity and dust attenuation subsamples both returning best fits in the range 0.10 <= < f(esc)> <= 0.22. We do not find a clear correlation between f(esc) and galaxy stellar mass, suggesting stellar mass is not a primary indicator of f(esc). Although larger samples are needed to further explore these trends, our results suggest that it is entirely plausible that the low dust, low-metallicity galaxies found at z >= 6 will display the < f(esc)> >= 0.1 required to drive reionization.
引用
收藏
页码:3510 / 3525
页数:16
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