Spatial correlation between submillimetre and Lyman-alpha galaxies in the SSA 22 protocluster

TL;DR

This study investigates the spatial relationship between submillimetre and Lyman-alpha galaxies in the SSA 22 protocluster at high redshift, revealing a correlation that suggests simultaneous formation within the same large-scale structure.

Contribution

It provides the first evidence of a large-scale correlation between submillimetre galaxies and Lyman-alpha emitters in a high-redshift protocluster, indicating linked galaxy formation processes.

Findings

Enhanced submillimetre galaxy density near the protocluster core

Large-scale correlation between submillimetre and Lyman-alpha galaxies

Supports synchronous formation of different galaxy types in early Universe

Abstract

Lyman-alpha emitters are thought to be young, low-mass galaxies with ages of ~10^8 yr. An overdensity of them in one region of the sky (the SSA 22 field) traces out a filamentary structure in the early Universe at a redshift of z = 3.1 (equivalent to 15 per cent of the age of the Universe) and is believed to mark a forming protocluster. Galaxies that are bright at (sub)millimetre wavelengths are undergoing violent episodes of star formation, and there is evidence that they are preferentially associated with high-redshift radio galaxies, so the question of whether they are also associated with the most significant large-scale structure growing at high redshift (as outlined by Lyman-alpha emitters) naturally arises. Here we report an imaging survey of 1,100-um emission in the SSA 22 region. We find an enhancement of submillimetre galaxies near the core of the protocluster, and a large-scale correlation between the submillimetre galaxies and the low-mass Lyman-alpha emitters, suggesting synchronous formation of the two very different types of star-forming galaxy within the same structure at high redshift. These results are in general agreement with our understanding of the formation of cosmic structure.