The Ly-alpha Properties of Faint Galaxies at z2-3 with Systemic Redshifts and Velocity Dispersions from Keck-MOSFIRE

TL;DR

This study analyzes the Lya emission profiles of faint galaxies at redshifts 2-3, revealing correlations between velocity offsets, galaxy brightness, and gas properties, advancing understanding of early galaxy gas dynamics.

Contribution

It provides new measurements of systemic redshifts and velocity dispersions for faint LAEs, linking Lya profile features to galaxy mass and gas conditions at z2-3.

Findings

Most Lya lines are redshifted relative to systemic velocity.

Velocity offset correlates with galaxy brightness and velocity dispersion.

Lya profile properties relate to gas near systemic redshift and galaxy mass.

Abstract

We study the Lya profiles of 36 spectroscopically-detected Lya-emitters (LAEs) at z2-3, using Keck MOSFIRE to measure systemic redshifts and velocity dispersions from rest-frame optical nebular emission lines. The sample has a median optical magnitude R=26.0, and ranges from R23 to R>27, corresponding to rest-frame UV absolute magnitudes M_UV-22 to M_UV>-18.2. Dynamical masses range from M_dyn<1.3e8 Msun to M_dyn=6.8e9 Msun, with a median value of M_dyn=6.3e8 Msun. Thirty of the 36 Lya emission lines are redshifted with respect to the systemic velocity with at least 1 sigma significance, and the velocity offset with respect to systemic dv_Lya is correlated with R-band magnitude, M_UV, and the velocity dispersion measured from nebular emission lines with >3 sigma significance: brighter galaxies with larger velocity dispersions tend to have larger values of dv_Lya. We also make use of a comparison sample of 122 UV-color-selected R<25.5 galaxies at z2, all with Lya emission and systemic redshifts measured from nebular emission lines. Using the combined LAE and comparison samples for a total of 158 individual galaxies, we find that dv_Lya is anti-correlated with the Lya equivalent width with 7 sigma significance. Our results are consistent with a scenario in which the Lya profile is determined primarily by the properties of the gas near the systemic redshift; in such a scenario, the opacity to Lya photons in lower mass galaxies may be reduced if large gaseous disks have not yet developed and if the gas is ionized by the harder spectrum of young, low metallicity stars.