The ALMA REBELS Survey: Efficient Ly$\alpha$ Transmission of UV-Bright z$\simeq$7 Galaxies from Large Velocity Offsets and Broad Line Widths

TL;DR

This study reveals that UV-bright galaxies at z~7 exhibit large velocity offsets and broad Ly$ extalpha$ lines, which enhance their Ly$ extalpha$ transmission through the neutral IGM, challenging previous assumptions about reionization.

Contribution

It provides new systemic redshifts and Ly$ extalpha$ profiles for z~7 galaxies, linking Ly$ extalpha$ line properties to galaxy mass and IGM transmission.

Findings

Ly$ extalpha$ lines are significantly redshifted from systemic redshifts.

Broad Ly$ extalpha$ profiles correlate with larger [CII] line widths.

Velocity profiles likely boost Ly$ extalpha$ visibility in reionization-era galaxies.

Abstract

Recent work has shown that UV-luminous reionization-era galaxies often exhibit strong Lyman-alpha emission despite being situated at redshifts where the IGM is thought to be substantially neutral. It has been argued that this enhanced Ly$\alpha$ transmission reflects the presence of massive galaxies in overdense regions which power large ionized bubbles. An alternative explanation is that massive galaxies shift more of their Ly$\alpha$ profile to large velocities (relative to the systemic redshift) where the IGM damping wing absorption is reduced. Such a mass-dependent trend is seen at lower redshifts, but whether one exists at $z\sim7$ remains unclear owing to the small number of existing systemic redshift measurements in the reionization era. This is now changing with the emergence of [CII]-based redshifts from ALMA. Here we report MMT/Binospec Ly$\alpha$ spectroscopy of eight UV-bright ($\mathrm{M_{UV}}^{}\sim-22$) galaxies at $z\simeq7$ selected from the ALMA REBELS survey. We detect Ly$\alpha$ in 4 of 8 galaxies and use the [CII] systemic redshifts to investigate the Ly$\alpha$ velocity profiles. The Ly$\alpha$ lines are significantly redshifted from systemic (average velocity offset=223 km/s) and broad (FWHM$\approx$300$-$650 km/s), with two sources showing emission extending to $\approx$750 km/s. We find that the broadest Ly$\alpha$ profiles are associated with the largest [CII] line widths, suggesting a potential link between the Ly$\alpha$ FWHM and the dynamical mass. Since Ly$\alpha$ photons at high velocities transmit efficiently through the $z=7$ IGM, our data suggest that velocity profiles play a significant role in boosting the Ly$\alpha$ visibility of the most UV-luminous reionization-era galaxies.