Quantifying the escape of Ly$\alpha$ at $z\approx 5-6$: a census of Ly$\alpha$ escape fraction with H$\alpha$ emitting galaxies spectroscopically confirmed by JWST and VLT/MUSE

TL;DR

This study measures the Ly$ ext{alpha}$ escape fraction in 165 high-redshift galaxies using JWST and VLT/MUSE data, revealing its dependence on dust and UV properties, and implications for cosmic reionization.

Contribution

First direct measurement of Ly$ ext{alpha}$ escape fraction in a large sample of $z=4.9-6.3$ galaxies using H$ ext{alpha}$ and Ly$ ext{alpha}$ data, linking it to galaxy properties and reionization.

Findings

$f_{esc, Ly extalpha}$ is approximately 0.09 from stacking.

Bluer galaxies have higher Ly$ extalpha$ escape fractions (~0.6).

UV-faint galaxies contribute over 70% of ionizing photons at $z=5-6$.

Abstract

JWST provides an unprecedented opportunity for unbiased surveys of H$\alpha$-emitting galaxies at $z>4$ with the NIRCam wide-field slitless spectroscopy (WFSS). In this work, we present a census of Ly$\alpha$ escape fraction ($f_{esc, Ly\alpha}$) of 165 star-forming galaxies at $z=4.9-6.3$ using their H$\alpha$ emission directly measured from FRESCO NIRCam/WFSS data. We search for Ly$\alpha$ emission of each H$\alpha$-emitting galaxy in VLT/MUSE data. The overall $f_{esc, Ly\alpha}$ measured by stacking is $f_{esc, Ly\alpha}$ is $0.090\pm0.006$. We find that $f_{esc, Ly\alpha}$ displays a strong dependence on the observed UV slope ($\beta_{\rm obs}$) and E(B-V), such that the bluest galaxies ($\beta_{\rm obs}\sim-2.5$) have the largest escape fractions ($f_{\rm esc, Ly\alpha}\approx0.6$), indicative of the crucial role of dust and gas in modulating the escape of Ly$\alpha$ photons. $f_{esc, Ly\alpha}$ is less well related to other parameters, including the UV luminosity and stellar mass, and the variation in $f_{esc, Ly\alpha}$ with them can be explained by their underlying coupling with E(B-V) or $\beta_{\rm obs}$. Our results suggest a tentative decline in $f_{esc, Ly\alpha}$ at $z\gtrsim 5$, implying increasing intergalactic medium attenuation towards higher redshift. Furthermore, the dependence of $f_{esc, Ly\alpha}$ on $\beta_{\rm obs}$ is proportional to that of the ionizing photon escape fraction ($f_{\rm esc, LyC}$), indicating the escape of Ly$\alpha$ and ionizing photon may be regulated by similar physical processes. With $f_{esc, Ly\alpha}$ as a proxy to $f_{\rm esc, LyC}$, we infer that UV-faint ($M_{\rm UV}>-16$) galaxies contribute $>70\%$ of the total ionizing emissivity at $z=5-6$. If these relations hold during the epoch of reionization, UV-faint galaxies can contribute the majority of UV photon budget to reionize the Universe.