Identifying a protocluster formation at z $\sim$ 4.5 in the COSMOS field: an extension of Taralay protocluster, traced by Ly-alpha emitters surrounding a submm galaxy

TL;DR

This paper reports the discovery of a large-scale protocluster at z~4.5 in the COSMOS field, traced by Ly-alpha emitters around a submm galaxy, indicating early cluster formation and infall dynamics.

Contribution

It extends the understanding of high-redshift protoclusters by identifying a new structure associated with a submm galaxy and Ly-alpha emitters, demonstrating their role as tracers of forming galaxy clusters.

Findings

Overdensity of Ly-alpha emitters indicating a protocluster.

The structure is likely to evolve into a moderate-mass galaxy cluster.

Submm sources can trace infalling structures in early universe.

Abstract

We report the discovery of a large-scale structure containing multiple overdensities at $z= 4.54 \pm 0.03$ in the COSMOS field, with the most prominent one likely infalling towards the recently identified Taralay protocluster. We use combined wide-band and narrow-band optical photometry to identify Ly$\alpha$ emitters (LAEs) within a 21 cMpc radius from the submm source J1000+0234, at $z= 4.54$, to identify typical star-forming galaxies that may trace an underlying structure. Our approach selects line emitters as narrow-band excess objects and we use the COSMOS2020 photometric redshift catalog to eliminate potential low-redshift interlopers whose line emission (e.g. [OIII] at $z\sim 0.3$) might be responsible for the observed excess in the narrow band. In comparison with the LAE density in the field, our results point to a mean LAE number overdensity of $\bar\delta = 3$ spanning a region of $27 \times 20 \times 36$ cMpc$^3$, probably evolving into a moderate-mass cluster ($3 - 10 \times 10^{14} \, M_\odot$) at $z\sim 0$. This work supports the idea that submm sources, although offset from the major overdensity peaks, serve as traces of moderately massive, potentially infalling structures.