MAMMOTH-LyC: Investigating the Role of Galaxy Mergers in a Strong Lyman Continuum Leaker at $z=2.39$

TL;DR

This paper reports the discovery of a massive galaxy merger at z=2.39 that exhibits strong, spatially resolved Lyman continuum leakage, providing direct evidence linking galaxy mergers to ionizing photon escape during cosmic reionization.

Contribution

It presents the first confirmed high-redshift LyC-leaking merger, demonstrating how mergers can facilitate LyC escape through disrupted interstellar media.

Findings

First confirmed high-redshift LyC-leaking merger.

Spatially resolved LyC emission coincides with disturbed morphology.

Most massive LyC emitter known to date.

Abstract

The MAMMOTH-LyC survey is a cycle 30 Hubble Space Telescope (HST) medium program obtaining 18-orbit-deep WFC3/UVIS F225W imaging in two massive galaxy protocluster fields at $z\sim2.2$. We introduce this survey by reporting the discovery of J1244-LyC1, a strong Lyman continuum (LyC) leaker at $z = 2.39$, exhibiting clear merger signatures. J1244-LyC1 has a highly significant ($10\sigma$) LyC detection, corresponding to an absolute escape fraction of $f_{\mathrm{esc}} \! =\!36\%\pm4\%$ ($1\sigma$). The LyC emission is spatially resolved into multiple peaks that coincide with the system's disturbed morphology, confirming genuine multi-site LyC leakage. With a stellar mass of $10^{10.2}{M_\odot}$, J1244-LyC1 is both the first confirmed high-redshift LyC-leaking merger and the most massive LyC emitter known to date. We interpret J1244-LyC1 as a merger-driven starburst system in which tidal interactions have disrupted the interstellar medium, creating multiple low-column-density pathways that facilitate LyC escape. This discovery provides the first direct evidence of spatially resolved LyC escape in a merging system, offering new insight into the potential role of major mergers in driving the cosmic reionization.