Double-peaked Lyα profiles during reionization require sightlines through nearby voids a few cMpc from the galaxy and a sufficiently strong local ionizing background, with occurrence probability rising sharply with background intensity.
The THESAN project: Lyman-alpha emitters as probes of ionized bubble sizes
4 Pith papers cite this work. Polarity classification is still indexing.
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abstract
We use the THESAN radiation-hydrodynamics simulations to investigate how Lyman-$\alpha$ emitters (LAEs) trace ionized bubble sizes during the Epoch of Reionization. We generate realistic LAE catalogs by combining accurate intrinsic Ly$\alpha$ production and intergalactic transmission with an empirical model for dust absorption and gas outflows. By calibrating to observationally-constrained Ly$\alpha$ luminosity functions, we reproduce the rapid decline in Ly$\alpha$ visibility toward higher redshifts while revealing mild tensions in LAE fractions near the end of reionization. Before the midpoint of reionization, galaxies within larger line-of-sight bubbles ($\gtrsim 10$ cMpc) have higher observed Ly$\alpha$ luminosity and equivalent width (EW), demonstrating that the evolving LAE fraction provides a practical statistical tracer for bubble size. These correlations weaken as percolation progresses and the IGM becomes increasingly ionized. In LAE selected samples with $L_{\text{Ly}\alpha} > 10^{41.5}\ \text{erg s}^{-1}$, Ly$\alpha$ properties correlate with bubble size more strongly than UV magnitude, especially at $z \gtrsim 7$. This simulation-based framework maps LAE selections to bubble-size statistics, clarifies biases in more idealized models, and will supply public catalogs to interpret current and forthcoming JWST and narrow-band LAE surveys in terms of the evolving topology of reionization.
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Spatially resolved JWST observations of lensed LAE HCM 6A at z=6.57 reveal Lyα escaping from a dust-cleared central clump in the youngest region, with age-dependent Calzetti-like attenuation curves.
JWST spectra of galaxies reveal a ~110 cMpc ionized bubble at z~6 with IGM transmission 0.17, an order of magnitude above average, linked to a galaxy overdensity.
The Lumina simulation shows that explicit light-cone integrations produce a CMB optical depth 7% higher than volume-weighted ionization histories, with the excess accumulating near redshift 8 and mass-weighted estimates capturing most of the difference.
citing papers explorer
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Double-Peaked Ly$\alpha$ Emission during Reionization Requires Nearby Voids and a Favorable Local Ionizing Background
Double-peaked Lyα profiles during reionization require sightlines through nearby voids a few cMpc from the galaxy and a sufficiently strong local ionizing background, with occurrence probability rising sharply with background intensity.
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Resolving dust and Ly{\alpha} emission in a lensed galaxy at the epoch of reionization with JWST/CANUCS
Spatially resolved JWST observations of lensed LAE HCM 6A at z=6.57 reveal Lyα escaping from a dust-cleared central clump in the youngest region, with age-dependent Calzetti-like attenuation curves.
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Using Ly$\alpha$ Transmitted Spectrum to Probe IGM Transmission and Identify Ionized Structures in Cosmic Reionization
JWST spectra of galaxies reveal a ~110 cMpc ionized bubble at z~6 with IGM transmission 0.17, an order of magnitude above average, linked to a galaxy overdensity.
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The Lumina Project: CMB Optical Depth Fluctuations from Patchy Reionization
The Lumina simulation shows that explicit light-cone integrations produce a CMB optical depth 7% higher than volume-weighted ionization histories, with the excess accumulating near redshift 8 and mass-weighted estimates capturing most of the difference.