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The Impact of Galaxy Overdensities and Ionized Bubbles on Lyα Emission at zsim7.0-8.5

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arxiv 2505.24080 v2 pith:PAKX7GDV submitted 2025-05-29 astro-ph.GA astro-ph.CO

The Impact of Galaxy Overdensities and Ionized Bubbles on Ly$\alpha$ Emission at $z\sim7.0-8.5$

classification astro-ph.GA astro-ph.CO
keywords alphaoverdensitiesemissionionizedemittersreionizationsimeqstrong
verification ladder T0 review T1 audit T2 compute T3 formal T4 reserved
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abstract

Ly$\alpha$ spectroscopy with JWST is opening a new window on the sizes of ionized bubbles through the reionization epoch. Theoretical expectations suggest typical bubble radii should be 0.6-1.5 pMpc at $z\simeq 7$, assuming neutral hydrogen fractions of the intergalactic medium in the range $\overline{x}_{\rm HI}$=0.5-0.7. Here we investigate this picture using JWST to characterize the environment and Ly$\alpha$ emission of 292 galaxies at $7.0<z<8.5$ across 5 fields spanning a comoving volume of $1.3\times10^6$ Mpc$^3$. If the reionization predictions are correct, we should see overdensities and strong Ly$\alpha$ emission clustered in redshift windows of d$z=0.04-0.08$ and angular scales of 5-11 arcmin. We detect Ly$\alpha$ emission in 36 out of 292 galaxies, including nine new Ly$\alpha$ detections, two of which (in the UDS field) show extremely large equivalent widths (EW = $200_{-78}^{+50}$ A and $284_{-75}^{+56}$ A). We identify 13 significant (4-11$\times$) galaxy overdensities using redshifts from NIRCam grism and NIRSpec. Strong Ly$\alpha$ emitters are almost uniformly found in the overdensities, with nearly all located between the center and back of the structures. The overdensities that host the strong Ly$\alpha$ emitters span typical line-of-sight distances (d$z\sim 0.14$) and angular scales ($\sim 8$ arcmin) that are comparable to the predicted bubble sizes at $z\simeq 7$. We discuss evidence that the EGS is mostly ionized along a 24 pMpc sightline at $z\simeq 7.0-7.6$, based on the presence of 3 overdense structures and 10 Ly$\alpha$ emitters in this volume, and find such a large ionized region would pose tension with standard reionization models.

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Forward citations

Cited by 6 Pith papers

Reviewed papers in the Pith corpus that reference this work. Sorted by Pith novelty score.

  1. SPURS: Evidence for Clumpy Neutral Envelopes and Ionized IGM Surrounding Little Red Dots in Abell 2744 from Ultra-Deep Rest-UV Spectroscopy

    astro-ph.GA 2026-04 conditional novelty 7.0

    Deep rest-UV grating spectra of Abell2744-QSO1 reveal a broad Lyα profile consistent with clumpy dense neutral gas and show the LRD traces a dense, ionized environment at z=7.04.

  2. Subaru meets JWST: A Direct Measurement of Ly$\boldsymbol{\alpha}$ Escape Fraction at $\boldsymbol{z\simeq6.2}$ with Dual Narrow-Band Imaging

    astro-ph.GA 2026-07 conditional novelty 6.5

    Completeness-weighted stacking of 56 HAEs at z≃6.2 gives median f_esc^Lyα = 0.106^{+0.066}_{-0.044} with no strong Hα-luminosity dependence and UV-linked galaxy-to-galaxy trends.

  3. Using Ly$\alpha$ Transmitted Spectrum to Probe IGM Transmission and Identify Ionized Structures in Cosmic Reionization

    astro-ph.GA 2026-05 unverdicted novelty 6.0

    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.

  4. All the Massive Galaxy Overdensities during Reionization: JWST Rest-Frame Optical Selection Reveals Young, Chemically Evolved Galaxies Embedded in Dense, Neutral Gas at z > 5

    astro-ph.GA 2026-02 conditional novelty 6.0

    A rest-frame optical JWST survey finds five robust galaxy overdensities at z≈5.7-6.8 whose members are younger, less massive, and sometimes embedded in denser neutral hydrogen than field galaxies.

  5. Deep JWST spectroscopy of galaxies in a candidate ionized bubble at $z = 8.7$: probing reionization at pMpc scales with Ly$\alpha$ emission

    astro-ph.GA 2025-10 conditional novelty 6.0

    Lyα transmission in the z=8.7 EGS volume is T_IGM=0.26+0.25−0.14, consistent with the field average and mildly inconsistent with a 2-pMpc ionized bubble, making such a bubble unlikely.

  6. Deep JWST spectroscopy of galaxies in a candidate ionized bubble at $z = 8.7$: probing reionization at pMpc scales with Ly$\alpha$ emission

    astro-ph.GA 2025-10 unverdicted novelty 5.0

    Deep JWST Lyα spectroscopy shows moderate IGM transmission inconsistent with a large 2 pMpc ionized bubble at z=8.7, favoring smaller bubbles amid observed galaxy overdensity.