JWST Measurements of Neutral Hydrogen Fractions and Ionized Bubble Sizes at $z=7-12$ Obtained with Ly$α$ Damping Wing Absorptions in 27 Bright Continuum Galaxies

Fuente: arXiv
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Autori principali: Umeda, Hiroya, Ouchi, Masami, Nakajima, Kimihiko, Harikane, Yuichi, Ono, Yoshiaki, Xu, Yi, Isobe, Yuki, Zhang, Yechi
Natura: Preprint
Pubblicazione: 2023
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author Umeda, Hiroya
Ouchi, Masami
Nakajima, Kimihiko
Harikane, Yuichi
Ono, Yoshiaki
Xu, Yi
Isobe, Yuki
Zhang, Yechi
author_facet Umeda, Hiroya
Ouchi, Masami
Nakajima, Kimihiko
Harikane, Yuichi
Ono, Yoshiaki
Xu, Yi
Isobe, Yuki
Zhang, Yechi
contents We present volume-averaged neutral hydrogen fractions $x_{\rm \HI}$ and ionized bubble radii $R_{\rm b}$ measured with Ly$α$ damping wing absorption of galaxies at the epoch of reionization. We combine JWST/NIRSpec spectra taken by CEERS, GO-1433, DDT-2750, and JADES programs, and obtain a sample containing 27 bright UV-continuum ($M_{\rm UV}<-18.5~{\rm mag}$) galaxies at $7<z<12$. We construct 4 composite spectra binned by redshift, and find the clear evolution of softening break towards high redshift at the rest-frame $1216$ Å, suggesting the increase of Ly$α$ damping wing absorption. We estimate Ly$α$ damping wing absorption in the galaxy spectra with realistic templates including Ly$α$ emission and circum-galactic medium absorptions. Assuming the standard inside-out reionization picture having an ionized bubble with radius $R_b$ around a galaxy embedded in the intergalactic medium with $x_{\rm \HI}$, we obtain $x_{\rm \HI}$ ($R_{\rm b}$) values generally increasing (decreasing) from $x_{\rm \HI}={0.53}^{+0.18}_{-0.47}$ to ${0.92}^{+0.08}_{-0.10}$ ($\log R_{\rm b}={1.67}^{+0.14}_{-0.16}$ to ${-0.69}^{+0.89}_{-0.24}$ comoving Mpc) at redshift $7.12^{+0.06}_{-0.08}$ to $9.91^{+1.49}_{-1.15}$. The redshift evolution of $x_{\rm \HI}$ indicates a moderately late reionization history consistent with the one previously suggested from the electron scattering of cosmic microwave background and the evolution of UV luminosity function with an escape fraction $f_{\rm esc}\sim 0.2$. Our ${R_{\rm b}}$ measurements suggest that bubble sizes could be up to a few dex larger than the cosmic average values estimated by analytic calculations for a given $x_{\rm \HI}$, while our $R_{\rm b}$ measurements are roughly comparable with the values for merged ionized bubbles around bright galaxies predicted by recent numerical simulations.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2306_00487
institution arXiv
publishDate 2023
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle JWST Measurements of Neutral Hydrogen Fractions and Ionized Bubble Sizes at $z=7-12$ Obtained with Ly$α$ Damping Wing Absorptions in 27 Bright Continuum Galaxies
Umeda, Hiroya
Ouchi, Masami
Nakajima, Kimihiko
Harikane, Yuichi
Ono, Yoshiaki
Xu, Yi
Isobe, Yuki
Zhang, Yechi
Astrophysics of Galaxies
We present volume-averaged neutral hydrogen fractions $x_{\rm \HI}$ and ionized bubble radii $R_{\rm b}$ measured with Ly$α$ damping wing absorption of galaxies at the epoch of reionization. We combine JWST/NIRSpec spectra taken by CEERS, GO-1433, DDT-2750, and JADES programs, and obtain a sample containing 27 bright UV-continuum ($M_{\rm UV}<-18.5~{\rm mag}$) galaxies at $7<z<12$. We construct 4 composite spectra binned by redshift, and find the clear evolution of softening break towards high redshift at the rest-frame $1216$ Å, suggesting the increase of Ly$α$ damping wing absorption. We estimate Ly$α$ damping wing absorption in the galaxy spectra with realistic templates including Ly$α$ emission and circum-galactic medium absorptions. Assuming the standard inside-out reionization picture having an ionized bubble with radius $R_b$ around a galaxy embedded in the intergalactic medium with $x_{\rm \HI}$, we obtain $x_{\rm \HI}$ ($R_{\rm b}$) values generally increasing (decreasing) from $x_{\rm \HI}={0.53}^{+0.18}_{-0.47}$ to ${0.92}^{+0.08}_{-0.10}$ ($\log R_{\rm b}={1.67}^{+0.14}_{-0.16}$ to ${-0.69}^{+0.89}_{-0.24}$ comoving Mpc) at redshift $7.12^{+0.06}_{-0.08}$ to $9.91^{+1.49}_{-1.15}$. The redshift evolution of $x_{\rm \HI}$ indicates a moderately late reionization history consistent with the one previously suggested from the electron scattering of cosmic microwave background and the evolution of UV luminosity function with an escape fraction $f_{\rm esc}\sim 0.2$. Our ${R_{\rm b}}$ measurements suggest that bubble sizes could be up to a few dex larger than the cosmic average values estimated by analytic calculations for a given $x_{\rm \HI}$, while our $R_{\rm b}$ measurements are roughly comparable with the values for merged ionized bubbles around bright galaxies predicted by recent numerical simulations.
title JWST Measurements of Neutral Hydrogen Fractions and Ionized Bubble Sizes at $z=7-12$ Obtained with Ly$α$ Damping Wing Absorptions in 27 Bright Continuum Galaxies
topic Astrophysics of Galaxies
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2306.00487