Search

We report fourteen and twenty-eight protocluster candidates at z=5.7 and 6.6 over 14 and 19 deg^2 areas, respectively, selected from 2,230 (259) Lya emitters (LAEs) photometrically (spectroscopically) identified with Subaru/Hyper Suprime-Cam (HSC) deep images (Keck, Subaru, and Magellan spectra and the literature data). Six out of the 42 protocluster candidates include 1-12 spectroscopically confirmed LAEs at redshifts up to z=6.574. By the comparisons with the cosmological Lya radiative transfer (RT) model reproducing LAEs with the reionization effects, we find that more than a half of these protocluster candidates are progenitors of the present-day clusters with a mass of > 10^14 M_sun. We then investigate the correlation between LAE overdensity delta and Lya rest-frame equivalent width EW_Lya^rest, because the cosmological Lya RT model suggests that a slope of EW_Lya^rest-delta relation is steepened towards the epoch of cosmic reionization (EoR), due to the existence of the ionized bubbles around galaxy overdensities easing the escape of Lya emission from the partly neutral intergalactic medium (IGM). The available HSC data suggest that the slope of the EW_Lya^rest-delta correlation does not evolve from the post-reionization epoch z=5.7 to the EoR z=6.6 beyond the moderately large statistical errors. There is a possibility that we would detect the evolution of the EW_Lya^rest - delta relation from z=5.7 to 7.3 by the upcoming HSC observations providing large samples of LAEs at z=6.6-7.3.

The survey of Lyman $\alpha$ emitters (LAEs) with Subaru Hyper Suprime-Cam, called SILVERRUSH (Ouchi et al.), is producing massive data of LAEs at $z\gtrsim6$. Here we present LAE simulations to compare the SILVERRUSH data. In 162$^3$ comoving Mpc$^3$ boxes, where numerical radiative transfer calculations of reionization were performed, LAEs have been modeled with physically motivated analytic recipes as a function of halo mass. We have examined $2^3$ models depending on the presence or absence of dispersion of halo Ly$\alpha$ emissivity, dispersion of the halo Ly$\alpha$ optical depth, $\tau_\alpha$, and halo mass dependence of $\tau_\alpha$. The unique free parameter in our model, a pivot value of $\tau_\alpha$, is calibrated so as to reproduce the $z=5.7$ Ly$\alpha$ luminosity function (LF). We compare our model predictions with Ly$\alpha$ LFs at $z=6.6$ and $7.3$, LAE angular auto-correlation functions (ACFs) at $z=5.7$ and $6.6$, and LAE fractions in Lyman break galaxies at $5

We present average stellar population properties and dark matter halo masses of $z \sim 2$ \lya emitters (LAEs) from SED fitting and clustering analysis, respectively, using $\simeq$ $1250$ objects ($NB387\le25.5$) in four separate fields of $\simeq 1$ deg$^2$ in total. With an average stellar mass of $10.2\, \pm\, 1.8\times 10^8\ {\mathrm M_\odot}$ and star formation rate of $3.4\, \pm\, 0.4\ {\mathrm M_\odot}\ {\rm yr^{-1}}$, the LAEs lie on an extrapolation of the star-formation main sequence (MS) to low stellar mass. Their effective dark matter halo mass is estimated to be $4.0_{-2.9}^{+5.1} \times 10^{10}\ {\mathrm M_\odot}$ with an effective bias of $1.22^{+0.16}_{-0.18}$ which is lower than that of $z \sim 2$ LAEs ($1.8\, \pm\, 0.3$), obtained by a previous study based on a three times smaller survey area, with a probability of $96\%$. However, the difference in the bias values can be explained if cosmic variance is taken into account. If such a low halo mass implies a low HI gas mass, this result appears to be consistent with the observations of a high \lya escape fraction. With the low halo masses and ongoing star formation, our LAEs have a relatively high stellar-to-halo mass ratio (SHMR) and a high efficiency of converting baryons into stars. The extended Press-Schechter formalism predicts that at $z=0$ our LAEs are typically embedded in halos with masses similar to that of the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC); they will also have similar SHMRs to the LMC, if their SFRs are largely suppressed after $z \sim 2$ as some previous studies have reported for the LMC itself., Comment: 34 pages, 15 figures, 6 tables. Accepted for publication in PASJ

We present the Ly$\alpha$ luminosity functions (LFs) at $z=$5.7 and 6.6 derived from a new large sample of 1,266 Ly$\alpha$ emitters (LAEs) identified in total areas of 14 and 21 deg$^2$, respectively, based on the early narrowband data of the Subaru/Hyper Suprime-Cam (HSC) survey. Together with careful Monte-Carlo simulations that account for the incompleteness of the LAE selection and the flux estimate systematics in the narrowband imaging, we have determined the Ly$\alpha$ LFs with the unprecedentedly small statistical and systematic uncertainties in a wide Ly$\alpha$ luminosity range of $10^{42.8-43.8}$ erg s$^{-1}$. We obtain the best-fit Schechter parameters of $L^{*}_{{\rm Lya}}=1.6^{+2.2}_{-0.6} (1.7^{+0.3}_{-0.7}) \times10^{43}$ erg s$^{-1}$, $\phi^{*}_{{\rm Lya}}=0.85^{+1.87}_{-0.77}\ (0.47^{+1.44}_{-0.44})\times10^{-4}$ Mpc$^{-3}$, and $\alpha=-2.6^{+0.6}_{-0.4}\ (-2.5^{+0.5}_{-0.5})$ at $z=5.7$ ($6.6$). We confirm that our best-estimate Ly$\alpha$ LFs are consistent with the majority of the previous studies, but find that our Ly$\alpha$ LFs do not agree with the high number densities of LAEs recently claimed by Matthee/Santos et al.'s studies that may overcorrect the incompleteness and the flux systematics. Our Ly$\alpha$ LFs at $z=5.7$ and $6.6$ show an indication that the faint-end slope is very steep ($\alpha \simeq -2.5$), although it is also possible that the bright-end LF results are enhanced by systematic effects such as the contribution from AGNs, blended merging galaxies, and/or large ionized bubbles around bright LAEs. Comparing our Ly$\alpha$ LF measurements with four independent reionization models, we estimate the neutral hydrogen fraction of the IGM to be $x_{\rm HI}=0.3\pm0.2$ at $z=$6.6 that is consistent with the small Thomson scattering optical depth obtained by Planck 2016., Comment: 21 pages, 14 figures, accepted for publication in PASJ special issue

We present Lya and UV-nebular emission line properties of bright Lya emitters (LAEs) at z=6-7 with a luminosity of log L_Lya/[erg s-1] = 43-44 identified in the 21-deg2 area of the SILVERRUSH early sample developed with the Subaru Hyper Suprime-Cam (HSC) survey data. Our optical spectroscopy newly confirm 21 bright LAEs with clear Lya emission, and contribute to make a spectroscopic sample of 96 LAEs at z=6-7 in SILVERRUSH. From the spectroscopic sample, we select 7 remarkable LAEs as bright as Himiko and CR7 objects, and perform deep Keck/MOSFIRE and Subaru/nuMOIRCS near-infrared spectroscopy reaching the 3sigma-flux limit of ~ 2x10^{-18} erg s-1 for the UV-nebular emission lines of He II1640, C IV1548,1550, and O III]1661,1666. Except for one tentative detection of C IV, we find no strong UV-nebular lines down to the flux limit, placing the upper limits of the rest-frame equivalent widths (EW_0) of ~2-4 A for He II, C IV, and O III] lines. Here we also investigate the VLT/X-SHOOTER spectrum of CR7 whose 6 sigma detection of He II is claimed by Sobral et al. Although two individuals and the ESO-archive service carefully re-analyze the X-SHOOTER data that are used in the study of Sobral et al., no He II signal of CR7 is detected, supportive of weak UV-nebular lines of the bright LAEs even for CR7. Spectral properties of these bright LAEs are thus clearly different from those of faint dropouts at z~7 that have strong UV-nebular lines shown in the various studies. Comparing these bright LAEs and the faint dropouts, we find anti-correlations between the UV-nebular line EW_0 and UV-continuum luminosity, which are similar to those found at z~2-3., Comment: 26 pages, 12 figures. Accepted for publication in PASJ special issue

We present an unprecedentedly large catalog consisting of 2,230 > L* Lya emitters (LAEs) at z=5.7 and 6.6 on the 13.8 and 21.2 deg2 sky, respectively, that are identified by the SILVERRUSH program with the first narrowband imaging data of the Hyper Suprime-Cam (HSC) survey. We confirm that the LAE catalog is reliable on the basis of 96 LAEs whose spectroscopic redshifts are already determined by this program and the previous studies. This catalogue is also available on-line. Based on this catalogue, we derive the rest-frame Lya equivalent-width distributions of LAEs at z~5.7-6.6 that are reasonably explained by the exponential profiles with the scale lengths of ~120-170A, showing no significant evolution from z~5.7 to z~6.6. We find that 275 LAEs with a large equivalent width (LEW) of >240A are candidates of young-metal poor galaxies and AGNs. We also find that the fraction of LEW LAEs to all ones is 4% and 21% at z~5.7 and z~6.6, respectively. Our LAE catalog includes 11 Lya blobs (LABs) that are LAEs with spatially extended Lya emission whose profile is clearly distinguished from those of stellar objects at the >~ 3sigma level. The number density of the LABs at z=6-7 is ~ 10^-7-10^-6 Mpc^-3, being ~ 10-100 times lower than those claimed for LABs at z~ 2-3, suggestive of disappearing LABs at z>~6, albeit with the different selection methods and criteria for the low and high-z LABs., Comment: 19 pages, 11 figures. Accepted for publication in PASJ special issue

We present the SILVERRUSH program strategy and clustering properties investigated with $\sim 2,000$ Ly$\alpha$ emitters at $z=5.7$ and $6.6$ found in the early data of the Hyper Suprime-Cam (HSC) Subaru Strategic Program survey exploiting the carefully designed narrowband filters. We derive angular correlation functions with the unprecedentedly large samples of LAEs at $z=6-7$ over the large total area of $14-21$ deg$^2$ corresponding to $0.3-0.5$ comoving Gpc$^2$. We obtain the average large-scale bias values of $b_{\rm avg}=4.1\pm 0.2$ ($4.5\pm 0.6$) at $z=5.7$ ($z=6.6$) for $\gtrsim L^*$ LAEs, indicating the weak evolution of LAE clustering from $z=5.7$ to $6.6$. We compare the LAE clustering results with two independent theoretical models that suggest an increase of an LAE clustering signal by the patchy ionized bubbles at the epoch of reionization (EoR), and estimate the neutral hydrogen fraction to be $x_{\rm HI}=0.15^{+0.15}_{-0.15}$ at $z=6.6$. Based on the halo occupation distribution models, we find that the $\gtrsim L^*$ LAEs are hosted by the dark-matter halos with the average mass of $\log (\left < M_{\rm h} \right >/M_\odot) =11.1^{+0.2}_{-0.4}$ ($10.8^{+0.3}_{-0.5}$) at $z=5.7$ ($6.6$) with a Ly$\alpha$ duty cycle of 1 % or less, where the results of $z=6.6$ LAEs may be slightly biased, due to the increase of the clustering signal at the EoR. Our clustering analysis reveals the low-mass nature of $\gtrsim L^*$ LAEs at $z=6-7$, and that these LAEs probably evolve into massive super-$L^*$ galaxies in the present-day universe., Comment: 16 pages, 10 figures. Accepted for publication in PASJ special issue

We present clustering properties from 579,492 Lyman break galaxies (LBGs) at z~4-6 over the 100 deg^2 sky (corresponding to a 1.4 Gpc^3 volume) identified in early data of the Hyper Suprime-Cam (HSC) Subaru strategic program survey. We derive angular correlation functions (ACFs) of the HSC LBGs with unprecedentedly high statistical accuracies at z~4-6, and compare them with the halo occupation distribution (HOD) models. We clearly identify significant ACF excesses in 10"<$\theta$<90", the transition scale between 1- and 2-halo terms, suggestive of the existence of the non-linear halo bias effect. Combining the HOD models and previous clustering measurements of faint LBGs at z~4-7, we investigate dark-matter halo mass (Mh) of the z~4-7 LBGs and its correlation with various physical properties including the star-formation rate (SFR), the stellar-to-halo mass ratio (SHMR), and the dark matter accretion rate (dotMh) over a wide-mass range of Mh/M$_\odot$=4x10^10-4x10^12. We find that the SHMR increases from z~4 to 7 by a factor of ~4 at Mh~1x10^11 M$_\odot$, while the SHMR shows no strong evolution in the similar redshift range at Mh~1x10^12 M$_\odot$. Interestingly, we identify a tight relation of SFR/dotMh-Mh showing no significant evolution beyond 0.15 dex in this wide-mass range over z~4-7. This weak evolution suggests that the SFR/dotMh-Mh relation is a fundamental relation in high-redshift galaxy formation whose star formation activities are regulated by the dark matter mass assembly. Assuming this fundamental relation, we calculate the cosmic SFR densities (SFRDs) over z=0-10 (a.k.a. Madau-Lilly plot). The cosmic SFRD evolution based on the fundamental relation agrees with the one obtained by observations, suggesting that the cosmic SFRD increase from z~10 to 4-2 (decrease from z~4-2 to 0) is mainly driven by the increase of the halo abundance (the decrease of the accretion rate)., Comment: 34 pages, 27 figures, PASJ in press

We study the UV luminosity functions (LFs) at $z\sim 4$, $5$, $6,$ and $7$ based on the deep large-area optical images taken by the Hyper Suprime-Cam (HSC) Subaru strategic program (SSP). On the 100 deg$^2$ sky of the HSC SSP data available to date, we make enormous samples consisting of a total of 579,565 dropout candidates at $z\sim 4-7$ by the standard color selection technique, 358 out of which are spectroscopically confirmed by our follow-up spectroscopy and other studies. We obtain UV LFs at $z \sim 4-7$ that span a very wide UV luminosity range of $\sim 0.002 - 100 \, L_{\rm UV}^\ast$ ($-26 < M_{\rm UV} < -14$ mag) by combining LFs from our program and the ultra-deep Hubble Space Telescope legacy surveys. We derive three parameters of the best-fit Schechter function, $\phi^\ast$, $M_{\rm UV}^\ast$, and $\alpha$, of the UV LFs in the magnitude range where the AGN contribution is negligible, and find that $\alpha$ and $\phi^\ast$ decrease from $z\sim 4$ to $7$ with no significant evolution of $M_{\rm UV}^\ast$. Because our HSC SSP data bridge the LFs of galaxies and AGNs with great statistical accuracy, we carefully investigate the bright end of the galaxy UV LFs that are estimated by the subtraction of the AGN contribution either aided with spectroscopy or the best-fit AGN UV LFs. We find that the bright end of the galaxy UV LFs cannot be explained by the Schechter function fits at $> 2 \sigma$ significance, and require either double power-law functions or modified Schechter functions that consider a magnification bias due to gravitational lensing., Comment: 30 pages, 13 figures, accepted for publication in PASJ special issue

We detect 20 $z=7.0$ Ly$\alpha$ emitter (LAE) candidates to $L({\rm Ly}\alpha) \geq 2 \times 10^{42}$ erg s$^{-1}$ or $0.3$ $L^*_{z=7}$ and in $6.1\times 10^5$ Mpc$^3$ volume in the Subaru Deep Field and the Subaru/XMM-Newton Deep Survey field by 82 and 37 hours of Subaru Suprime-Cam narrowband NB973 and reddest optical $y$-band imaging. We compare their Ly$\alpha$ and UV luminosity functions (LFs) and densities and Ly$\alpha$ equivalent widths (EWs) to those of $z=5.7$, 6.6 and 7.3 LAEs from previous Suprime-Cam surveys. The Ly$\alpha$ LF (density) rapidly declines by a factor of $\times$1.5 (1.9) in $L({\rm Ly}\alpha)$ at $z=5.7-6.6$ (160 Myr), $\times$1.5 (1.6) at $z=6.6-7.0$ (60 Myr) at the faint end and $\times$2.0 (3.8) at $z=7.0-7.3$ (40 Myr). Also, in addition to the systematic decrease in EW at $z=5.7-6.6$ previously found, 2/3 of the $z=7.0$ LAEs detected in the UV continuum exhibit lower EWs than the $z=6.6$ ones. Moreover, while the UV LF and density do not evolve at $z=5.7-6.6$, they modestly decline at $z=6.6-7.0$, implying galaxy evolution contributing to the decline of the Ly$\alpha$ LF. Comparison of the $z=7.0$ Ly$\alpha$ LF to the one predicted by an LAE evolution model further reveals that galaxy evolution alone cannot explain all the decline of Ly$\alpha$ LF. If we attribute the discrepancy to Ly$\alpha$ attenuation by neutral hydrogen, the intergalactic medium transmission of Ly$\alpha$ photons at $z=7.0$ would be $T_{{\rm Ly}\alpha}^{\rm IGM} \leq 0.6-0.7$. It is lower (higher) than $T_{{\rm Ly}\alpha}^{\rm IGM}$ at $z=6.6$ (7.3) derived by previous studies, suggesting rapid increase in neutral fraction at $z > 6$., Comment: 37 Pages, 22 Figures, 10 Tables, Accepted for publication in ApJ

The Hyper Suprime-Cam Subaru Strategic Program (HSC-SSP) is a three-layered imaging survey aimed at addressing some of the most outstanding questions in astronomy today, including the nature of dark matter and dark energy. The survey has been awarded 300 nights of observing time at the Subaru Telescope and it started in March 2014. This paper presents the first public data release of HSC-SSP. This release includes data taken in the first 1.7 years of observations (61.5 nights) and each of the Wide, Deep, and UltraDeep layers covers about 108, 26, and 4 square degrees down to depths of i~26.4, ~26.5, and ~27.0 mag, respectively (5sigma for point sources). All the layers are observed in five broad bands (grizy), and the Deep and UltraDeep layers are observed in narrow bands as well. We achieve an impressive image quality of 0.6 arcsec in the i-band in the Wide layer. We show that we achieve 1-2 per cent PSF photometry (rms) both internally and externally (against Pan-STARRS1), and ~10 mas and 40 mas internal and external astrometric accuracy, respectively. Both the calibrated images and catalogs are made available to the community through dedicated user interfaces and database servers. In addition to the pipeline products, we also provide value-added products such as photometric redshifts and a collection of public spectroscopic redshifts. Detailed descriptions of all the data can be found online. The data release website is https://hsc-release.mtk.nao.ac.jp/., Comment: 34 pages, 20 figures, 7 tables, moderate revision, accepted for publication in PASJ

We present the Lya luminosity functions (LFs) derived by our deep Subaru narrowband survey that identifies a total of 3,137 Lya emitters (LAEs) at $z = 2.2$ in five independent blank fields. The sample of these LAEs is the largest, to date, and covers a very wide Lya luminosity range of $\log L_{Ly\alpha} = 41.7-44.4$ erg s$^{-1}$. We determine the Lya LF at $z = 2.2$ with unprecedented accuracies, and obtain the best-fit Schechter parameters of $L^{*}_{Ly\alpha} = 5.29^{+1.67}_{-1.13} \times 10^{42}$ erg s$^{-1}$, $\phi^{*}_{Ly\alpha} = 6.32^{+3.08}_{-2.31} \times 10^{-4}$ Mpc$^{-3}$, and $\alpha = -1.75^{+0.10}_{-0.09}$ showing a steep faint-end slope. We identify a significant hump at the LF bright end ($\log L_{Ly\alpha} > 43.4$ erg s$^{-1}$). Because all of the LAEs in the bright-end hump have (a) bright counterpart(s) either in the X-ray, UV, or radio data, this bright-end hump is not made by gravitational lensing magnification bias but AGNs. These AGNs allow us to derive the AGN UV LF at $z \sim 2$ down to the faint magnitude limit of $M_{UV} \simeq -22.5$, and to constrain the faint-end slope of AGN UV LF, $\alpha_{AGN}=-1.2 \pm 0.1$, that is flatter than those at $z > 4$. Based on the Lya and UV LFs from our and previous studies, we find the increase of Lya escape fraction $f^{Ly\alpha}_{esc}$ from $z \sim 0$ to $6$ by two orders of magnitude. This large $f^{Ly\alpha}_{esc}$ increase can be explained neither by the evolution of stellar population nor outflow alone, but the evolution of neutral hydrogen HI density in inter-stellar medium that enhances dust attenuation for Lya by resonance scattering. Our uniform expanding shell models suggest that the typical HI column density decreases from $N_{HI} \sim 7 \times 10^{19}$ ($z \sim 0$) to $\sim 1 \times 10^{18}$ cm$^{-2}$ ($z \sim 6$) to explain the large $f^{Ly\alpha}_{esc}$ increase., Comment: 18 pages, 10 figures, 5 tables, Accepted for publication in The Astrophysical Journal

We present the ultra-deep Subaru narrowband imaging survey for Lya emitters (LAEs) at $z=7.3$ in SXDS and COSMOS fields with a total integration time of 106 hours. Exploiting our new sharp bandwidth filter, NB101, installed on Suprime-Cam, we have reached $L(Lya)=2.4\times10^{42} \ erg \ s^{-1}$ ($5\sigma$) for $z=7.3$ LAEs, about 4 times deeper than previous Subaru $z \gtrsim 7$ studies, which allows us to reliably investigate evolution of Lya luminosity function (LF), for the first time, down to the luminosity limit same as those of Subaru $z=3.1-6.6$ LAE samples. Surprisingly, we only find three and four LAEs in SXDS and COSMOS fields, respectively, while one expects a total of $\sim 65$ LAEs by our survey in the case of no Lya LF evolution from $z=6.6$ to $7.3$.We identify a decrease of Lya LF from $z=6.6$ to $7.3$ at the $>90\%$ confidence level from our $z=7.3$ Lya LF.Moreover, the evolution of Lya LF is clearly accelerated at $z>6.6$ beyond the measurement uncertainties including cosmic variance. Because no such accelerated evolution of UV-continuum LF or cosmic star-formation rate (SFR) is found at $z\sim 7$, but suggested only at $z>8$ (Oesch et al. 2013, Bouwens et al. 2014), this accelerated Lya LF evolution is explained by physical mechanisms different from a pure SFR decrease but related to Lya production and escape in the process of cosmic reionization. Because a simple accelerating increase of IGM neutral hydrogen absorbing Lya would not reconcile with Thomson scattering optical depth measurements from WMAP and Planck, our findings may support new physical pictures suggested by recent theoretical studies, such as the existence of HI clumpy clouds within cosmic ionized bubbles selectively absorbing Lya and the large ionizing photon escape fraction of galaxies making weak Lya emission., Comment: 15pages, 14 figures, 5 tables. Accepted for publication in The Astrophysical Journal