WERE PROGENITORS OF LOCALL* GALAXIES Lyα EMITTERS AT HIGH REDSHIFT?

The Ly{alpha} emission has been observed from galaxies over a redshift span z {approx} 0-8.6. However, the evolution of high-redshift Ly{alpha} emitters (LAEs), and the link between these populations and local galaxies, remains poorly understood. Here, we investigate the Ly{alpha} properties of progenitors of a local L* galaxy by combining cosmological hydrodynamic simulations with three-dimensional radiative transfer calculations using the new ART{sup 2} code. We find that the main progenitor (the most massive one) of a Milky-Way-like galaxy has a number of Ly{alpha} properties close to those of observed LAEs at z {approx} 2-6, but most of the fainter ones appear to fall below the detection limits of current surveys. The Ly{alpha} photon escape fraction depends sensitively on a number of physical properties of the galaxy, such as mass, star formation rate, and metallicity, as well as galaxy morphology and orientation. Moreover, we find that high-redshift LAEs show blueshifted Ly{alpha} line profiles characteristic of gas inflow, and that the Ly{alpha} emission by excitation cooling increases with redshift, and becomes dominant at z {approx}> 6. Our results suggest that some observed LAEs at z {approx} 2-6 with luminosity of L{sub Ly{alpha}} {approx} 10{sup 42}-10{sup 43} erg s{sup -1} may be similarmore » to the main progenitor of the Milky Way at high redshift, and that they may evolve into present-day L* galaxies.« less