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Published July 1, 2018 | Submitted
Journal Article Open

The environment and host haloes of the brightest z ~ 6 Lyman-break galaxies

Abstract

By studying the large-scale structure of the bright high-redshift Lyman-break galaxy (LBG) population it is possible to gain an insight into the role of environment in galaxy formation physics in the early Universe. We measure the clustering of a sample of bright (−22.7 < M_(UV) < −21.125) LBGs at z ∼ 6 and use a halo occupation distribution (HOD) model to measure their typical halo masses. We find that the clustering amplitude and corresponding HOD fits suggests that these sources are highly biased (b ∼ 8) objects in the densest regions of the high-redshift Universe. Coupled with the observed rapid evolution of the number density of these objects, our results suggest that the shape of high-luminosity end of the luminosity function is related to feedback processes or dust obscuration in the early Universe – as opposed to a scenario where these sources are predominantly rare instances of the much more numerous M_(UV) ∼ −19 population of galaxies caught in a particularly vigorous period of star formation. There is a slight tension between the number densities and clustering measurements, which we interpret this as a signal that a refinement of the model halo bias relation at high redshifts or the incorporation of quasi-linear effects may be needed for future attempts at modelling the clustering and number counts. Finally, the difference in number density between the fields (UltraVISTA has a surface density ∼ 1.8 times greater than UDS) is shown to be consistent with the cosmic variance implied by the clustering measurements.

Additional Information

© 2018 The Author(s). Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Royal Astronomical Society This article is published and distributed under the terms of the Oxford University Press, Standard Journals Publication Model (https://academic.oup.com/journals/pages/about_us/legal/notices). Accepted 2018 March 23. Received 2018 February 3; in original form 2017 February 10. Published: 04 April 2018. The authors thank the anonymous referee for the comments that have improved the quality of this paper. PH and CH wish to acknowledge support provided through STFC studentships. PH wishes to thank the Rector and Fellows of Lincoln College for support through the Graduate Research Fund. Many thanks to Yuichi Harikane and Olmo Piana for useful discussions on high-redshift clustering, and to Steven Murray for advice for using HALOMOD. This work was supported by the Oxford Centre for Astrophysical Surveys which is funded through generous support from the Hintze Family Charitable Foundation, the award of the STFC consolidated grant (ST/N000919/1), and the John Fell Oxford University Press (OUP) Research Fund. Based on data products from observations made with ESO Telescopes at the La Silla or Paranal Observatories under ESO programme ID 179.A- 2006. Based on observations obtained with MegaPrime/MegaCam, a joint project of CFHT and CEA/IRFU, at the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope (CFHT) which is operated by the National Research Council (NRC) of Canada, the Institut National des Science de l'Univers of the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) of France, and the University of Hawaii. This work is based in part on data products produced at Terapix available at the Canadian Astronomy Data Centre as part of the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope Legacy Survey, a collaborative project of NRC and CNRS.

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August 19, 2023
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