# THE ORIGIN OF Ly⁢𝛼 ABSORPTION SYSTEMS AT 𝑧>1—IMPLICATIONS FROM THE HUBBLE DEEP FIELD

## 1 INTRODUCTION

Comparison of galaxy and absorber redshifts along common lines of sight demonstrates that a significant and perhaps dominant fraction of low-redshift ($`z<1`$) $`\mathrm{Ly}\alpha `$-forest absorption systems arise in extended gaseous envelopes of galaxies (Lanzetta et al. 1995a; Chen et al. 1998). But it has not yet been possible to extend this comparison to higher redshifts, because normal surveys fail to identify galaxies at redshifts much beyond $`z=1`$. Nevertheless, determining the origin of high-redshift $`\mathrm{Ly}\alpha `$-forest absorption systems bears crucially on all efforts to apply the absorbers as a means to study galaxies in the very distant universe and to study how the extended gas of galaxies evolves with redshift. Previous arguments based on the apparent low metal content and lack of clustering of the absorbers suggested an intergalactic origin (Sargent et al. 1980), but these arguments are weakened by recent Keck measurements of the actual metal content and clustering of the absorbers (Songaila & Cowie et al. 1996; Fernández-Soto et al. 1996).

To extend the comparison of galaxies and absorbers to higher redshifts, it is necessary to systematically identify normal galaxies at redshifts $`z>1`$. Over the past few years, it has become clear that high-redshift galaxies can be reliably identified by means of broad-band photometric techniques. For example, several groups have determined photometric redshifts of galaxies in the Hubble Deep Field (HDF) to redshifts as large as $`z6`$ (Lanzetta, Yahil, & Fernández-Soto 1996; Sawicki, Lin, & Yee 1997; Connolly et al. 1997; Lanzetta, Fernández-Soto, & Yahil 1998; Fernández-Soto, Lanzetta, & Yahil 1999). Spectroscopic redshifts of nearly 120 of these galaxies obtained using the Keck telescope (see Fernández-Soto et al. 1999 for a complete list of references) have demonstrated that the photometric redshifts are both reliable enough and accurate enough to establish galaxy surface density versus redshift to large redshifts (Lanzetta et al. 1998; Fernández-Soto et al. 1999). 

Here we combine an empirical measure of the galaxy surface density versus redshift, obtained from the HDF, with an empirical measure of the gaseous extent of galaxies, obtained by Chen et al. (1998), to predict the number density of $`\mathrm{Ly}\alpha `$ absorption systems that originate in extended gaseous envelopes of galaxies versus redshift. Previous comparison of galaxies and $`\mathrm{Ly}\alpha `$ absorption systems at redshifts $`z<1`$ showed that (1) galaxies of all morphological types possess extended gaseous envelopes and (2) the gaseous extent of galaxies scales with galaxy $`B`$-band luminosity but does not depend sensitively on redshift (Chen et al. 1998). If these results apply to galaxies at all redshifts, then known galaxies of known gaseous extent must produce some fraction of $`\mathrm{Ly}\alpha `$ absorption systems at all redshifts.

On the basis of our analysis, we find that this fraction is significant. Specifically, considering $`\mathrm{Ly}\alpha `$ absorption systems of absorption equivalent width $`W0.32`$ Å, we find that galaxies can account for nearly all observed $`\mathrm{Ly}\alpha `$ absorption systems at $`z<2`$ and that galaxies of luminosity $`L_B0.05L_B_{}`$ can account for approximately 50% of the observed $`\mathrm{Ly}\alpha `$ absorption systems at higher redshifts. We further argue that if the gaseous extent of galaxies does not decrease with increasing redshift, then known galaxies must produce at least as many $`\mathrm{Ly}\alpha `$ absorption systems as our predictions. We show that we can already explain 70% and perhaps all of the observed $`\mathrm{Ly}\alpha `$ absorption systems at $`z>2.0`$ after correcting for faint galaxies that are below the detection threshold of the HDF images.

We adopt a Hubble constant, $`H_0=100h`$ km s<sup>-1</sup> Mpc<sup>-1</sup>, and a deceleration parameter, $`q_0=0.5`$, throughout the paper, unless otherwise noted.

## 2 METHODS

To calculate the predicted number density of $`\mathrm{Ly}\alpha `$ absorption systems that originate in extended gaseous envelopes of galaxies versus redshift, we multiply the galaxy number density per unit comoving volume by the absorption gas cross section of galaxies, which is known to scale with properties of galaxies. Our previous comparison of galaxies and $`\mathrm{Ly}\alpha `$ absorption systems at $`z<1`$ showed that the amount of gas encountered along a line of sight depends on galaxy impact parameter $`\rho `$ and $`B`$-band luminosity $`L_B`$ but does not depend strongly on galaxy average surface brightness $`\mu `$, disk-to-bulge ratio $`D/B`$, or redshift $`z`$ (Chen et al. 1998). Namely, galaxies of all morphological types possess extended gaseous envelopes, and the absorption gas cross section scales with galaxy $`B`$-band luminosity but does not evolve significantly with redshift. The left panel of Figure 1 shows a statistically significant correlation between galaxy $`B`$-band magnitude and the residuals of the $`W`$ versus $`\rho `$ anti-correlation. In contrast, the right panel of Figure 1 shows no correlation at all between galaxy redshift and the residuals of the $`W`$ versus $`\rho `$ anti-correlation accounting for galaxy $`B`$-band luminosity.

The predicted number density of $`\mathrm{Ly}\alpha `$ absorption systems $`n(z)`$ originating in extended gaseous envelopes of galaxies can now be written

$$n(z)=\frac{c}{H_0}(1+z)(1+2q_0z)^{1/2}_{L_{B_{\mathrm{min}}}}^{\mathrm{}}𝑑L_B\mathrm{\Phi }(L_B,z)\pi R^2(L_B),$$
(1)   
where $`c`$ is the speed of light, $`\mathrm{\Phi }(L_B,z)`$ is the galaxy luminosity function, and $`R`$ is the gaseous extent. The minimum galaxy $`B`$-band luminosity $`L_{B_{\mathrm{min}}}`$ is determined by the detection threshold of either the galaxy redshift survey or the $`\mathrm{Ly}\alpha `$ absorbing galaxy survey. It is taken to be the brighter of the magnitude limits at which the galaxy luminosity function or the scaling relation was determined. Supplementing results of Chen et al. (1998) with new measurements (Chen et al., in preparation), we find that galaxy gaseous radius $`R`$ scales with galaxy $`B`$-band luminosity $`L_B`$ as

$$\frac{R}{R_{}}=\left(\frac{L_B}{L_B_{}}\right)^t,$$
(2)   
with

$$t=0.39\pm 0.09,$$
(3)   
and with $`R_{}=172\pm 27h^1\mathrm{kpc}`$ at $`W=0.32`$ Å for galaxies of luminosity $`L_B>0.03L_B_{}`$.

Given a complete galaxy sample, we can evaluate equation (1) by establishing an empirical galaxy luminosity function without adopting any particular functional form. First, we write the galaxy luminosity function as a discrete sum of $`\delta `$ functions,

$$\mathrm{\Phi }(L_B,z)=\left(\frac{c}{H_0}\right)^1(1+z)^1(1+2q_0z)^{1/2}\frac{1}{\mathrm{\Delta }z\mathrm{\Omega }D_A(z)^2}\underset{i}{}\delta (L_BL_{B_i}),$$
(4)   
where $`\mathrm{\Omega }`$ is the angular survey area, $`D_A`$ is the angular diameter distance, and $`L_{B_i}`$ is the $`B`$-band luminosity of galaxy $`i`$. Next, we substitute equation (4) into equation (1) and rearrange terms to yield

$$n(z)=\frac{1}{\mathrm{\Omega }}\frac{1}{(z_2z_1)}\underset{i}{}\frac{\pi R^2(L_{B_i})}{D_A^2(z_i)},$$
(5)   
where $`(z_1,z_2)`$ marks the boundary of each redshift bin. Equation (5) indicates that the number density of $`\mathrm{Ly}\alpha `$ absorption systems originating in the extended gaseous envelopes of galaxies is equal to the product of the galaxy surface density and the average of luminosity weighted gas cross sections.

## 3 GALAXY SAMPLE

Here we adopt a galaxy sample from the Hubble Deep Field (HDF) galaxy catalog published by Fernández-Soto et al. (1999), which contains coordinates, optical and near-infrared photometry, and photometric redshift measurements of 1067 galaxies. This galaxy catalog is unique for studying galaxy statistics at high redshifts, because it is sensitive to objects of surface brightness down to $`26.1\mathrm{mag}\mathrm{arcsec}^2`$ and is complete to $`AB(8140)=28.0`$ within the central $`3.93\mathrm{arcmin}^2`$ area of the HDF image (Zone 1 of Fernández-Soto et al. 1999). Photometric redshifts ranging through $`z6`$ were measured from broad-band spectral energy distributions established from the optical (Williams et al. 1996) and infrared (Dickinson et al. 1999, in preparation) images. Spectroscopic redshifts of nearly 120 of these galaxies have been obtained using the Keck telescope (see Fernández-Soto et al. 1999 for a complete list of references). Comparison of the photometric and spectroscopic redshifts shows that the photometric redshifts are accurate to within an RMS relative uncertainty of $`\mathrm{\Delta }z/(1+z)<0.1`$ at all redshifts $`z<6`$ (Lanzetta et al. 1998; Fernández-Soto et al. 1999), except that there are not spectroscopic redshifts available for comparison at redshifts $`z=1.5`$ to $`z=2.0`$. Reliable galaxy statistics as a function of redshift can therefore be measured on the basis of the HDF galaxy catalog.

## 4 ANALYSIS

The goal of the analysis is to compare the predicted number density of $`\mathrm{Ly}\alpha `$ absorption systems originating in extended gaseous envelopes of galaxies (using the HDF galaxy catalog) with the observed number density of $`\mathrm{Ly}\alpha `$ absorption systems.

Here we evaluate equation (5) for galaxies observed in the HDF, given the photometric redshift measurements. Galaxy $`B`$-band luminosity is calculated from the apparent F814W magnitude corrected for luminosity distance, color $`k`$ correction (between rest-frame $`B`$ band and observed-frame F814W band, calculated based on the spectral type determined from the photometric redshift techniques), and bandpass $`k`$ correction. Errors in the predicted number density are estimated using a standard bootstrap method, which incorporates the sampling error with the uncertainties of photometric redshift measurements and the scaling relation. To model the uncertainty of photometric redshift measurements correctly, Lanzetta et al. (1998) have shown that both photometric error and cosmic variance with respect to the spectral templates must be accounted for. The first can be simulated by perturbing galaxy photometry of different bands within the photometric errors. The second can be characterized by the RMS dispersion of photometric and spectroscopic redshift measurements, which is 0.08 at $`z<2`$ and 0.32 at $`z>2`$ (Lanzetta et al. 1998). The uncertainty of photometric redshift measurements is then calculated by forming a quadratic sum of the two.

The results are shown in Table 1 and Figure 2 in comparison with observations. In Figure 2, filled circles represent the observations and open circles represent our predictions. The observations at $`z<1.5`$ are taken from the sample 2 of Weymann et al. (1998), which we normalize to refer to $`\mathrm{Ly}\alpha `$ absorption lines of $`W0.32`$ Å. The observations at $`z>1.6`$ are taken from the sample 9 of Bechtold (1994)<sup>1</sup><sup>1</sup>1Note that the data from Weymann et al. included all the $`\mathrm{Ly}\alpha `$ absorption lines with or without associated metal absorption lines, while the data from Bechtold included only the $`\mathrm{Ly}\alpha `$ absorption lines without associated metal absorption lines. However, the correction for including metal-line associated systems in the high-redshift sample is expected to be approximately a few percent (Bechtold 1994; Frye et al. 1993). In comparison to the large uncertainty of the number density of high-redshift $`\mathrm{Ly}\alpha `$ absorption systems, it is clear that the absence of metal-line associated systems in the high-redshift sample does not change the redshift distribution of $`\mathrm{Ly}\alpha `$ absorption systems by a noticeable amount.. We select a bin size, $`\mathrm{\Delta }z=0.5`$, when calculating the predicted values. Experiments with different bin sizes show that the redshift distribution of the predicted number density of $`\mathrm{Ly}\alpha `$ absorption systems is insensitive to the selected bin size. We also repeat the calculation, using a deceleration parameter, $`q_0=0.0`$. It turns out that the predicted number density of $`\mathrm{Ly}\alpha `$ absorption systems does not depend sensitively on the adopted deceleration parameter either.

Our predictions have so far been limited to including galaxies of luminosity $`L_B>L_{B_{\mathrm{min}}}`$. To estimate the contribution of faint galaxies to the predicted gas cross section, we calculate the number density of $`\mathrm{Ly}\alpha `$ absorption systems originating in galaxies of luminosity $`L_B<L_{B_{\mathrm{min}}}`$ by choosing a Schechter luminosity function. We evaluate equation (1) by adopting a faint-end slope obtained by Ellis et al. (1996), which is $`\alpha =1.41_{0.07}^{+0.12}`$, and by extrapolating the scaling relation (equation 2 and 3) to obtain the extended gaseous radii for galaxies of luminosity $`0L_B<0.03L_B_{}`$. Increments of the predicted number density versus redshift due to the inclusion of faint galaxies are shown in Figure 2 as well (crosses with dashed horizontal bars).

## 5 DISCUSSION

The HDF images have provided us with a unique chance to relate statistical properties of high-redshift galaxies to statistical properties of $`\mathrm{Ly}\alpha `$ absorption systems, thereby studying the origin of $`\mathrm{Ly}\alpha `$ absorption systems at high redshifts. Combining an empirical measure of galaxy surface density versus redshift with an empirical measure of gaseous extent of galaxies, we have predicted the number density of $`\mathrm{Ly}\alpha `$ absorption systems that originate in extended gaseous envelopes of galaxies versus redshift.

For $`\mathrm{Ly}\alpha `$ absorption systems of absorption equivalent width $`W0.32`$ Å, comparison of the predicted and observed number densities of $`\mathrm{Ly}\alpha `$ absorption systems shows that (1) known galaxies with known gas cross sections can account for all the observed $`\mathrm{Ly}\alpha `$ absorption systems to within measurement errors at redshifts $`0<z<1`$, (2) known galaxies of luminosity $`L_B0.03L_B_{}`$ with unevolved gas cross sections can account for all $`\mathrm{Ly}\alpha `$ absorption systems at redshifts $`1<z<2`$, and (3) known galaxies of luminosity $`L_B0.05L_B_{}`$ with unevolved gas cross sections can account for approximately 50% of observed $`\mathrm{Ly}\alpha `$ absorption systems at $`z>2`$. Apparently, bright galaxies alone can account for a significant portion of the observed $`\mathrm{Ly}\alpha `$ absorption systems at all redshifts. After correcting for faint galaxies that are below the detection threshold of the HDF image, we can already explain 70% and perhaps all of the observed $`\mathrm{Ly}\alpha `$ absorption systems at $`z>2.0`$ to within errors. Here we discuss three factors that may invalidate the result.

First, we consider evolution of the galaxy luminosity function. There has been some evidence showing that galaxies at the faint end of galaxy luminosity function evolves significantly with redshift (e.g. Ellis 1997, and references therein). Namely, faint galaxies may be more numerous at higher redshifts. To address this issue, we evaluate equation (1) with $`L_{B_{\mathrm{min}}}0`$ to calculate the relative change in the predicted number density, given a different faint-end slope. It turns out that the predicted number density of $`\mathrm{Ly}\alpha `$ absorption systems increases by as much as $`0.3`$ dex, if we vary the faint-end slope from $`\alpha =1.4`$ to $`\alpha =1.6`$. Apparently, a steeper faint-end slope brings the predicted values closer to the observed ones. We conclude that known galaxies must produce at least as many $`\mathrm{Ly}\alpha `$ absorption systems as the predictions.

Next, we consider evolution of neutral gas surrounding galaxies. In the right panel of Figure 1, we show that the residuals of the $`W`$ versus $`\rho `$ anti-correlation after accounting for the scaling of galaxy $`B`$-band luminosity $`L_B`$ do not correlate with galaxy redshift. Although there is no direct observational evidence to support the extension of the redshift independence of the scaling relation to redshifts beyond $`z=1`$, the gaseous extent of galaxies is unlikely to decrease with increasing redshift in these early epochs. Theoretically, it is believed that galaxies were formed through accretion of cooled gas over time, indicating a larger gaseous extent of galaxies at higher redshifts. Observationally, the mass density of neutral gas measured from damped $`\mathrm{Ly}\alpha `$ absorption systems increases significantly with increasing redshift at redshifts between $`z=1.6`$ and $`z=3.5`$ (Lanzetta, Wolfe, & Turnshek 1995; Storrie-Lombardi, McMahon, & Irwin 1996), supporting that galaxies may possess more neutral gas and therefore no less gaseous extent at higher redshifts. We again conclude that known galaxies must produce at least as many $`\mathrm{Ly}\alpha `$ absorption systems as the predictions.

Finally, we consider galaxy clustering effects. Due to limited resolutions of spectroscopic observations, $`\mathrm{Ly}\alpha `$ absorption lines with small velocity separation are sometimes blended together and considered as one absorption system. Lanzetta, Webb, & Barcons (1996) first reported an absorption system which may arise in a group or cluster of galaxies. It was later confirmed by Ortiz-Gíl et al. (1999), who identified eight absorption features in this system based on a spectrum of higher spectral resolution. Their analysis suggested that the degree of clustering of $`\mathrm{Ly}\alpha `$ absorption systems may be underestimated on velocity scales of several hundred kilometers per second (see also Fernández-Soto et al. 1996). Similarly, the number density of $`\mathrm{Ly}\alpha `$ absorption lines derived from a known galaxy population would be in excess of the observed number density of $`\mathrm{Ly}\alpha `$ absorption lines, because galaxies are strongly clustered and the predicted number density does not suffer from the line blending effect. As a result, the fraction of $`\mathrm{Ly}\alpha `$ absorption systems originating in extended gaseous envelopes of galaxies may be overestimated.

To estimate the amount of excess at different redshifts, we calculate the expected number of neighbouring galaxies of luminosity $`L_B>L_{B_{\mathrm{min}}}`$, $`N_{\mathrm{neighbours}}`$, that are seen at impact parameters $`\rho 200`$ kpc along a line of sight with a velocity difference of $`\mathrm{\Delta }v`$ from an absorption redshift. We adopt a two-point correlation function measured by Magliocchetti & Maddox (1999) and Arnouts et al. (1999) for the HDF galaxies at redshifts $`0z4.8`$, which is characterized by

$$\xi (r,z)=(r/r_0)^\gamma (1+z)^{(3+ϵ)}$$
(6)   
with $`\gamma =3+ϵ=1.8`$ and $`r_01.7h^1`$ Mpc, and evaluate the integral of the two-point correlation function over a comoving volume spanned by $`\delta v`$ in depth and 200 kpc in radius. The velocity span, $`\mathrm{\Delta }v`$, is taken to be the spectral resolution of which the observations were carried out. It is $`250\text{km s}\text{-1}`$ for the sample from Weymann et al. (i.e. absorption systems at $`z<1.5`$) and $`75\text{km s}\text{-1}`$ for the sample from Bechtold (i.e. absorption systems at $`z>1.5`$). We show in Table 2 that the estimated excess in our predictions (represented by the number of neighbouring galaxies) can be at most a factor of four at $`z<2`$, but is negligible at $`z>2`$. Therefore, we conclude that the fraction of $`\mathrm{Ly}\alpha `$ absorption systems originating in extended gaseous envelopes of galaxies remains significant even after correcting for galaxy clustering.

In summary, we present our first attempt at relating statistical properties of galaxies to statistical properties of $`\mathrm{Ly}\alpha `$ absorption systems at high redshifts based on the HDF galaxy catalog. Combining an empirical measure of galaxy surface density versus redshift with an empirical measure of gaseous extent of galaxies, we have predicted the number density of $`\mathrm{Ly}\alpha `$ absorption systems that originate in extended gaseous envelopes of galaxies versus redshift. We show that at approximately 50% and as much as 100% of observed $`\mathrm{Ly}\alpha `$ absorption systems of $`W0.32`$ Å can be explained by extended gaseous envelops of galaxies. The result remains valid after taking into account possibile evolutions of faint galaxies and extended gas around galaxies, as well as galaxy clustering effects. Therefore, we conclude that known galaxies of known gaseous extent must produce a significant fraction and perhaps all of $`\mathrm{Ly}\alpha `$ absorption systems over a large redshift range.

###### Acknowledgements.

The authors thank John Webb for helpful discussions. HWC and KML were supported by NASA grant NAGW–4422 and NSF grant AST–9624216. AF was supported by a grant from the Australian Research Council.