Probing the Physical Properties of z = 4.5 Lyman Alpha Emitters with Spitzer

Abstract

We present the results from a stellar population modeling analysis of a sample of 162 z = 4.5 and 14 z = 5.7 Lyα emitting galaxies (LAEs) in the Boötes field, using deep Spitzer/IRAC data at 3.6 and 4.5 μm from the Spitzer Lyα Survey, along with Hubble Space Telescope NICMOS and WFC3 imaging at 1.1 and 1.6 μm for a subset of the LAEs. This represents one of the largest samples of high-redshift LAEs imaged with Spitzer IRAC. We find that 30/162 (19%) of the z = 4.5 LAEs and 9/14 (64%) of the z = 5.7 LAEs are detected at ≥3σ in at least one IRAC band. Individual z = 4.5 IRAC-detected LAEs have a large range of stellar mass, from 5 × 10⁸-10¹¹ {M}_⊙ . One-third of the IRAC-detected LAEs have older stellar population ages of 100 Myr-1 Gyr, while the remainder have ages <100 Myr. A stacking analysis of IRAC-undetected LAEs shows this population to be primarily low mass (8-20 × 10⁸ {M}_⊙ ) and young (64-570 Myr). We find a correlation between stellar mass and the dust-corrected ultraviolet-based star formation rate (SFR) similar to that at lower redshifts, in that higher mass galaxies exhibit higher SFRs. However, the z = 4.5 LAE correlation is elevated 4-5 times in SFR compared to continuum-selected galaxies at similar redshifts. The exception is the most massive LAEs which have SFRs similar to galaxies at lower redshifts suggesting that they may represent a different population of galaxies than the traditional lower-mass LAEs, perhaps with a different mechanism promoting Lyα photon escape.