Related papers: Interpreting Lyman $\alpha$ radiation from young, …
The effects of galaxy selection on our ability to constrain the nature of weak Ly\alpha absorbers at low redshift are explored. Current observations indicate the existence of a population of gas-rich, low surface brightness (LSB) galaxies,…
We review recent developments in the theory of the Lyman-alpha forest and their implications for the role of the forest as a test of cosmological models. Simulations predict a relatively tight correlation between the local Lya optical depth…
Searches for Lyman-alpha emission lines are among the most effective ways to identify high-redshift galaxies. They are particularly interesting because they probe not only the galaxies themselves but also the ionization state of the…
Ly$\alpha$ is the transition to the ground state from the first excited state of hydrogen (the most common element). Resonant scattering of this line by neutral hydrogen greatly impedes its emergence from galaxies, so the fraction of…
We investigate the escape of Ly$\beta$ from emission nebulae with a significant population of excited hydrogen atoms in the level $n=2$, rendering them optically thick in H$\alpha$. The transfer of Ly$\beta$ line photons in these optically…
Cold gas streaming along the dark-matter filaments of the cosmic web is predicted to be the major provider of resources for disc buildup, violent disk instability and star formation in massive galaxies in the early universe. We study to…
The origin of Lyman Continuum (LyC) photons responsible for reionizing the universe remains a mystery, with the fraction of escaping LyC photons from galaxies at z$\sim$ 6 to 12 being highly uncertain. While direct detection of LyC photons…
We report the discovery of Lyman-alpha emission (Ly$\alpha$) in the bright galaxy EGSY-2008532660 (hereafter EGSY8p7) using the MOSFIRE spectrograph at the Keck Observatory. First reported by Roberts-Borsani et al. (2015), it was selected…
We examine the cooling radiation from forming galaxies in hydrodynamic simulations of the LCDM model (cold dark matter with a cosmological constant), focusing on the Ly-alpha line luminosities of high-redshift systems. Primordial…
Interstellar reddening corrections are necessary to reconstruct the intrinsic spectral energy distributions (SEDs) of accreting protostellar systems. The stellar SED determines the heating and chemical processes that can occur in…
The H~{\sc i} gas distribution in damped Lyman $\alpha$ absorbers (DLAs) has remained elusive due to the point-source nature of background quasar emission. Observing DLAs against spatially extended background galaxies provides a new method…
A population of early star-forming galaxies is the leading candidate for the re-ionization of the universe. It is still unclear what conditions and physical processes would enable a significant fraction of the ionizing photons to escape…
The 1215.67A HI Lyman alpha emission line dominates the ultraviolet flux of low mass stars, including the majority of known exoplanet hosts. Unfortunately, strong attenuation by the interstellar medium (ISM) obscures the line core at most…
Ly$\alpha$ emission is key to understanding the process of cosmic reionisation. JWST is finally enabling us to measure Ly$\alpha$ emission deep into the epoch of reionisation for an increasing number of galaxies. However, discrepancies…
The standard $\rm \Lambda$CDM cosmological model predicts that a large amount of diffuse neutral hydrogen distributes in cosmic filaments, which could be mapped through Lyman-alpha (Ly$\alpha$) emission observations. We use the…
We develop a method of analyzing radio frequency spectral line observations to derive data on the temperature, density, velocity, and molecular abundance of the emitting gas. The method incorporates a radiative transfer code with a new…
This thesis deals with different aspects of a special kind of high redshift galaxy, namely Ly-alpha emitters. Ly-alpha emitters are galaxies found through their Ly-alpha emission, at redshifts larger than z >~ 2 where the emission line has…
In an ongoing programme to identify a sample of high z DLA galaxies we have found the long sought for case of a Ly-alpha emitter seen in the centre of a broad DLA trough. This is the predicted `textbook case' of an intervening DLA galaxy if…
HST imaging and slitless spectroscopy are used to examine where the strong Lyman alpha emission escapes from the interstellar medium in the starburst galaxy Mkn 357. An H-alpha image shows that the ionized gas is mostly in a global wind,…
We present 3D resonant radiative transfer simulations of the spatial and spectral diffusion of the Lya radiation from a central source in the host galaxies of high column density absorption systems at z ~ 3. The radiative transfer…