Searching for C ii Emission from the First Sample of z ∼ 6 O i Absorption-associated Galaxies with the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array

Abstract

We report the first statistical analyses of [C ii] and dust continuum observations in six strong O i absorber fields at the end of the reionization epoch obtained by the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA). Combined with one [C ii] emitter reported in Wu et al., we detect one O i-associated [C ii] emitter in six fields. At redshifts of O i absorbers in nondetection fields, no emitters are brighter than our detection limit within impact parameters of 50 kpc and velocity offsets between ±200 km s−1. The averaged [C ii]-detection upper limit is <0.06 Jy km s−1(3σ), corresponding to the [C ii] luminosity of L [C II]< 5.8 × 107 L ⊙ and the [C ii]-based star formation rate of SFR[C II]<5.5 M ⊙ yr−1. Cosmological simulations suggest that only ∼10−2.5 [C ii] emitters around O i absorbers have comparable SFR to our detection limit. Although the detection in one out of six fields is reported, an order of magnitude number excess of emitters obtained from our ALMA observations supports that the contribution of massive galaxies that caused the metal enrichment cannot be ignored. Further, we also found 14 tentative galaxy candidates with a signal-to-noise ratio of ≈4.3 at large impact parameters (>50 kpc) and having larger outflow velocities within ±600 km s−1. If these detections are confirmed in the future, then the mechanism of pushing metals at larger distances with higher velocities needs to be further explored from the theoretical side. © 2023. The Author(s). Published by the American Astronomical Society.