Association of cold gas, massive galaxies, and AGNs in a filamentary protocluster traced by triple narrow-band imaging

Abstract

We investigate galaxy populations in the HS1700+64 protocluster at $z=2.30$, characterized by two prominent linear filaments traced by spatially extended Ly$\alpha$ blobs. We conducted a wide area mapping of emission line galaxies across the protocluster using the unique combination of three matched narrow-band filters, corresponding to Ly$\alpha$, H$\alpha$, and [OIII] emission lines at $z=2.30$. We find that H$\alpha$ emitters are strongly clustered at the intersection of the filaments, suggesting a protocluster core. In contrast, Ly$\alpha$ emitters tend to avoid the dense region and the filaments, likely due to the resonant scattering of Ly$\alpha$ photons by HII gas and/or enhanced dust attenuation in galaxies associated with these structures. These findings support a scenario in which cold gas flows via filaments and to the core, fed by the cold-stream mode accretion in the early phase of protocluster assembly, and promoting active star formation there. Further evidence of the scenario comes from the alignment of massive, evolved galaxies in those filaments traced by distant red galaxies, suggesting accelerated galaxy growth in the filaments in the early Universe. This study clearly shows observationally that accelerated galaxy formation takes place not only in the protocluster core but also in the associated surrounding filamentary structure. This underscores the critical role of large-scale filaments in efficiently accumulating the cold gas and channeling it to galaxies therein and to the protocluster core. Such vigorous gas assembly facilitates star formation activity and drives galaxy growth in the early stage of cluster formation.