Deciphering the Lyman-$\alpha$ Emission Line: Towards the Understanding of Galactic Properties Extracted from Ly$\alpha$ Spectra via Radiative Transfer Modeling

Abstract

Existing ubiquitously in the Universe with the highest luminosity, the Lyman-$\alpha$ emission line encodes abundant physical information about the gaseous medium it interacts with. Nevertheless, the resonant nature of Ly$\alpha$ complicates the radiative transfer (RT) modeling of the line profile, making the extraction of physical properties of the surrounding gaseous medium notoriously difficult. In this paper, we revisit the problem of deciphering the Ly$\alpha$ emission line with RT modeling. We reveal intrinsic parameter degeneracies in the widely-used shell model in the optically thick regime for both static and outflowing cases, which suggest the limitations of the model. We have also explored the connection between the more physically realistic multiphase, clumpy model and the shell model. We find that the parameters of a ``very clumpy'' slab model and the shell model have the following correspondences: (1) the total column density of the clumpy slab model is equal to the HI column density of the shell model; (2) the effective temperature of the clumpy slab model, which incorporates the clump velocity dispersion, is equal to the effective temperature of the shell model; (3) the average radial clump outflow velocity is equal to the shell expansion velocity; (4) large intrinsic line widths are required in the shell model to reproduce the wings of the clumpy slab models; (5) adding another phase of hot inter-clump medium will increase peak separation, and the fitted shell expansion velocity lies between the outflow velocities of two phases of gas. Our results provide a viable solution to the major discrepancies associated with Ly$\alpha$ fitting reported in previous literature, and emphasize the importance of utilizing information from additional observations to break the intrinsic degeneracies as well as interpreting the model parameters in a more physically realistic context.