The Lyman-$\alpha$ Forest from LBGs: First 3D Correlation Measurement with DESI and Prospects for Cosmology

Abstract

The Lyman-$\alpha$ (Ly$\alpha$) forest is a key tracer of large-scale structure at redshifts z > 2, traditionally studied using spectra of quasars. Here, we explore the viability Lyman Break Galaxies (LBGs) as alternative background sources for Ly$\alpha$ forest studies. We analyze 4,151 Ly$\alpha$ forest skewers extracted from LBG spectra obtained in the DESI pilot surveys in the COSMOS and XMM-LSS fields. We present the first measurement of the Ly$\alpha$ forest auto-correlation function derived exclusively from LBG spectra, probing comoving separations up to 48 $h^{-1}$Mpc at an effective redshift of $z_\mathrm{eff}$ = 2.70. The measured signal is consistent with that from DESI DR2 quasar Ly$\alpha$ forest spectra at a comparable redshift, validating LBGs as reliable background sources. We also measure the cross-correlation between the LBG Ly$\alpha$ forest and 13,362 galaxy positions, showing that this observable serves as a sensitive diagnostic for galaxy redshift uncertainties and systematic offsets. Finally, using synthetic LBG spectra and Fisher forecasts, we show that a future wide-area survey over 5000 deg$^2$, targeting 1000 LBGs per deg$^2$ at similar signal-to-noise than our dataset, could enable Ly$\alpha$ forest baryon acoustic oscillation (BAO) measurements with 0.4% precision on the isotropic BAO scale and 1.3% on the anisotropic (Alcock-Paczynski) scale. Combining BAO with a Ly$\alpha$ forest full-shape analysis improves the AP constraint to 0.6%. These results open a new path for precision cosmology at high redshift using dense LBG samples.