CLEAR: The Ionization and Chemical-enrichment Properties of Galaxies at 1.1 < z < 2.3

Abstract

We use deep spectroscopy from the Hubble Space Telescope Wide-Field-Camera 3 IR grisms combined with broadband photometry to study the stellar populations, gas ionization and chemical abundances in star-forming galaxies at z ∼ 1.1–2.3. The data stem from the CANDELS Ly α Emission At Reionization (CLEAR) survey. At these redshifts, the grism spectroscopy measure the [O II ] λ λ 3727, 3729, [O III ] λ λ 4959, 5008, and H β strong emission features, which constrain the ionization parameter and oxygen abundance of the nebular gas. We compare the line-flux measurements to predictions from updated photoionization models (MAPPINGS V; Kewley et al.), which include an updated treatment of nebular gas pressure, log P / k = n e T e . Compared to low-redshift samples ( z ∼ 0.2) at fixed stellar mass, log M * / M ⊙ = 9.4–9.8, the CLEAR galaxies at z = 1.35 (1.90) have lower gas-phase metallicity, Δ ( log Z ) = 0.25 (0.35) dex, and higher ionization parameters, Δ ( log q ) = 0.25 (0.35) dex, where U ≡ q / c . We provide updated analytic calibrations between the [O III ], [O II ], and H β emission-line ratios, metallicity, and ionization parameter. The CLEAR galaxies show that at fixed stellar mass, the gas ionization parameter is correlated with the galaxy specific star formation rates, where Δ log q ≃ 0.4 × Δ ( log sSFR ) , derived from changes in the strength of galaxy H β equivalent width. We interpret this as a consequence of higher gas densities, lower gas covering fractions, combined with a higher escape fraction of H-ionizing photons. We discuss both tests to confirm these assertions and implications this has for future observations of galaxies at higher redshifts.