Evolution of Lyman-α Emitters, Lyman-break Galaxies and Elliptical Galaxies

High redshift Lyman-a emitters (LAEs) and Lyman-break galaxies (LBGs) possibly provide a significant key for the embryology of galaxies. LBGs have been argued as candidate progenitors of present-day elliptical galaxies in terms of their observed properties. But, what evolutionary stages LBGs correspond to and how they are related to LAEs are still under debate. Here, we present an ultra-high-resolution hydrodynamic simulation of galaxy formal tion. We show that, at the earliests stages of less than 3 x 108 years, continual supernova explosions produce multitudinous hot bubbles and cooled HI shells in between. The HI shells radiate intense Lyman-a emission like LAEs. We found that the bubbly structures produced are quite similar to the observed features in the Lyman-alpha surface brightness distribution of the extended LAEs. After 10(9) years, the galaxy emission is dominated by stellar continuum, exhibiting an LBG-like spectrum. Also, we find that, as a result of purely dynamical evolution over 13 billion years, the properties of this galaxy match those of present-day elliptical galaxies well. It is implied that the major episode of star formation and chemical enrichment in elliptical galaxies is almost completed in the evolutionary path from LAEs to LBGs.