Description
We report an extensive search for Ly{alpha} emitters (LAEs) at z=6.5 in the Subaru Deep Field. Subsequent spectroscopy with Subaru and Keck identified eight more LAEs, giving a total of 17 spectroscopically confirmed LAEs at z=6.5. Based on this spectroscopic sample of 17, complemented by a photometric sample of 58 LAEs, we have derived a more accurate Ly{alpha} luminosity function of LAEs at z=6.5, which reveals an apparent deficit at the bright end of ~0.75mag fainter L*, compared with that observed at z=5.7. The difference in the LAE luminosity functions between z=5.7 and 6.5 is significant at the 3{sigma} level, which is reduced to 2{sigma} when cosmic variance is taken into account. This result may imply that the reionization of the universe has not been completed at z=6.5. We found that the spatial distribution of LAEs at z=6.5 was homogeneous over the field. We discuss the implications of these results for the reionization of the universe.
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