SIMBAD references

We present a catalog of 59 z~4.5 Lyα-emitting galaxies spectroscopically confirmed in a campaign of Keck DEIMOS follow-up observations to candidates selected in the Large Area Lyα (LALA) narrowband imaging survey. We targeted 97 candidates for spectroscopic follow-up; by accounting for the variety of conditions under which we performed spectroscopy, we estimate a selection reliability of ∼76%. Together with our previous sample of Keck LRIS confirmations, the 59 sources confirmed herein bring the total catalog to 73 spectroscopically confirmed z~4.5 Lyα-emitting galaxies in the ~0.7 deg² covered by the LALA imaging. As with the Keck LRIS sample, we find that a nonnegligible fraction of the confirmed Lyα lines have rest-frame equivalent widths (W^rest_λ) that exceed the maximum predicted for normal stellar populations: 17%-31% (93% confidence) of the detected galaxies show W^rest_λ>190 Å, and 12%-27% (90% confidence) show W^rest_λ>240 Å. We construct a luminosity function of z~4.5 Lyα emission lines for comparison to Lyα luminosity functions spanning 3.1<z<6.6. We find no significant evidence for Lyα luminosity function evolution from z~3 to z~6. This result supports the conclusion that the intergalactic medium remains largely reionized from the local universe out to z~6.5. It is somewhat at odds with the pronounced drop in the cosmic star formation rate density recently measured between z∼3 and z∼6 in continuum-selected Lyman-break galaxies, and therefore potentially sheds light on the relationship between the two populations.