MUSEQuBES: Connecting H i Absorption with Lyα emitters at z ≈ 3.3

We present a comprehensive analysis of H i absorption around 96 Lyα emitters (LAEs) at z ≈ 3.3 (median Lyα luminosity ≈1042 erg s−1). These LAEs were identified within eight MUSE fields, each (math. formular) on the sky and centered on a bright background quasar, as part of the MUSEQuBES survey. Using Voigt profile fitting for all H i absorbers detected within ±​​​​​​500 km s−1 of these LAEs, we compiled a catalog of 800 H i absorption components. Our analysis shows that H i absorption is enhanced near the LAEs compared to the intergalactic medium. However, no trend is found between the column densities of H i absorbers and their impact parameters from the LAEs (spanning ​​​​​​≈54–260 pkpc). Additionally, all galaxies associated with Lyman-limit systems have impact parameters >50 pkpc from the quasar sightlines, suggesting that true absorber hosts may be too faint to detect. The LAEs show an overall H i covering fraction (fc(H i)) of ≈88% for a threshold (math. formular) (H i) = 15. Notably, at the same threshold, the LAEs in pairs/groups exhibit a 100% H i covering fraction out to ≈250 pkpc. In contrast, isolated LAEs consistently show a lower fc(H i) of ≈80%. This environmental influence on fc(H i) is also evident up to ≈300 km s−1 in differential bins of line-of-sight velocity. We find an anticorrelation between fc(H i) and the equivalent width of rest-frame Lyα emission (EW0). Based on the Lyα shell model, this could imply that gas-rich galaxies tend to reside in gas-rich environments or that the LAEs with higher EW0 are more efficient at ionizing their surrounding medium.