High redshift Lya emitters: clues on the Milky Way infancy
  With the aim of determining if Milky Way (MW) progenitors could be identified
as high redshift Lyman Alpha Emitters (LAEs) we have derived the intrinsic
properties of z ~ 5.7 MW progenitors, which are then used to compute their
observed Lyman-alpha luminosity, L_alpha, and equivalent width, EW. MW
progenitors visible as LAEs are selected according to the canonical
observational criterion, L_alpha > 10^42 erg/s and EW > 20 A. Progenitors of
MW-like galaxies have L_alpha = 10^(39-43.25) erg/s, making some of them
visible as LAEs. In any single MW merger tree realization, typically only 1
(out of ~ 50) progenitor meets the LAE selection criterion, but the probability
to have at least one LAE is very high, P = 68%. The identified LAE stars have
ages, t_* ~ 150-400 Myr at z ~ 5.7 with the exception of five small progenitors
with t_* < 5 Myr and large EW = 60-130 A. LAE MW progenitors provide > 10% of
the halo very metal-poor stars [Fe/H] < -2, thus establishing a potentially
fruitful link between high-z galaxies and the Local Universe.
