Neutral Gas Properties and Ly$α$ Escape in Extreme Green Pea Galaxies

Mechanisms regulating the escape of Ly$α$ photons and ionizing radiation remain poorly understood. To study these processes we analyze VLA 21cm observations of one Green Pea (GP), J160810+352809 (hereafter J1608), and HST COS spectra of 17 GP galaxies at $z<0.2$. All are highly ionized: J1608 has the highest [O III] $\lambda5007$/[O II] $\lambda3727$ for star-forming galaxies in SDSS, and the 17 GPs have [O III]/[O II] $\geq6.6$. We set an upper limit on J1608's HI mass of $\log M_{HI}/M_\odot=8.4$, near or below average compared to similar mass dwarf galaxies. In the COS sample, eight GPs show Ly$α$ absorption components, six of which also have Ly$α$ emission. The HI column densities derived from Ly$α$ absorption are high, $\log N_{HI}/$cm$^{-2}=19-21$, well above the LyC optically thick limit. Using low-ionization absorption lines, we measure covering fractions ($f_{\mbox{cov}}$) of $0.1-1$, and find that $f_{\mbox{cov}}$ strongly anti-correlates with Ly$α$ escape fraction. Low covering fractions may facilitate Ly$α$ and LyC escape through dense neutral regions. GPs with $f_{\mbox{cov}}\sim1$ all have low neutral gas velocities, while GPs with lower $f_{\mbox{cov}}=0.2-0.6$ have a larger range of velocities. Conventional mechanical feedback may help establish low $f_{\mbox{cov}}$ in some cases, whereas other processes may be important for GPs with low velocities. Finally, we compare $f_{\mbox{cov}}$ with proposed indicators of LyC escape. Ionizing photon escape likely depends on a combination of neutral gas geometry and kinematics, complicating the use of emission-line diagnostics for identifying LyC emitters.