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arXiv 0807.4782astro-ph
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高红移星系电离光子的逃逸分数

The escape fraction of ionizing photons from high redshift galaxies

Jhan Srbinovsky, Stuart Wyithe

摘要:

在研究星系再电离时代和早期星系形成的过程中,逃逸出宿主星系并能将氢从星系间介质(IGM)中释放出来的电离光子所占的比例是一个关键参数。本文将高红移类星体的Lyman α吸收观测与高红移星系的紫外光度函数测量相结合,对z ~ 5.5-6的星系电离光子逃逸分数(fesc)进行了约束。观察到的莱曼-α透射将逃逸分数限制在f_esc ~ 10- 25%的范围内(在z ~ 5.5-6处)。排除M< 10^10 M_sun的晕(如果IGM的再电离抑制了星系形成,这是可以预期的)意味着更大的逃逸分数f_esc ~ 20- 45%。利用数值结果校准逃逸分数和最小星系晕质量之间的解析关系,我们还将我们的结果外推到对应于氢冷却阈值的质量(M~10^8 M_sun)。在这种情况下,我们发现f_esc ~ 5- 10%,与观测估计在较低的红移。我们发现高红移星系的逃逸分数必须大于5%,与星系质量无关。基于这些结果,我们使用半解析的描述来模拟IGM的再电离历史,假设电离源与逃逸分数建议我们的数值模拟。我们发现,在z ~ 5.5-6观测到的IBG意味着有足够数量的电离光子在z ~ 6时使宇宙再电离。然而,如果恒星形成的最小质量大于10^9 M_sun,则在红移小于z ~ 5时IBG将过度产生。总之,我们的研究结果支持IGM被低质量星系再电离的假设。

英文摘要:

The fraction of ionizing photons which escape their host galaxy and so are able to ionize hydrogen in the inter-galactic medium (IGM) is a critical parameter in studies of the reionization era and early galaxy formation. In this paper we combine observations of Lyman-alpha absorption towards high redshift quasars with the measured UV luminosity function of high redshift galaxies to constrain the escape fraction (f_esc) of ionizing photons from galaxies at z ~ 5.5-6. The observed Lyman-alpha transmission constrains the escape fraction to lie in the range f_esc ~ 10-25 % (at z ~ 5.5-6). Excluding halos with M< 10^10 M_sun (as might be expected if galaxy formation is suppressed due to the reionization of the IGM) implies a larger escape fraction of f_esc ~ 20-45 %. Using the numerical results to calibrate an analytic relation between the escape fraction and minimum galaxy halo mass we also extrapolate our results to a mass (M~10^8 M_sun) corresponding to the hydrogen cooling threshold. In this case we find f_esc ~ 5-10 %, consistent with observed estimates at lower redshift. We find that the escape fraction of high redshift galaxies must be greater than 5 % irrespepctive of galaxy mass. Based on these results we use a semi-analytic description to model the reionization history of the IGM, assuming ionizing sources with escape fractions suggested by our numerical simulations. We find that the IBG observed at z ~ 5.5-6 implies a sufficient number of ionizing photons to have reionized the Universe by z ~ 6. However, if the minimum mass for star-formation were greater than 10^9 M_sun, the IBG would be over-produced at redshifts less than z ~ 5. In summary, our results support a scenario in which the IGM was reionized by low mass galaxies.

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