We investigate the stellar populations of Lyman alpha emitters (LAEs) at z=5.7 and 6.6 in a 0.65 deg^2 sky of the Subaru/XMM-Newton Deep Survey (SXDS) Field, using deep images taken with Subaru/Suprime-Cam, UKIRT/WFCAM, and Spitzer/IRAC. We produce stacked multiband images at each redshift from 165 (z=5.7) and 91 (z=6.6) IRAC-undetected objects, to derive typical spectral energy distributions (SEDs) of z~6-7 LAEs for the first time. The stacked LAEs have as blue UV continua as the HST/WFC3 z-dropout galaxies of similar Muv, with a spectral slope beta ~ -3, but at the same time they have red UV-to-optical colors with detection in the 3.6um band. Using SED fitting we find that the stacked LAEs have low stellar masses of ~(3-10)*10^7 Msun, very young ages of ~1-3 Myr, negligible dust extinction, and strong nebular emission from the ionized interstellar medium, although the z=6.6 object is fitted similarly well with high-mass models without nebular emission; inclusion of nebular emission reproduces the red UV-to-optical color while keeping the UV color sufficiently blue. We infer that typical LAEs at z~6-7 are building blocks of galaxies seen at lower redshifts. We find a tentative decrease in the Lyman alpha escape fraction from z=5.7 to 6.6, which may imply an increase in the intergalactic medium neutral fraction. From the minimum contribution of nebular emission required to fit the observed SEDs, we place an upper limit on the escape fraction of ionizing photons to be f_esc^ion~0.6 at z=5.7 and ~0.9 at z=6.6. We also compare the stellar populations of our LAEs with that of stacked HST/WFC3 z-dropout galaxies.
We present observations of a peculiar Lyman alpha-emitting galaxy at redshift 3.344, discovered in a deep, blind spectroscopic survey for faint Lyman alpha emitters with the Magellan II telescope in the Hubble Ultra Deep Field (HUDF). The galaxy exhibits complex Lyman alpha emission, including an extended, asymmetric component that is partially suppressed by damped Lyman alpha absorption, and two spatially elongated, narrow emission features. Archival HST ACS imaging shows evidence for tidal disruption of the stellar component. This V=27 galaxy appears to give us unprecedented insights into tw…
We study the properties of self-shielding intergalactic absorption systems and their implications for the ionizing background. We find that cosmological simulations post-processed with detailed radiative transfer calculations generally are able to reproduce the observed abundance of Lyman-limit systems, and we highlight possible discrepancies between the observations and simulations. This comparison tests cosmological simulations at overdensities of ~100. Furthermore, we show that the properties of Lyman-limit systems in these simulations, in simple semi-analytic arguments, and as suggested by…
The amplitude of the metagalactic ultraviolet background (UVB) at large-scales is impacted by two factors. First, it naturally attenuates at scales larger than mean-free-path of UVB photons due to the absorption by neutral intergalactic medium. Second, there are discrete and rare ionizing sources distributing in the Universe, emitting the UVB photons, and thus enhancing the local UVB amplitude. Therefore, for cosmological probe that is sensitive to the UVB amplitude and capable of detecting the large scale like Lyman-$α$ forest spectrum, the fluctuation due to the clustering of ionizing source…
The amplitude of the ionizing background that pervades the intergalactic medium (IGM) at the end of the epoch of reionization provides a valuable constraint on the emissivity of the sources which reionized the Universe. While measurements of the ionizing background at lower redshifts rely on a simulation-calibrated mapping between the photoionization rate and the mean transmission of the Ly$α$ forest, at $z\gtrsim6$ the IGM becomes increasingly opaque, and transmission arises solely in narrow spikes separated by saturated Gunn-Peterson troughs. In this regime, the traditional approach of measu…
The escape of ionizing radiation from galaxies plays a critical role in the evolution of gas in galaxies, and the heating and ionization history of the intergalactic medium. We present semi-analytic calculations of the escape fraction of ionizing radiation for both hydrogen and helium from galaxies ranging from primordial systems to disk-type galaxies that are not heavily dust-obscured. We consider variations in the galaxy density profile, source type, location, and spectrum, and gas overdensity/distribution factors. For sufficiently hard first-light sources, the helium ionization fronts close…
The Lyman-alpha (Lya) recombination line is a fundamental tool for galaxy evolution studies and modern observational cosmology. However, subsequent interpretations are still prone to a number of uncertainties. Besides numerical efforts, empirical data are urgently needed for a better understanding of Lya escape process. We empirically estimate the Lyman-alpha escape fraction fesc(Lya) in a statistically significant sample of z ~ 0 - 0.3 galaxies in order to calibrate high-redshift Lyman-alpha observations. An optical spectroscopic follow-up of a sub-sample of 24 Lyman-alpha emitters (LAEs) det…
We discuss the evolution of the ratio in number of recombinations due to 2s two photon escape and due to the escape of Lyman-$α$ photons from the resonance during the epoch of cosmological recombination, within the width of the last scattering surface and near its boundaries. We discuss how this ratio evolves in time, and how it defines the profile of the Lyman-$α$ line in the spectrum of CMB. One of the key reasons for explaining its time dependence is the strong overpopulation of the 2p level relative to the 2s level at redshifts $z \la 750$.
We build a physical model for high-redshift Lyman Alpha emitters (LAEs) by coupling state of the art cosmological simulations (GADGET-2) with a dust model and a radiative transfer code (pCRASH). We post-process the cosmological simulation with pCRASH using five different values of the escape fraction of hydrogen ionizing photons (f_esc=0.05,0.25,0.5,0.75,0.95) until reionization is complete, i.e. the average neutral hydrogen fraction drops to <X_HI>~10^-4. Then, the only free-parameter left to match model results to the observed Lya and UV luminosity functions of LAEs at z~6.6 is the relative …
Recent data indicates that the cosmic UV emissivity decreased with decreasing redshift z near the end of reionization. Lacking evidence for very massive early stars, this could signal a decline with time in the mass-averaged escape fraction of ionizing radiation from galaxies <fesc> at z > 6. We calculate the evolution of ionization fronts in dark matter halos which host gas in hydrostatic equilibrium at its cooling temperature floor (T~10^4 K for atomic hydrogen). We find a high escape fraction only for the lowest mass halos (with M< 10^8.7 Msun at (1+z)=10) provided their star formation effi…
We use very large cosmological Smoothed-Particle-Hydrodynamics simulations to study the properties of high redshift Lyman-alpha emitters (LAEs). We identify star-forming galaxies at z=3.1 in a cosmological volume of 100 h^-1Mpc on a side. We develop a phenomenological model of absorption, scattering and escape of Lyman-alpha photons on the assumption that the clumpiness of the inter-stellar medium in a galaxy is correlated with the larger scale substructure richness. The radiative transfer effect proposed by Neufeld (1991) allows a large fraction of Lyman-alpha photons to escape from a clumpy …
The escape fraction, fesc, of ionizing photons from early galaxies is a crucial parameter for determining whether the observed galaxies at z > 6 are able to reionize the high-redshift intergalactic medium. Previous attempts to measure fesc have found a wide range of values, varying from less than 0.01 to nearly 1. Rather than finding a single value of fesc, we clarify through modeling how internal properties of galaxies affect fesc through the density and distribution of neutral hydrogen within the galaxy, along with the rate of ionizing photons production. We find that the escape fraction dep…
It is essential to know galactic emissivity and spectrum of Lyman continuum (LyC) in order to understand the cosmic reionization. Here we consider an escape of nebular LyC from galaxies and examine the consequent spectral energy distribution. It is usually assumed that hydrogen nebular LyC mostly produced by bound-free transitions is consumed within photo-ionized nebulae (so-called "on-the-spot" approximation). However, an escape of the continuum should be taken into account if stellar LyC escapes from galaxies through "matter-bounded" nebulae. We show that the escaping hydrogen bound-free LyC…
Approximately 30% of all massive stars in the Galaxy are runaways with velocities exceeding 30 km/s. Their high speeds allow them to travel ~0.1-1 kpc away from their birth place before they explode at the end of their several Myr lifetimes. At high redshift, when galaxies were much smaller than in the local universe, runaways could venture far from the dense inner regions of their host galaxies. From these large radii, and therefore low column densities, much of their ionizing radiation is able to escape into the intergalactic medium. Runaways may therefore significantly enhance the overall e…
We study the effect of H I ionizing photons escaping from high-redshift (high-z) galaxies have on the He II ionizing ultraviolet background (UVB) radiation. While these photons do not directly interact with He II ions, we show that they play an important role, through radiative transport, in modifying the shape of He II ionizing part of UVB spectrum. Within the observed range of UV escape from galaxies, we show that the rapid increase in He II Lyman alpha effective optical depth at z~2.7 can naturally be explained by radiative transport effects. Therefore, the relationship between a well measu…
Extremely large opaque troughs in the Lyman-alpha forest have been interpreted as a sign of an extended reionization process below z~6. Such features are impossible to reproduce with simple models of the intergalactic ionizing background that assume a uniform mean free path of ionizing photons. We build a self-consistent model of the ionizing background that includes fluctuations in the mean free path due to the varying strength of the ionizing background and large-scale density field. The dominant effect is the suppression of the ionizing background in large-scale voids due to "self-shielding…
The escape fraction, f_{esc}, of ionizing photons from high-redshift galaxies is a key parameter to understand cosmic reionization and star formation history. Yet, in spite of many efforts, it remains largely uncertain. We propose a novel, semi-empirical approach based on a simultaneous match of the most recently determined Luminosity Functions (LF) of galaxies in the redshift range 6 \leq z \leq 10 with reionization models constrained by a large variety of experimental data. From this procedure we obtain the evolution of the best-fit values of f_{esc} along with their 2-sigma limits. We find …
The fraction of ionizing photons that escape from young star-forming galaxies is one of the largest uncertainties in determining the role of galaxies in cosmic reionization. Yet traditional techniques for measuring this fraction are inapplicable at the redshifts of interest due to foreground screening by the Lyman alpha forest. In an earlier study, we demonstrated a reduction in the equivalent width of low-ionization absorption lines in composite spectra of Lyman break galaxies at z=4 compared to similar measures at z=3. This might imply a lower covering fraction of neutral gas and hence an in…
The timing and duration of the reionization epoch is crucial to the emergence and evolution of structure in the universe. The relative roles that star-forming galaxies, active galactic nuclei and quasars play in contributing to the metagalactic ionizing background across cosmic time remains uncertain. Deep quasar counts provide insights into their role, but the potentially crucial contribution from star-formation is highly uncertain due to our poor understanding of the processes that allow ionizing radiation to escape into the intergalactic medium (IGM). The fraction of ionizing photons that e…
The usefulness of H I Lyman-alpha photons for characterizing star formation in the distant universe is limited by our understanding of the astrophysical processes that regulate their escape from galaxies. These processes can only be observed in detail out to a few x100 Mpc. Past nearby (z<0.3) spectroscopic studies are based on small samples and/or kinematically unresolved data. Taking advantage of the high sensitivity of HST's COS, we observed the Lyman-alpha lines of 20 H-alpha-selected galaxies located at <z>=0.03. The galaxies cover a broad range of luminosity, oxygen abundance, and redden…
Previous studies of the 2.2 < z< 2.7 HeII Lyman-alpha forest measured much larger ionizing background fluctuations than are anticipated theoretically. We re-analyze recent Hubble Space Telescope data from the two HeII sightlines that have been used to make these measurements, HE2347-4342 and HS1700+6416, and find that the vast majority of the absorption is actually consistent with a single HeII photoionization rate. We show that the data constrains the RMS fractional fluctuation level smoothed at 1 Mpc to be < 2 and discuss why other studies had found larger fluctuations. Our measurement is co…
We present results from the LymAn Continuum Escape Survey (LACES), a Hubble Space Telescope (HST) program designed to characterize the ionizing radiation emerging from a sample of Lyman alpha emitting galaxies at redshift $z\simeq 3.1$. As many show intense [O III] emission characteristic of $z>6.5$ star-forming galaxies, they may represent valuable low redshift analogs of galaxies in the reionization era. Using HST Wide Field Camera 3 / UVIS $F336W$ to image Lyman continuum emission, we investigate the escape fraction of ionizing photons in this sample. For 61 sources, of which 77% are spectr…
While low mass, star forming galaxies are often considered as the primary driver of reionization, their actual contribution to the cosmic ultraviolet background is still uncertain, mostly because the escape fraction of ionizing photons is only poorly constrained. Theoretical studies have shown that efficient supernova feedback is a necessary condition to create paths through which ionizing radiation can escape into the intergalactic medium. We investigate the possibility that accreting supermassive black holes in early dwarf galaxies may provide additional feedback and enhance the leakage of i…
Recent suggestions of a "photon underproduction crisis" (Kollmeier \etal\ 2014) have generated concern over the intensity and spectrum of ionizing photons in the metagalactic ultraviolet background (UVB). The balance of hydrogen photoionization and recombination determines the opacity of the low-redshift intergalactic medium (IGM). We calibrate the hydrogen photoionization rate ($Γ_{\rm H}$) by comparing {\it Hubble Space Telescope} spectroscopic surveys of the low-redshift column density distribution of \HI\ absorbers and the observed ($z < 0.4$) mean \Lya\ flux decrement, $D_A = (0.014)(1+z)…
Using CLARA (Code for Lyman Alpha Radiation Analysis) we constrain the escape fraction of Lyman-Alpha radiation in galaxies in the redshift range 5<z<7, based on the MareNostrum High-z Universe, a SPH cosmological simulation with more than 2 billion particles. We approximate Lyman-Alpha Emitters (LAEs) as dusty gaseous slabs with Lyman-Alpha radiation sources homogeneously mixed in the gas. Escape fractions for such a configuration and for different gas and dust contents are calculated using our newly developed radiative transfer code CLARA. The results are applied to the MareNostrum High-z Un…
Identifying the mechanisms driving the escape of Lyman Continuum (LyC) photons is crucial to find Lyman Continuum Emitter (LCE) candidates. To understand the physical properties involved in the leakage of LyC photons, we investigate the connection between the HI covering fraction, HI velocity width, the Lyman alpha (LyA) properties and escape of LyC photons in a sample of 22 star-forming galaxies including 13 LCEs. We fit the stellar continua, dust attenuation, and absorption lines between 920 and 1300 A to extract the HI covering fractions and dust attenuation. Additionally, we measure the HI…
We present the results of rest-frame, UV slitless spectroscopic observations of a sample of 32 z~0.7 Lyman break galaxy (LBG) analogs in the COSMOS field. The spectroscopic search was performed with the Solar Blind Channel (SBC) on Hubble Space Telescope. We report the detection of leaking Lyman continuum (LyC) radiation from an AGN-starburst composite. While we find no direct detections of LyC emission in the remainder of our sample, we achieve individual lower limits (3 sigma) of the observed non-ionizing UV to LyC flux density ratios, f_{nu}(1500A)/f_{nu}(830A) of 20 to 204 (median of 73.5)…
We present results from a survey for z~2.85 Lyman-Continuum (LyC) emission in the HS1549+1933 field and place constraints on the amount of ionizing radiation escaping from star-forming galaxies. Using a custom narrowband filter (NB3420) tuned to wavelengths just below the Lyman limit at z>=2.82, we probe the LyC spectral region of 49 Lyman break galaxies (LBGs) and 91 Lya-emitters (LAEs) spectroscopically confirmed at z>=2.82. Four LBGs and seven LAEs are detected in NB3420. Using V-band data probing the rest-frame non-ionizing UV, we observe that many NB3420-detected galaxies exhibit spatial …
The fraction of ionizing photons that escape their host galaxies and so are able to ionize hydrogen in the inter-galactic medium (IGM) is a critical parameter in analyses of the reionization era and early galaxy formation. Studies of the reionization history normally suffer from a degeneracy between the unknown values for the efficiency with which high redshift galaxies turn mass into stars and the escape fraction of ionizing photons. Recent gamma-ray burst (GRB) measurements of the star formation rate density during reionization provide the first opportunity to break this degeneracy. We confr…
We describe a new method for simulating ionizing radiation and supernova feedback in the analogues of low-redshift galactic disks. In this method, which we call star-forming molecular cloud (SFMC) particles, we use a ray-tracing technique to solve the radiative transfer equation for ultraviolet photons emitted by thousands of distinct particles on the fly. Joined with high numerical resolution of 3.8 pc, the realistic description of stellar feedback helps to self-regulate star formation. This new feedback scheme also enables us to study the escape of ionizing photons from star-forming clumps a…
Observations of the Lyman-alpha forest and of high-redshift galaxies at z~5-10 imply that there were just enough photons to maintain the universe in an ionized state at z~5-6, indicating a "photon-starved" end to reionization. The ionizing emissivity must have been larger at earlier times in order to yield the extended reionization history implied by the electron scattering optical depth constraint from WMAP. Here we address the possibility that a faint population of galaxies with host halo masses of ~1e8-1e9 Msun dominated the ionizing photon budget at redshifts of about z>9, due to their muc…
We study the observed cosmic ionizing background as a constraint on the nature of the sources responsible for the reionization of the Universe. In earlier work, we showed that extrapolations of the Ultra-Violet Luminosity Function (LF) of Lyman Break Galaxies (LBGs) at fixed Lyman continuum photon escape fraction are not able to reproduce the redshift evolution of this background. Here, we employ extrapolations of the high-z LFs to describe the contribution of LBGs to the ionizing photon rate, taking into account the smoothing of the baryonic perturbations, due to the background itself (i.e. t…
The observed scatter in intergalactic Lyman-$α$ opacity at $z \lesssim 6$ requires large-scale fluctuations in the neutral fraction of the intergalactic medium (IGM) after the expected end of reionization. Post-reionization models that explain this scatter invoke fluctuations in either the ionizing ultraviolet background (UVB) or IGM temperature. These models make very different predictions, however, for the relationship between Lyman-$α$ opacity and local density. Here we test these models using Lyman-$α$ emitting galaxies (LAEs) to trace the density field surrounding the longest and most opa…
We have obtained deep Hubble Space Telescope far-UV images of 15 starburst galaxies at z~1.3 in the GOODS fields to search for escaping Lyman continuum photons. These are the deepest far-UV images m_{AB}=28.7, 3σ, 1" diameter) over this large an area (4.83 arcmin^2) and provide the best escape fraction constraints for any galaxy at any redshift. We do not detect any individual galaxies, with 3σlimits to the Lyman Continuum (~700 Å) flux 50--149 times fainter (in f_nu) than the rest-frame UV (1500 Å) continuum fluxes. Correcting for the mean IGM attenuation (factor ~2), as well as an intrinsic …
Proto-galaxies forming in low-mass dark matter haloes are thought to provide the majority of ionizing photons needed to reionize the Universe, due to their high escape fractions of ionizing photons. We study how the escape fraction in high-redshift galaxies relates to the physical properties of the halo in which the galaxies form, by computing escape fractions in more than 75000 haloes between redshifts 27 and 6 that were extracted from the First Billion Years project, high-resolution cosmological hydrodynamics simulations of galaxy formation. We find that the main constraint on the escape fra…
We have coadded X-ray flux of all known Lyman Alpha Emitters (LAEs) in the 4 Msec Chandra Deep Field South (CDF-S) region, to place sensitive upper limits on the average unobscured star-formation rate (SFR_X) in these galaxies. A very small fraction of Lyman-Alpha galaxies in the field are individually detected in the X-rays, implying a low fraction of AGN activity. After excluding the few X-ray detected LAEs, we stack the undetected LAEs located in the 4 Ms CDF-S data and 250 ks Extended CDF-S (ECDFS) data, and compute a 1-σupper limit on SFR_X < 14, 28, 28, 140, 440, 880 M$_{\sun}$ yr$^{-1}$…
We present a semi-analytical model of star formation which explains simultaneously the observed UV luminosity function of high redshift Lyman break galaxies (LBGs) and luminosity functions of Lyman-alpha emitters. We consider both models that use the Press-Schechter (PS) and Sheth-Tormen (ST) halo mass functions to calculate the abundances of dark matter halos. The Lyman-alpha luminosity functions at z < 4 are well reproduced with only <10% of the LBGs emitting Lyman-alpha lines with rest equivalent width greater than the limiting equivalent width of the narrow band surveys. However, the obser…
A fundamental requirement for reionizing the Universe is that a sufficient fraction of the ionizing photons emitted by galaxies successfully escapes into the intergalactic medium. However, due to the scarcity of high-redshift observational data, the sources driving reionization remain uncertain. In this work we calculate the ionizing escape fractions ($f_{\rm esc}$) of reionization-era galaxies from the state-of-the-art THESAN simulations, which combine an accurate radiation-hydrodynamic solver AREPO-RT with the well-tested IllustrisTNG galaxy formation model to self-consistently simulate both…
Low mass galaxies are thought to provide the bulk of the ionizing radiation necessary to reionize the Universe. The amount of photons escaping the galaxies is poorly constrained theoretically, and difficult to measure observationally. Yet it is an essential parameter of reionization models. We study in detail how ionizing radiation can leak from high redshift galaxies. For this purpose, we use a series of high resolution radiation hydrodynamics simulations, zooming on three dwarf galaxies in a cosmological context. We find that the energy and momentum input from the supernova explosions has a …
We explore scenarios for reionizing the intergalactic medium with low galaxy ionizing photon escape fractions. We combine simulation-based halo-mass dependent escape fractions with an extrapolation of the observed galaxy rest-ultraviolet luminosity functions to solve for the reionization history from z=20 to z=4. We explore the posterior distributions for key unknown quantities, including the limiting halo mass for star-formation, the ionizing photon production efficiency, and a potential contribution from active galactic nuclei (AGN). We marginalize over the allowable parameter space using a …
In this work we investigate the dependence of the escape fraction of ionizing photons, $f_{\rm esc}$, on various galaxy and host halo properties during the epoch of reionization. We post-process the TNG50 magneto-hydrodynamical simulation from the IllustrisTNG project using the 3D multi-frequency radiative transfer code CRASH. Our work covers the stellar mass range $10^6 \lesssim M_\star/{\rm M_\odot} \lesssim 10^8$ at redshifts $6 < z < 10$. Adopting an unresolved, cloud-scale escape fraction parameter of unity, the halo escape fraction $f_{\rm esc}$ increases with mass from $\sim 0.3$ at $M_…
The Lyman continuum (LyC) escape fraction is a key quantity to determine the contribution of galaxies to cosmic reionization. It has been known that the escape fractions estimated by observations and numerical simulations show a large diversity. However, the origins of the diversity are still uncertain. In this work, to understand what quantities of galaxies are responsible for controlling the escape fraction, we numerically evaluate the escape fraction by performing ray-tracing calculation with simplified disc galaxy models. With a smooth disc model, we explore the dependence of the escape fr…
We present the escape fraction of hydrogen ionizing photons (f_esc) from a sample of 34 high-resolution cosmological zoom-in simulations of galaxies at z>5 in the Feedback in Realistic Environments project, post-processed with a Monte Carlo radiative transfer code for ionizing radiation. Our sample consists of 8500 halos in M_vir~10^8--10^{12} M_sun (M_star~10^4--10^{10} M_sun) at z=5--12. We find the sample average <f_esc> increases with halo mass for M_vir~10^8--10^{9.5} M_sun, becomes nearly constant for M_vir~10^{9.5}--10^{11} M_sun, and decreases at M_vir>10^{11} M_sun. Equivalently, <f_e…
The Mg II 2796, 2803 doublet has been suggested to be a useful indirect indicator for the escape of Ly-alpha and Lyman continuum (LyC) photons in local star-forming galaxies. However, studies to date have focused on small samples of galaxies with strong Mg II or strong LyC emission. Here we present the first study of Mg II probing a large dynamic range of galaxy properties, using newly obtained high signal-to-noise, moderate-resolution spectra of Mg II for a sample of 34 galaxies selected from the Low-redshift Lyman Continuum Survey. We show that the galaxies in our sample have Mg II profiles …
In order to assess the contribution of Lyman break galaxies (LBGs) and Lyman alpha emitters (LAEs) at redshifts 3<z<7 to the ionization of intergalactic medium (IGM), we investigate the escape fractions of ionizing photons from supernova-dominated primordial galaxies by solving the three-dimensional radiative transfer. The model galaxy is employed from an ultra-high-resolution chemodynamic simulation of a primordial galaxy by Mori & Umemura (2006),which well reproduces the observed properties of LAEs and LBGs. The total mass of model galaxy is 10^{11}M_sun. We solve not only photo-ionization b…
Combing the three-dimensional radiative transfer (RT) calculation and cosmological SPH simulations, we study the escape fraction of ionizing photons (f_esc) of high-redshift galaxies at z=3-6. Our simulations cover the halo mass range of M_h = 10^9 - 10^12 M_sun. We postprocess several hundred simulated galaxies with the Authentic Radiative Transfer (ART) code to study the halo mass dependence of f_esc. In this paper, we restrict ourselves to the transfer of stellar radiation from local stellar population in each dark matter halo. We find that the average f_esc steeply decreases as the halo ma…
The dark ages of the Universe end with the formation of the first generation of stars residing in primeval galaxies. These objects were the first to produce ultraviolet ionizing photons in a period when the cosmic gas changed from a neutral state to an ionized one, known as Epoch of Reionization (EoR). A pivotal aspect to comprehend the EoR is to probe the intertwined relationship between the fraction of ionizing photons capable to escape dark haloes, also known as the escape fraction ($f_{esc}$), and the physical properties of the galaxy. This work develops a sound statistical model suitable …
Population III stars can regulate star formation in the primordial Universe in several ways. They can ionize nearby halos, and even if their ionizing photons are trapped by their own halos, their Lyman-Werner (LW) photons can still escape and destroy H$_2$ in other halos, preventing them from cooling and forming stars. LW escape fractions are thus a key parameter in cosmological simulations of early reionization and star formation but have not yet been parametrized for realistic halos by halo or stellar mass. To do so, we perform radiation hydrodynamical simulations of LW UV escape from 9--120…
We present results of a deep spectroscopic survey designed to quantify the statistics of the escape of ionizing photons from star-forming galaxies at z~3. We measure the ratio of ionizing to non-ionizing UV flux density <f900/f1500>_obs, where f900 is the mean flux density evaluated over the range [880,910] A. We quantify the emergent ratio of ionizing to non-ionizing UV flux density by analyzing high-S/N composite spectra formed from sub-samples with common observed properties and numbers sufficient to reduce the statistical uncertainty in the modeled IGM+CGM correction to obtain precise valu…
The rapid decline in the number of strong Lyman Alpha (Lya) emitting galaxies at z > 6 provides evidence for neutral hydrogen in the IGM, but is difficult to explain with plausible models for reionization. We demonstrate that the observed reduction in Lya flux from galaxies at z > 6 can be explained by evolution in the escape fraction of ionizing photons, f_esc. We find that the median observed drop in the fraction of galaxies showing strong Lya emission, as well as the observed evolution of the Lya luminosity function both follow from a small increase in f_esc of Delta f_esc ~ 0.1 from f_esc …
The Mg II 2796,2803 doublet is often used to measure interstellar medium absorption in galaxies, thereby serving as a diagnostic for feedback and outflows. However, the interpretation of Mg II remains confusing, due to resonant trapping and re-emission of the photons, analogous to Lyman Alpha. Therefore, in this paper, we present new MMT Blue Channel Spectrograph observations of Mg II for a sample of 10 Green Pea galaxies at z~0.2-0.3, where Lyman Alpha was previously observed with the Cosmic Origins Spectrograph on Hubble Space Telescope. With strong, (mostly) double-peaked Lyman Alpha profil…
Fluctuations in Lyman-$α$ (Ly$α$) forest transmission towards high-$z$ quasars are partially sourced from spatial fluctuations in the ultraviolet background (UVB), the level of which are set by the mean free path of ionizing photons ($λ_{\text{mfp}}$). The auto-correlation function of Ly$α$ forest flux characterizes the strength and scale of transmission fluctuations and, as we show, is thus sensitive to $λ_{\text{mfp}}$. Recent measurements at $z \sim 6$ suggest a rapid evolution of $λ_{\text{mfp}}$ at $z>5.0$ which would leave a signature in the evolution of the auto-correlation function. Fo…
Motivated by the claimed detection of a large population of faint active galactic nuclei (AGN) at high redshift, recent studies have proposed models in which AGN contribute significantly to the z > 4 H I ionizing background. In some models, AGN are even the chief sources of reionization. If correct, these models would make necessary a complete revision to the standard view that galaxies dominated the high-redshift ionizing background. It has been suggested that AGN-dominated models can better account for two recent observations that appear to be in conflict with the standard view: (1) large op…
We present a series of high-resolution (20-2000 Msun, 0.1-4 pc) cosmological zoom-in simulations at z~6 from the Feedback In Realistic Environment (FIRE) project. These simulations cover halo masses 10^9-10^11 Msun and rest-frame ultraviolet magnitude Muv = -9 to -19. These simulations include explicit models of the multi-phase ISM, star formation, and stellar feedback, which produce reasonable galaxy properties at z = 0-6. We post-process the snapshots with a radiative transfer code to evaluate the escape fraction (fesc) of hydrogen ionizing photons. We find that the instantaneous fesc has la…
The high redshift Lyman-alpha forest, in particular the Gunn-Peterson trough, is the most unambiguous signature of the neutral to ionized transition of the intergalactic medium (IGM) taking place during the Epoch of Reionization (EoR). Recent studies, e.g. Kulkarni et al. (2019a) and Keating et al. (2019), showed that reproducing the observed Lyman-alpha opacities after overlap required a non-monotonous evolution of cosmic emissivity: rising, peaking at z=6, and then decreasing onwards to z=4. Such an evolution is puzzling considering galaxy build-up and the cosmic star formation rate are stil…
The Lyman alpha emission line is an essential diagnostic tool for probing galaxy formation and evolution. Not only is it commonly the strongest observable line from high-redshift galaxies but from its shape detailed information about its host galaxy can be revealed. However, due to the scattering nature of Lya photons increasing their path length in a non-trivial way, if dust is present in the galaxy the line may be severely suppressed and its shape altered. In order to interpret observations correctly, it is thus of crucial significance to know how much of the emitted light actually escapes t…
One of the most important parameters in characterizing the Epoch of Reionization, the escape fraction of ionizing photons, $f_\mathrm{esc}$, remains unconstrained both observationally and theoretically. With recent work highlighting the impact of galaxy-scale feedback on the instantaneous value of $f_\mathrm{esc}$, it is important to develop a model in which reionization is self-consistently coupled to galaxy evolution. In this work, we present such a model and explore how physically motivated functional forms of $f_\mathrm{esc}$ affect the evolution of ionized hydrogen within the intergalacti…
We derive empirical constraints on the volume averaged `effective' escape fraction of Lyman Alpha (Lya) photons from star forming galaxies as a function of redshift, by comparing star formation functions inferred directly from observations, to observed Lya luminosity functions. Our analysis shows that the effective escape fraction increases from f_esc^eff ~ 1-5 % at z=0, to f_esc^eff ~ 10 % at z=3-4, and to f_esc^eff=30-50 % at z=6. Our constraint at z=6 lies above predictions by models that do not include winds, and therefore hints at the importance of winds in the Lya transfer process (even)…
While galaxies at $6 \lesssim z \lesssim 10$ are believed to dominate the epoch of cosmic reionization, the escape fraction of ionizing flux $f_\mathrm{esc}$ and the photon production rate $\dot n_γ$ from these galaxies must vary with redshift to simultaneously match CMB and low-redshift observations. We constrain $f_\mathrm{esc}(z)$ and $\dot n_γ(z)$ with Planck 2015 measurements of the Thomson optical depth $τ$, recent low multipole E-mode polarization measurements from Planck 2016, SDSS BAO data, and $3 \lesssim z \lesssim 10$ galaxy observations. We compare different galaxy luminosity func…
