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Register a new userThe role of galaxies and AGN in reionizing the IGM - II: metal-tracing the faint sources of reionization at $5lesssim zlesssim6$
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Romain A. Meyer
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We present a new method to study the contribution of faint sources to the UV background using the 1D correlation of metal absorbers with the intergalactic medium (IGM) transmission in a Quasi Stellar Object (QSO) sightline. We take advantage of a sample of $25$ high signal-to-noise ratio QSO spectra to retrieve $150$ triply-ionised carbon (cfour) absorbers at $4.5lesssim zlesssim 6.2$, of which $37$ systems whose expected H{~small I} absorption lie in the Lyman-$alpha$ forest. We derive improved constraints on the cosmic density of cfour ,at $4.3< z < 6.2$ and infer from abundance-matching that cfour ,absorbers trace $M_{text{UV}}lesssim -16$ galaxies. Correlation with the Lyman-$alpha$ forest of the QSOs indicates that these objects are surrounded by a highly opaque region at $rlesssim 5 $ cMpc/h followed by an excess of transmission at $rgtrsim 10$ cMpc/h detected at $2.7sigma$. This is in contrast to equivalent measurements at lower redshifts where only the opaque trough is detected. We interpret this excess as a statistical enhancement of the local photoionisation rate due to clustered faint galaxies around the cfour ,absorbers. Using the analytical framework described in Paper I of this series, we derive a constraint on the average product of the escape fraction and the Lyman continuum photon production efficiency of the galaxy population clustered around the cfour ,absorbers, $log langle f_{text{esc}}xi_{text{ion}}rangle /[{rm erg^{-1}~Hz}] = 25.01^{+0.30}_{-0.19}$. This implies that faint galaxies beyond the reach of current facilities may have harder radiation fields and/or larger escape fractions than currently detected objects at the end of the reionisation epoch.
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We present improved results of the measurement of the correlation between galaxies and the intergalactic medium (IGM) transmission at the end of reionisation. We have gathered a sample of $13$ spectroscopically confirmed Lyman-break galaxies (LBGs) and $21$ Lyman-$alpha$ emitters (LAEs) at angular separations $20 lesssim theta lesssim 10$ ($sim 0.1-4$ pMpc at $zsim 6$) from the sightlines to $8$ background $zgtrsim 6$ quasars. We report for the first time the detection of an excess of Lyman-$alpha$ transmission spikes at $sim 10-60$ cMpc from LAEs ($3.2sigma$) and LBGs ($1.9sigma$). We interpret the data with an improved model of the galaxy-Lyman-$alpha$ transmission and two-point cross-correlations which includes the enhanced photoionisation due to clustered faint sources, enhanced gas densities around the central bright objects and spatial variations of the mean free path. The observed LAE(LBG)-Lyman-$alpha$ transmission spike two-point cross-correlation function (2PCCF) constrains the luminosity-averaged escape fraction of all galaxies contributing to reionisation to $langle f_{rm esc} rangle_{M_{rm UV}<-12} = 0.14_{-0.05}^{+0.28},(0.23_{-0.12}^{+0.46})$. We investigate if the 2PCCF measurement can determine whether bright or faint galaxies are the dominant contributors to reionisation. Our results show that a contribution from faint galaxies ($M_{rm UV} > -20 , (2sigma)$) is necessary to reproduce the observed 2PCCF and that reionisation might be driven by different sub-populations around LBGs and LAEs at $zsim 6$.
We introduce a new method for determining the influence of galaxies and active galactic nuclei (AGN) on the physical state of the intergalactic medium (IGM) at high redshift and illustrate its potential via a first application to the field of the $z=6.42$ QSO J1148+5251. By correlating the spatial positions of spectroscopically-confirmed Lyman break galaxies (LBGs) with fluctuations in the Lyman alpha forest seen in the high signal-to-noise spectrum of a background QSO, we provide a statistical measure of the typical escape fraction of Lyman continuum photons close to the end of cosmic reionisation. Here we use Keck DEIMOS spectroscopy to locate 7 colour-selected LBGs in the redshift range $5.3lesssim zlesssim 6.4$ and confirm a faint $z=5.701$ AGN. We then examine the spatial correlation between this sample and Ly$alpha$/Ly$beta$ transmission fluctuations in a Keck ESI spectrum of the QSO. Interpreting the statistical HI proximity effect as arising from faint galaxies clustered around the detected LBGs, we translate the observed mean Ly$alpha$ transmitted flux around an average detected LBG into a constraint on the mean escape fraction $langle f_{rm esc}ranglegeq0.08$ at $zsimeq6$. We also report evidence of the individual transverse HI proximity effect of a $z=6.177$ luminous LBG via a Ly$beta$ transmission spike and two broad Ly$alpha$ transmission spikes around the $z=5.701$ AGN. We discuss the possible origin of such associations which suggest that while faint galaxies are primarily driving reionisation, luminous galaxies and AGN may provide important contributions to the UV background or thermal fluctuations of the IGM at $zsimeq6$. Although a limited sample, our results demonstrate the potential of making progress using this method in resolving one of the most challenging aspects of the contribution of galaxies and AGN to cosmic reionisation.
Reionizing the Universe with galaxies appears to require significant star formation in low-mass halos at early times, while local dwarf galaxy counts tell us that star formation has been minimal in small halos around us today. Using simple models and the ELVIS simulation suite, we show that reionization scenarios requiring appreciable star formation in halos with $M_{rm vir} approx 10^{8},M_{odot}$ at $z=8$ are in serious tension with galaxy counts in the Local Group. This tension originates from the seemingly inescapable conclusion that 30 - 60 halos with $M_{rm vir} > 10^{8},M_{odot}$ at $z=8$ will survive to be distinct bound satellites of the Milky Way at $z = 0$. Reionization models requiring star formation in such halos will produce dozens of bound galaxies in the Milky Ways virial volume today (and 100 - 200 throughout the Local Group), each with $gtrsim 10^{5},M_{odot}$ of old stars ($gtrsim 13$ Gyr). This exceeds the stellar mass function of classical Milky Way satellites today, even without allowing for the (significant) post-reionization star formation observed in these galaxies. One possible implication of these findings is that star formation became sharply inefficient in halos smaller than $sim 10^9 ,M_{odot}$ at early times, implying that the high-$z$ luminosity function must break at magnitudes brighter than is often assumed (at ${rm M_{UV}} approx -14$). Our results suggest that JWST (and possibly even HST with the Frontier Fields) may realistically detect the faintest galaxies that drive reionization. It remains to be seen how these results can be reconciled with the most sophisticated simulations of early galaxy formation at present, which predict substantial star formation in $M_{rm vir} sim 10^8 , M_{odot}$ halos during the epoch of reionization.
The reionization of the Universe ends the dark ages that started after the recombination era. In the case of H, reionization finishes around $zsim 6$. Faint star-forming galaxies are the best candidate sources of the H-ionizing radiation, although active galactic nuclei may have also contributed. We have explored whether the termination regions of the jets from active galactic nuclei may have contributed significantly to the ionization of H in the late reionization epoch, around $zsim 6-7$. We assumed that, as it has been proposed, active galactic nuclei at $zsim 6$ may have presented a high jet fraction, accretion rate, and duty cycle, and that non-thermal electrons contribute significantly to the pressure of jet termination regions. Empirical black-hole mass functions were adopted to characterize the population of active galactic nuclei. From all this, estimates were derived for the isotropic H-ionizing radiation produced in the jet termination regions, at $zsim 6$, through inverse Compton scattering off CMB photons. We find that the termination regions of the jets of active galactic nuclei may have radiated most of their energy in the form of H-ionizing radiation at $zsim 6$. For typical black-hole mass functions at that redshift, under the considered conditions (long-lasting, common, and very active galactic nuclei with jets), the contribution of these jets to maintain (and possibly enhance) the ionization of H may have been non-negligible. We conclude that the termination regions of jets from active galactic nuclei could have had a significant role in the reionization of the Universe at $zgtrsim 6$.
We examine the behaviour of the infrared-radio correlation (IRRC) over the range $0<z<6$ using new, highly sensitive 3GHz observations with the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array (VLA) and infrared data from the Herschel Space Observatory in the 2deg$^{2}$ COSMOS field. We distinguish between objects where emission is believed to arise solely from star-formation, and those where an active galactic nucleus (AGN) is thought to be present. We account for non-detections in the radio or in the infrared using a doubly-censored survival analysis. We find that the IRRC of star-forming galaxies, quantified by the infrared-to-1.4GHz radio luminosity ratio ($q_{rm TIR}$), decreases with increasing redshift: $q_{rm TIR}(z)=(2.88pm0.03)(1+z)^{-0.19pm0.01}$. Moderate-to-high radiative luminosity AGN do not follow the same $q_{rm TIR}$$(z)$ trend, having a lower normalisation and steeper decrease with redshift. We cannot rule out the possibility that unidentified AGN contributions only to the radio regime may be steepening the observed $q_{rm TIR}(z)$ trend of the star-forming population. An increasing fractional contribution to the observed 3GHz flux by free-free emission of star-forming galaxies may also affect the derived evolution. However, we find that the standard (M82-based) assumption of the typical radio spectral energy distribution (SED) for star-forming galaxies is inconsistent with our results. This suggests a more complex shape of the typical radio SED for star-forming galaxies, and that imperfect $K$ corrections in the radio may govern the derived redshift trend of $q_{rm TIR}$. Lastly, we present a redshift-dependent relation between rest-frame 1.4GHz radio luminosity and star formation rate taking the derived redshift trend into account.
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