Feedback from Galaxy Formation: Escaping Ionizing Radiation from Galaxies at High Redshift
Abstract
Several observational and theoretical arguments suggest that starburst galaxies may rival quasars as sources of metagalactic ionizing radiation at redshifts z > 3. Reionization of the intergalactic medium (IGM) at z > 5 may arise, in part, from the first luminous massive stars. To be an important source of radiative feedback from star formation, a substantial fraction ( 1-10%) of the ionizing photons must escape the gas layers of the galaxies. Using models of smoothly distributed gas confined by dark-matter (DM) potentials, we estimate the fraction, fesc, of Lyc flux that escapes the halos of spherical galaxies as a function of their mass and virialization redshift. The gas density profile is found by solving the equation of hydrostatic equilibrium for the baryonic matter in the potential well of a DM halo with the density profile found by Navarro et. al. (1996). We then perform a parametric study to understand the dependence of fesc on redshift, mass, star-formation efficiency (SFE), stellar density distribution, and OB association luminosity function. We give useful analytical formulas for fesc(z,MDM). Using the Press-Schechter formalism, we find that stellar reionization at z 7 is probably dominated by small galactic sub-units, with MDM 107 M and SFE 10 times that in the Milky Way. This may affect the distribution of heavy elements throughout the intergalactic medium.
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