The synchrony of production and escape : half the bright Lyα emitters at z ≈ 2 have Lyman continuum escape fractions ≈50 per cent

• The ionizing photon escape fraction [Lyman continuum (LyC) fesc] of star-forming galaxies is the single greatest unknown in the reionization budget. Stochastic sightline effects prohibit the direct separation of LyC leakers from non-leakers at significant redshifts. Here we circumvent this uncertainty by inferring fesc using resolved (R > 4000) Lyman α (Lyα) profiles from the X-SHOOTER Lyα survey at z = 2 (XLS-z2). With empirically motivated criteria, we use Lyα profiles to select leakers (⁠fesc>20 per centfesc>20 per cent⁠) and non-leakers (⁠fesc<5 per centfesc<5 per cent⁠) from a representative sample of >0.2L* Lyman α emitters (LAEs). We use median stacked spectra of these subsets over λrest ≈ 1000–8000 Å to investigate the conditions for LyC fesc. Our stacks show similar mass, metallicity, MUV, and βUV. We find the following differences between leakers versus non-leakers: (i) strong nebular C IV and He II emission versus non-detections; (ii) [O III]/[O II] ≈ 8.5 versus ≈3; (iii) Hα/Hβ indicating no dust versus E(B − V) ≈ 0.3; (iv) Mg II emission close to the systemic velocity versus redshifted, optically thick Mg II; and (v) Lyα fesc of ≈50 per cent≈50 per cent versus ≈10 per cent≈10 per cent⁠. The extreme equivalent widths (EWs) in leakers ([O III]+Hβ≈1100Hβ≈1100 Å rest frame) constrain the characteristic time-scale of LyC escape to ≈3–10 Myr bursts when short-lived stars with the hardest ionizing spectra shine. The defining traits of leakers – extremely ionizing stellar populations, low column densities, a dust-free, high-ionization state interstellar medium (ISM) – occur simultaneously in the fesc>20 per centfesc>20 per cent stack, suggesting they are causally connected, and motivating why indicators like [O III]/[O II] may suffice to constrain fesc at z > 6 with the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). The leakers comprise half of our sample, have a median LyCfesc≈50 per centfesc≈50 per cent (conservative range: 20−55 per cent20−55 per cent⁠), and an ionizing production efficiency log(ξion/Hz erg−1)≈25.9log⁡(ξion/Hz erg−1)≈25.9 (conservative range: 25.7–25.9). These results show LAEs – the type of galaxies rare at z ≈ 2, but that become the norm at higher redshift – are highly efficient ionizers, with extreme ξion and prolific fesc occurring in sync.

Ämnesord

NATURVETENSKAP  -- Fysik (hsv//swe)

NATURAL SCIENCES  -- Physical Sciences (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

galaxies: evolution

galaxies: high-redshift

intergalactic medium

dark ages

reionization

first stars

cosmology: observations

ultraviolet: galaxies

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