Abstract
Abstract We study the effect that 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 the He ii ionizing part of the UVB spectrum. Within the observed range of UV escape from galaxies, we show that the rapid increase in the He ii Lyα effective optical depth at z ∼ 2.7 can naturally be explained by radiative transport effects. Therefore, the relationship between a well-measured He ii Lyα effective optical depth and the redshift in the post-He ii reionization era can be used to place additional constraints on the redshift evolution of UV escape from high-z galaxies. Our study also suggests that the escape fraction of H i ionizing photons from galaxies has an important role in the fluctuations of the He ii ionizing UVB.
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Schedule a callMore From: Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society: Letters
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