Galaxies in the Epoch of Reionization Are All Bark and No Bite—Plenty of Ionizing Photons, Low Escape Fractions
Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: Early results from JWST suggest that Epoch of Reionization (EoR) galaxies produce copious ionizing photons, which, if they escape efficiently, could cause reionization to occur too early. We study this problem using JWST imaging and prism spectroscopy for 412 galaxies at 4.5 < z < 9.0. We fit these data simultaneously with stellar population and nebular emission models that include a parameter for the fraction of ionizing photons that escape the galaxy, f esc . We find that the ionization production efficiency, ξ ion = Q ( H 0 )/ L UV , increases with redshift and decreasing UV luminosity, but shows significant scatter, σ ( log ξ ion ∣ z , M UV ) ≃ 0.3 dex. The inferred escape fractions averaged over the population are low, ranging from〈 f esc 〉 ≃ 2.6% ± 1.4% at 6 < z < 9 to 6.5% ± 2.2% at 4.5 < z < 6, with weak or no indication of evolution with redshift. This implies that in our models most of the ionizing photons need to be absorbed to account for the nebular emission. We compute the impact of our results on reionization, including the distributions for ξ ion and f esc , and the evolution and uncertainty of the UV luminosity function. Considering galaxies brighter than M UV < −16 mag would produce an intergalactic medium hydrogen-ionized fraction of x e = 0.5 at 5.3 < z < 5.8, possibly too late compared to constraints from from quasi-stellar object (QSO) sight lines. Including fainter galaxies, M UV < −14 mag, we obtain x e = 0.5 at 6.0 < z < 8.1, fully consistent with QSO and cosmic microwave background data. This implies that EoR galaxies produce plenty of ionizing photons, but that these do not efficiently escape. This may be a result of high gas column densities combined with burstier star formation histories, which limit the time massive stars are able to clear channels through the gas for ionizing photons to escape.
Source: The Astrophysical Journal
Authors: Casey Papovich, Justin W. Cole, Weida Hu, Steven L. Finkelstein, Lu Shen, Pablo Arrabal Haro, Ricardo O. Amorín, Bren E. Backhaus, Micaela B. Bagley, Rachana Bhatawdekar, Antonello Calabrò, Adam C. Carnall, Nikko J. Cleri, Emanuele Daddi, Mark Dickinson, Norman A. Grogin, Benne W. Holwerda, Anne E. Jaskot, Anton M. Koekemoer, Mario Llerena, Ray A. Lucas, Sara Mascia, Fabio Pacucci, Laura Pentericci, Pablo G. Pérez-González, Nor Pirzkal, Srinivasan Raghunathan, Lise-Marie Seillé, Rachel S. Somerville, L. Y. Aaron Yung
Institutions: Texas A&M University, The University of Texas at Austin, Goddard Space Flight Center, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía, University of Kansas, European Space Astronomy Centre, Astronomical Observatory of Rome, National Institute for Astrophysics, Royal Observatory, University of Edinburgh, Pennsylvania State University, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Université Paris Cité, Commissariat à l'Énergie Atomique et aux Énergies Alternatives, Université Paris-Saclay, Astrophysique, Instrumentation et Modélisation, NSF NOIRLab, Space Telescope Science Institute, University of Louisville, Williams College, Institute of Science and Technology Austria, Harvard University, Center for Astrophysics Harvard & Smithsonian, Centro de Astrobiología, National Center for Supercomputing Applications, Aix-Marseille Université, Flatiron Institute
Language: English
Subfield: Astronomy and Astrophysics
Field: Physics and Astronomy
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $4,499
OpenAlex ID: W7136916992