A Spectroscopic Analysis of the Ionizing Photon Production Efficiency in JADES and CEERS: Implications for the Ionizing Photon Budget
Anthony J. Pahl, Michael W. Topping, Alice E. Shapley, Ryan L. Sanders, Naveen A. Reddy, L. Clarke, Emily Kehoe, Trinity Bento, Gabriel Brammer
Abstract
Abstract We have used a combined sample of JADES and CEERS objects in order to constrain ionizing photon production efficiency ( ξ ion ) from JWST/NIRSpec and JWST/NIRCam data. We examine 163 objects at 1.06 < z < 6.71 with significant (3 σ ) spectroscopic detections of H α and H β in order to constrain intrinsic H α luminosities corrected from nebular dust attenuation via Balmer decrements. We constrain dust-corrected UV luminosities from best-fit spectral energy distribution modeling. We find a sample median <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" overflow="scroll"> <mml:msub> <mml:mrow> <mml:mi mathvariant="normal">log</mml:mi> </mml:mrow> <mml:mrow> <mml:mn>10</mml:mn> </mml:mrow> </mml:msub> <mml:mo stretchy="false">(</mml:mo> <mml:msub> <mml:mrow> <mml:mi>ξ</mml:mi> </mml:mrow> <mml:mrow> <mml:mi mathvariant="normal">ion,0</mml:mi> </mml:mrow> </mml:msub> <mml:mo>/</mml:mo> <mml:msup> <mml:mrow> <mml:mi mathvariant="normal">erg</mml:mi> <mml:mspace width="0.25em"/> <mml:mi mathvariant="normal">Hz</mml:mi> </mml:mrow> <mml:mrow> <mml:mo>−</mml:mo> <mml:mn>1</mml:mn> </mml:mrow> </mml:msup> <mml:mo stretchy="false">)</mml:mo> <mml:mo>=</mml:mo> <mml:mn>25.2</mml:mn> <mml:msubsup> <mml:mrow> <mml:mn>9</mml:mn> </mml:mrow> <mml:mrow> <mml:mo>−</mml:mo> <mml:mn>0.37</mml:mn> </mml:mrow> <mml:mrow> <mml:mo>+</mml:mo> <mml:mn>0.29</mml:mn> </mml:mrow> </mml:msubsup> </mml:math> , assuming f esc = 0 for the escape fraction of Lyman continuum (LyC) emission. We find significant (Spearman r s = 0.19, p = 0.01) correlation between ξ ion,0 and z , with objects at z > 4.64 having median <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" overflow="scroll"> <mml:msub> <mml:mrow> <mml:mi mathvariant="normal">log</mml:mi> </mml:mrow> <mml:mrow> <mml:mn>10</mml:mn> </mml:mrow> </mml:msub> <mml:mo stretchy="false">(</mml:mo> <mml:msub> <mml:mrow> <mml:mi>ξ</mml:mi> </mml:mrow> <mml:mrow> <mml:mi mathvariant="normal">ion,0</mml:mi> </mml:mrow> </mml:msub> <mml:mo>/</mml:mo> <mml:msup> <mml:mrow> <mml:mi mathvariant="normal">erg</mml:mi> <mml:mspace width="0.25em"/> <mml:mi mathvariant="normal">Hz</mml:mi> </mml:mrow> <mml:mrow> <mml:mo>−</mml:mo> <mml:mn>1</mml:mn> </mml:mrow> </mml:msup> <mml:mo stretchy="false">)</mml:mo> <mml:mo>=</mml:mo> <mml:mn>25.3</mml:mn> <mml:msubsup> <mml:mrow> <mml:mn>8</mml:mn> </mml:mrow> <mml:mrow> <mml:mo>−</mml:mo> <mml:mn>0.38</mml:mn> </mml:mrow> <mml:mrow> <mml:mo>+</mml:mo> <mml:mn>0.38</mml:mn> </mml:mrow> </mml:msubsup> </mml:math> , with those below having <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" overflow="scroll"> <mml:msub> <mml:mrow> <mml:mi mathvariant="normal">log</mml:mi> </mml:mrow> <mml:mrow> <mml:mn>10</mml:mn> </mml:mrow> </mml:msub> <mml:mo stretchy="false">(</mml:mo> <mml:msub> <mml:mrow> <mml:mi>ξ</mml:mi> </mml:mrow> <mml:mrow> <mml:mi mathvariant="normal">ion,0</mml:mi> </mml:mrow> </mml:msub> <mml:mo>/</mml:mo> <mml:msup> <mml:mrow> <mml:mi mathvariant="normal">erg</mml:mi> <mml:mspace width="0.25em"/> <mml:mi mathvariant="normal">Hz</mml:mi> </mml:mrow> <mml:mrow> <mml:mo>−</mml:mo> <mml:mn>1</mml:mn> </mml:mrow> </mml:msup> <mml:mo stretchy="false">)</mml:mo> <mml:mo>=</mml:mo> <mml:mn>25.2</mml:mn> <mml:msubsup> <mml:mrow> <mml:mn>4</mml:mn> </mml:mrow> <mml:mrow> <mml:mo>−</mml:mo> <mml:mn>0.33</mml:mn> </mml:mrow> <mml:mrow> <mml:mo>+</mml:mo> <mml:mn>0.30</mml:mn> </mml:mrow> </mml:msubsup> </mml:math> . We also find significant, positive correlations between ξ ion,0 and L UV ; W λ ([O iii ]); [O iii ] λ 5007/[O ii ] λλ 3726, 3729; and inverse correlations with metallicity. In contrast with some previous results, we find no trends between ξ ion,0 and stellar mass, stellar dust attenuation, or UV slope. Applying a multivariate fit to ξ ion,0 , z , and M UV to an empirically motivated model of reionization, and folding in f esc estimates from direct observations of the LyC at z ∼ 3 from the Keck Lyman Continuum Spectroscopic Survey, we find that the number of ionizing photons entering the IGM causes reionization to end at z ∼ 5–7.