The Lyman continuum escape fraction and the Mean Free Path of hydrogen ionizing photons for bright z~4 QSOs from SDSS DR14

TL;DR

This study analyzes a large sample of bright quasars at z~4 to measure the escape fraction of ionizing photons and the mean free path of hydrogen ionizing photons, providing new insights into the ionization state of the early universe.

Contribution

It presents the first large-scale measurement of the LyC escape fraction and mean free path at z~4, with results suggesting a milder redshift evolution than previously thought.

Findings

Lower limit to LyC escape fraction is 0.49.

Mean free path is approximately 49-59 proper Mpc at z~4.

Redshift evolution of the mean free path is milder than earlier estimates.

Abstract

One of the major challenges in observational cosmology is related to the redshift evolution of the average hydrogen ionization in the Universe. In order to probe the ionization level of the IGM and the ionization capabilities of bright QSOs at z=4, we have selected a sample of 2508 QSOs from the SDSS survey (DR14) at 3.6<z<4.6 and -29.0<M1450<-26.0. Starting from UV/optical rest-frame spectra of the whole QSO sample, we estimate the escape fraction and free path individually for each of them. We calculate the Lyman Continuum (LyC) escape fraction as the flux ratio blue-ward (~900 A rest-frame) and red-ward (~930 A rest-frame) of the Lyman limit. We then obtain the probability distribution function (PDF) of the individual free paths of the QSOs in the sample and study its evolution in luminosity and redshift, comparing our results with the ones found in literature so far. We find a lower limit to the mean LyC escape fraction of 0.49, in agreement with the values obtained for both brighter and fainter sources at the same redshift. We show that the free paths of ionizing photons are characterized by a skewed distribution function peaked at low values, with an average of ~49-59 proper Mpc at z~4, after excluding possible associated absorbers. This value is larger than the one obtained at the same redshift by many authors in the literature using different techniques. Finally, we also find that the redshift evolution of this parameter results to be possibly milder than previously thought. Our new determination of the mean free path at z~4 implies that previous estimates of the HI photo-ionization rate Gamma_HI available in the literature should be corrected by a factor of 1.2-1.7. These results have important implications if extrapolated at the epoch of reionization.