Constraints on the Star Formation Efficiency of Galaxies During the Epoch of Reionization

Guochao Sun, Steven R. Furlanetto

Published 2015-12-19Version 1

Reionization is thought to have occurred in the redshift range of $6 < z < 9$, which is now being probed by both deep galaxy surveys and CMB observations. Using halo abundance matching over the redshift range $5<z<8$ and an analytic description of gas accretion, we develop a model for the star formation efficiency $f_*$ of dark matter halos at $z>6$ that matches the measured galaxy luminosity functions at these redshifts. We find that $f_*$ peaks at $\sim 10\%$ at halo masses $M \sim 10^{11}$--$10^{12}$~M$_\odot$, in qualitative agreement with its behavior at lower redshifts. We then investigate the cosmic star formation histories and the corresponding models of reionization for a range of extrapolations to small halo masses. We compare these to a variety of observations, using them to further constrain the characteristics of the galaxy populations. Our approach provides an empirically-calibrated, physically-motivated model for the properties of star-forming galaxies sourcing the epoch of reionization. In the case where star formation in low-mass halos is maximally efficient, an average escape fraction $\sim0.1$ can reproduce the optical depth reported by Planck, whereas inefficient star formation in these halos requires either about twice as many UV photons to escape, or an escape fraction that increases towards higher redshifts. Our models also predict how future observations with JWST can improve our understanding of these galaxy populations.