2 research outputs found
The Low-redshift Lyman Continuum Survey: Radio continuum properties of low- Lyman continuum emitters
The sources that leak Lyman-continuum (LyC) photons and lead to the
reionisation of the universe are intensely studied using multiple observing
facilities. Recently, the Low-redshift LyC Survey (LzLCS) has found the first
large sample of LyC emitting galaxies at low redshift () with the
Hubble Space Telescope/Cosmic Origins Spectrograph. The LzLCS sample contains a
robust estimate of the LyC escape fraction () for
66 galaxies spanning a wide range of . Here we,
for the first time, aim to study the radio continuum (RC) properties of LzLCS
sources and their dependence on . We present Karl
G. Jansky Very Large Array RC observations at C (4-8 GHz), S (2-4 GHz) and L
(1-2 GHz) bands for a sub-sample of the LzLCS sources. The radio spectral index
() spans a wide range from being flat (
) to very steep (). We find that the strongest leakers in
our sample show flat , weak leakers have
close to normal star-forming galaxies,
and non-leakers are characterized by steep
. We argue that a combination of young
ages, free-free absorption, and a flat cosmic-ray energy spectrum can
altogether lead to a flat for strong
leakers. Non-leakers are characterized by steep spectra which can arise due to
break/cutoff at high frequencies. Such a cutoff in the spectrum can arise in a
single injection model of CRs characteristic of galaxies which have recently
stopped star formation. Such a relation between
and hints
at the interesting role of supernovae, CRs, and magnetic fields in facilitating
the escape (and/or the lack) of LyC photons.Comment: 25 pages, 14 figures, 3 tables, Submitted to Astronomy & Astrophysic