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# Born Effective Charges and Infrared Response of LiBC

## I Introduction

Discovery of superconductivity near 40 K in MgB2,akimitsu  and the rapid development in the understanding of the microscopic mechanism (a specific type of electron-phonon coupling) has spurred extensive work on its properties and the discovery of closely related materials. Interest in LiBC and its Li-deficient derivatives has been spurred by calculational evidencerosner1  that the electron-phonon coupling will be stronger, and consequently the superconducting transition temperature is expected to be higher, than MgB2. LiBC is isostructural to, and isovalent with, MgB2 to the extent possible in a ternary compound, as we discuss more below.

LiBC was first reported by Wörle et al.,worle  who provided the crystal structure, and also reported hole doping by removal of Li that changed it from reddish in color to black, and increased the conductivity. Recently there has been renewed interest in synthesizing this compound and studying its properties. Bharathi et al. reported synthesis for varying starting concentrations of Li,bharathi  but did not report any samples becoming metallic. Hlinka and coworkers reported Raman scattering measurements on few-micron size crystallites,hlinka  finding modes at 170 cm-1 and 1176 cm-1, which were recently confirmed by Renker et al. (171 and 1167 cm-1).renker  Souptel et al. reported synthesis of samples for several flux concentrations, and like Bharathi et al. found conductivities characteristic of lightly doped semiconductors.souptel  Beginning optical studies on LiBC have been reported by Pronin et al. using an infrared microscope on small crystals,pronin  providing infrared (IR) reflectivity in the 400-1900 cm-1 range and measurements of the dielectric behavior at lower frequencies. We will return below to discussion of the implications of the Raman and IR data for the vibrational properties of LiBC.

As for possible doping (de-intercalation of Li), all of these reports are probably consistent with very low doping, too low to drive the material conducting (in spite of the broad bands that promote doped-hole conduction). The susceptibility data indicate small concentrations of local moments, typical of semiconductors with point defects. Zhao, Klavins, and Liu, in their efforts at Li de-intercalation, observed evaporation of Li upon vacuum annealing, with no sign of superconductivity in the annealed samples.zhao  The amount of Li remaining in the sample has not yet been characterized, however (xrays are not sensitive enough), so definitive results remain to be obtained.

The purpose of this paper is to obtain in more detail the character of the intrinsic (insulating) phase of LiBC. Phonon frequencies calculated by linear response techniques using the full-potential linear muffin-tin orbital (FP-LMTO) method were reported by An et al.jan2  In this paper we use related by extended methods to calculate not only the phonon frequencies (again, with different codes) but the dynamic effective charge tensor Z$`{}_{\alpha }{}^{}{}_{}{}^{}`$, the longitudinal – transverse (LO-TO) mode splittings, oscillator strengths of the IR active phonons, and related dynamic dielectric behavior. Since Li is known, from calculation, to be ionic in this compound, one could anticipate Z$`{}_{Li}{}^{}+1`$, and because B and C lie side-by-side in the periodic table, that Z$`{}_{B}{}^{}`$ Z$`{}_{C}{}^{}{}_{}{}^{}`$ and of course Z$`{}_{B}{}^{}{}_{}{}^{}`$ \+ Z$`{}_{C}{}^{}=`$ -Z$`{}_{Li}{}^{}{}_{}{}^{}`$ from the acoustic sum rule. We find much more interestng behavior, however; Z$`{}_{B}{}^{}{}_{}{}^{}`$ and Z$`{}_{C}{}^{}{}_{}{}^{}`$ are of opposite sign, and large – they behave like strongly charged cation and anion, respectively. We analyze this behavior, and also comment on the possible relevance this behavior has for the difficulty in de-intercalating Li from LiBC, and also for C doping in MgB2-xCx.

## II Calculational Methods

The calculations were carried using the ABINIT code with Troullier-Martins pseudopotentials1 ; 2 , Teter parametrization3  of the Ceperley-Alder exchange-correlation potential, and 216 $`𝐤`$-points in the irreducible wedge of the Brillouin zone. The kinetic energy cutoff for the plane waves was 60 Hartree. The $`f`$\- sum rule (relative to unity) 8  was satisfied with to 1.0005, which is one measure that the basis set is effectively complete. The experiment lattice constants $`(a=2.752\AA ,c=7.058\AA )`$ worle  of LiBC (space group $`P6_3/mmc`$, No. 194) were used. The calculation of effective charges follows the formalism of Gonze and Leegonze  as implemented in the ABINIT code.

The crystal structure of LiBC, pictured in Fig. 1, is a direct generalization of that of MgB2. The B and C atoms form a flat graphene sheet, with B and C atoms alternating around each hexagonal unit. The stacking of B-C layers is alternating, such that each B has C neighbors along the $`\widehat{c}`$ direction, and similarly for C. This stacking, which doubles the unit cell volume over that of MgB2, indicates that B-C bonding along $`\widehat{c}`$ (to the extent that it occurs) is preferable to B-B and C-C bonding. Possibly this stacking results in a favorable Madelung energy, although real static charges associated with B and C separately are almost impossible to define or calculate. The Li ions lie in the interstitial site (center of inversion) between the centers of the hexagonal units above and below, coordinated at equal distances with six B atoms and six C atoms.

## III Results

### III.1 Vibrational Frequencies

The character of the various zone center modes in LiBC were presented earlier by An et al.jan2  For completeness, we repeat them here, with our calculated frequencies (in cm-1), with macroscopic electric field contributions neglected; those corrections and longitudinal optic (LO) - transverse optic (TO) splittings are discussed below. Factor group analysisfactor  at the $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$ point yields 15 optical modes : $`2A_{2u}+2B_{1g}+B_{2u}`$ with motions along the $`\widehat{c}`$ direction, and $`2E_{1u}+2E_{2g}+E_{2u}`$ with motions in the $`ab`$ plane (the latter type are all two-fold degenerate $`E`$ modes). The $`2A_{2u}`$ and $`2E_{1u}`$ are infrared active and the $`2E_{2g}`$ modes are Raman active.hlinka ; pronin ; renker ; jan2

* $`\omega `$=169: E2g, B-C layers sliding against each other
* $`\omega `$=299: B2g, B-C layers beating against each other along $`\widehat{c}`$
* $`\omega `$=292: E2u, Li layers sliding against each other
* $`\omega `$=346: E1u, Li layers sliding against the B-C layers
* $`\omega `$=407: A2u, Li layers beating against the B-C layers, along $`\widehat{c}`$
* $`\omega `$=510: B1u, Li layers beating against each other along $`\widehat{c}`$
* $`\omega `$=803: A2u, B-C puckering mode, all B atoms move oppositely to all C atoms, Li sites become inequivalent
* $`\omega `$=829: B2g, B-C puckering mode, B moves with C atoms above/below it, Li sites remain equivalent
* $`\omega `$=1143: E1u, B-C bond stretching mode, the two layers are out-of-phase
* $`\omega `$=1153: E2g, B-C bond stretching mode, layers in phase

Our calculated values are also provided in Table 1, where LO-TO splittings, where they arise, are also reported. Compared with the observed Raman active modes at 170 and 1176 cm-1hlinka  and 171 and 1167 cm-1,renker  the calculated values, 169 and 1153 cm-1, are in excellent agreement.

The LO-TO splitting for displacement parallel to the layers occurs for the “layer sliding” mode at 346 cm-1 ($`\mathrm{\Delta }\omega =25`$ cm-1), and for the B-C “bond stretching” mode at 1143 cm-1 ($`\mathrm{\Delta }\omega =92`$ cm-1). For $`\widehat{c}`$ polarization, the “layer beating” mode is at 407 cm-1 ($`\mathrm{\Delta }\omega =100`$ cm-1), and the B-C “puckering” mode at 803 cm-1 is split by only $`\mathrm{\Delta }\omega =25`$ cm-1. The large LO-TO splittings of the “layer beating” and “bond stretching” modes suggest they involve large effective charges, as we confirm below.

Data on IR active modes have been published by Pronin et al. pronin  who fit reflectivity data with modes at 540, 620, 700 (less clear) and 1180 cm-1. The highest (and strong in the data) mode is close to our calculated value (TO 1143 cm-1, LO 1235 cm-1), but the others are difficult to assign. The data, with three or four positions of structure, apparently include contributions from $`\widehat{c}`$ axis polarization, $`ab`$ plane polarization, and all angles between. Bharathi et al have presented IR absorption spectrabharathi  with main peaks at $``$380, 950, and 1200 cm-1. The lower and upper of these are not far from our calculated values for E1g modes (Table 1), but the nearest IR mode to the 950 cm-1 peak is our A2u mode at 803-828 cm-1.

### III.2 Effective Charges and Oscillator Strengths

In a non-cubic lattice the Born (dynamical) effective charge of an ion becomes a tensor. In hexagonal symmetry such as in LiBC, the tensor is diagonal and reduces to two values Z$`{}_{xx}{}^{}=`$ Z$`{}_{yy}{}^{}`$ Z$`{}_{}{}^{}{}_{}{}^{}`$ and Z$`{}_{zz}{}^{}`$ Z$`{}_{}{}^{}{}_{}{}^{}`$. These charges, which show considerable anisotropy in LiBC, are given in Table II. The acoustic sum rule $`_sZ_s^{}=0`$ is fulfilled to within 0.01, suggesting well converged calculations. In spite of the fact that they are neighbors in the periodic table and that both B and C are comfortable forming the graphene structure layer, when they alternate in this graphene layer their effective charges are vastly different: substantial in size but different in sign. Given their similarities, the effective charge sum rule, and that Li is ionized, one might perhaps expect values close to +1, 0, and -1 (or possibly +1, -$`\frac{1}{2}`$, and -$`\frac{1}{2}`$)for Li, B, and C, respectively. They are, on (angular) average, much closer to the values +1, +2, and -3, which are not so far from the bizarre ionic configuration (only one with closed shells) of +1, +3, and -4 for Li, B, and C respectively that would reflect closed shells on all ions. It must be recognized, of course, that the Z values are dynamic only, and reflect the effects of covalency with respect to some reference ionic value; however, the reference values here are unclear (except for Li, which clearly should be +1).

Due to the expected strong covalency in the B-C bonds, it perhaps is not surprising that the B and C effective charges are strongly altered from (smaller) reference ionic values. For $`\widehat{c}`$ axis polarization, the Li value itself is unusual (almost 50% larger than its nominal value), indicating Li is definitely involved in the interlayer coupling. We return to this important feature below. This partial Li covalency is probably connected with the difficulty in deintercalating it from the LiBC lattice.souptel ; renker

Another view of the charge response can be obtained from the “mode effective charges” defined by Gonze and Leegonze , which for the symmetry of LiBC can be written for each polarization as

$`\stackrel{}{Z}^{}={\displaystyle \underset{\kappa }{}}{\displaystyle \frac{Z_\kappa ^{}\stackrel{}{U}_\kappa }{_\kappa ^{}\stackrel{}{U}_\kappa ^{}^{}\stackrel{}{U}_\kappa ^{}}}.`$ (1)
Here each ion effective charge is weighted by the mode eigenvector that is normalized without the ion mass factor that occurs in the usual normalization of $`U_{\kappa \alpha }`$ ($`\kappa `$ is the atom index, $`\alpha `$ is the Cartesian coordinate). The mode effective charge vectors indicate how strongly a mode will couple to an electric field, and are listed in Table III for the IR active modes in LiBC. For the $`\widehat{c}`$ axis polarized modes, $`|\stackrel{}{Z}^{}|`$ is 3.00 for the (softer) layer beating mode and 2.10 for the (harder) B-C puckering mode. For planar displacements, the (soft) layer sliding mode has the value 1.52, and the (hard) B-C bond stretching mode value is 5.50. These trends follow those found by Zhong et al. in perovskites,zhong  where displacements that modulated the “covalent” bonding produced the largest mode effective charge. The value of 3.00 for the layer beating mode reflects the substantial Li “covalent” character for $`\widehat{c}`$ axis displacements.

### III.3 Infrared Response

The static electronic dielectric constants are calculated to be $`ϵ_{\mathrm{}}^{}=12.95`$, $`ϵ_{\mathrm{}}^{}=11.24`$. These values tend to be overestimated in LDA calculations such as those used here, presumably due to the underestimation of the bandgap. Dielectric constants are also somewhat dependent (at the $``$5% level) on the choice of pseudopotential. According to the generalized Lyddane-Sachs-Teller (LST) relation,

$`ϵ_0=ϵ_{\mathrm{}}{\displaystyle \underset{m}{}}{\displaystyle \frac{\omega _{LO}^2,m}{\omega _{TO,m}^2}}`$ (2)
which is used separately for each polarization, the static dielectric constants $`ϵ_0`$ of both directions are $`17.4`$ and $`18.5`$, respectively. In the GHz range ($``$0.03 cm-1), $`ϵ35`$ was reported by Pronin et al,pronin  but this value is not necessarily expected to be intrinsic.

The relationship between the LO-TO splitting and the Born effective charges is given by the relationgonze ; resta  (which holds for parallel and perpendicular vibrations separately),

$`{\displaystyle \underset{m}{}}[\omega _{LO,m}^2\omega _{TO,m}^2]`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{4\pi }{ϵ_{\alpha \alpha }^{\mathrm{}}V_{}}}{\displaystyle \underset{\kappa }{}}{\displaystyle \frac{(Z_{\kappa ,\alpha \alpha }^{}e)^2}{M_\kappa }}`$ (3)
$`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \underset{\kappa }{}}\mathrm{\Omega }_{ion,\kappa }^2.`$
In this relation, $`m`$ goes over the IR active modes of the given polarization, $`M_\kappa `$ the ionic mass of aton $`\kappa `$, $`V_{}`$ the volume of the primitive unit cell, and the right hand side has been expressed in terms of screened ionic plasma frequencies $`\mathrm{\Omega }_{ion,\kappa }`$ that indicate how much each ion contributes to the combined strength of the resonances. For in-plane polarization, Li, B, and C contribute 6%, 26%, and 58%; the Li ion has minor effect and the response is dominated by B-C bond stretching. For $`\widehat{c}`$ axis polarization, the contributions are 43%, 5% and 51% respectively; here the B is almost irrelevant, and the Li contribution is comparable to that of C.

The contributions can be examined mode by mode. The dielectric function can be expressed in terms of contributions from the IR active modes ($`m`$) as

$`{\displaystyle \frac{ϵ(\omega )}{ϵ^{\mathrm{}}}}`$ $`=`$ $`1+{\displaystyle \frac{4\pi }{ϵ^{\mathrm{}}V_{}}}{\displaystyle \underset{m}{}}{\displaystyle \frac{S_m}{\omega _{TO,m}^2\omega ^2}}`$ (4)
$`=`$ $`1+{\displaystyle \underset{m}{}}{\displaystyle \frac{\omega _{LO,m}^2\omega _{TO,m}^2}{\omega _{TO,m}^2\omega ^2}}.`$
The second line follows from the relation between the mode oscillator strength $`S_m`$ and the corresponding LO-TO splitting, provided in Table 1 in terms of $`\mathrm{\Delta }\omega ^2`$. For in-layer polarization, large LO-TO splitting of the bond stretching $`E_{1u}`$ mode at 1143 (1235) cm-1 is the result of the large B and C effective charges; the splitting of the layer sliding mode at 346 (371) cm-1 is an order of magnitude less. For $`c`$ axis polarization, the effective charges are “derived” 70% from the 407 (507) cm-1 layer beating mode with large LO-TO splitting involving the larger Z for Li, and only 30% derives from the 803 (828) cm-1 B-C puckering mode.

From Eq. 4 the zero frequency limit is given by

$`{\displaystyle \frac{ϵ(\omega )}{ϵ^{\mathrm{}}}}1`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \underset{m}{}}\left({\displaystyle \frac{\omega _{LO,m}^2}{\omega _{TO,m}^2}}1\right)`$ (5)
which is different from the approximate “generalized Lyddane-Sachs-Teller” relation of Eq. 2 that is often quoted. It is not as different as it looks. The “textbook” form of the dielectric function in terms of its zeroes and poles is

$`{\displaystyle \frac{ϵ(\omega )}{ϵ^{\mathrm{}}}}={\displaystyle \underset{m}{}}{\displaystyle \frac{\omega _{LO,m}^2\omega ^2}{\omega _{TO,m}^2\omega ^2}}.`$ (6)
While this expression has the same poles (at $`\omega _{TO,m}`$) as Eq. 4, the positions of its zeroes, at $`\omega _{LO,m}`$ in this expression, are different from the zeroes in the general expression Eq. 4. However, zeroes have to occur between each of the poles, and the zeroes of Eq. 4 are determined not only by $`\omega _{LO,m}`$ but also by the polarization arising from other LO modes with $`m^{}m`$. The differences are small, however. For in-plane polarization, the zeroes of $`ϵ(\omega )`$ from Eq. 4 are 367 cm-1 and 1236 cm-1 compared to the calculate “LO” frequencies of 371 and 1235 cm-1, respectively. (Note that the lower is pushed down, while the higher is increased, for the case of two LO modes as we have here.) For $`\widehat{c}`$ axis polarization, Eq. 4 gives 499 and 833 cm-1 compared to the calculated values of 507 and 828 cm-1. These differences will be difficult to resolve experimentally.

## IV Discussion and Summary

The calculated Raman-active frequencies are in excellent agreement with the data of two groups.hlinka ; renker  The IR modes remain to be verified and understood. The spectra are polarization dependent, and the spectra presented by Pronin et al.pronin  and by Bharathi et al.bharathi  are not representative of pure polarization data.

Since it will be useful for comparison with single crystal data, in Fig. 2 we present our predicted reflectivity $`R(\omega )`$ spectrum for both in-plane and perpendicular polarization. The damping (which for a clean undoped sample would be due to anharmonicity) has been chosen for each mode to be 3% of the frequency (zero damping curves are not very representative). If the damping is not too large, and there is no reason to expect large anharmonicity in LiBC, then both TO and LO frequencies can be obtained with small uncertainty.

It was mentioned in the Introduction that calculations have indicated that, if partial Li removal can be achieved, Li1-xBC should be a very good superconductor. Such Li extraction is common in many materials, being the process that forms the basis for Li batteries. What our studies here have shown is that (primarily for $`\widehat{c}`$ axis displacements) Li shows considerable covalency with the B-C layer, with Li-C coupling being the prominent feature. This partial Li covalency is probably connected with the difficulty that several groups have foundsouptel ; renker  in de-intercalating it from the LiBC lattice. In addition, Cava, Zandbergen, and Inumaru reported briefly that LiBC seems to be highly resistant to chemical doping.cava

The finding here that C is very different chemically from B in this system also carries some implications for C replacement of B in MgB2. Recent studies confirm that about 10% of B can be replaced with C while retaining the structure, and the superconducting transition temperature remains high (Tc=22 K).canfield ; taken ; jorgensen  If C alloying in the B sublattice were rigid band like, the additional 0.1 electron per cell would nearly fill the important $`\sigma `$ bandsrosner  that are responsible for superconductivity, and Tc would be expected to vanish (or nearly so). The great difference between C and B behavior in LiBC reflects strong differences in bonding, and suggests something very different from rigid band “doping.” Preliminary calculations for MgB2-xCx (ordered supercells and virtual crystal)deepa  indeed indicate substantial non-rigid-band behavior: C is really different from “B with an extra electron.”

Although calculations such as those described here have been found in several systems to be accurate, it is highly desirable to obtain polarized single crystal IR data to confirm our predictions.

## V Acknowledgments

W.E.P. acknowledges informative communicaitons with A. Loidl, K. Liu, and J. Hlinka. We have benefitted greatly from the ABINIT project, and from personal communication with X. Gonze. This work was supported by NSF Grant No. DMR-0114818.


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# Galaxies as Fluctuations in the Ionizing Background Radiation at Low Redshift

## 1 Introduction

The extragalactic background of Lyman continuum photons plays an important role in ionizing the many absorption line systems seen shortward of Ly$`\alpha `$ emission in quasar spectra, including those seen at low redshifts using the ultraviolet capabilities of the Hubble Space Telescope (Bahcall et al. 1996). The ionizing background intensity determines the neutral gas fraction in Ly$`\alpha `$ forest absorbers and the ion ratios seen in metal absorption line systems. Furthermore, understanding the ionizing background is important for developing theories for the formation and evolution of galaxies and the Ly$`\alpha `$ forest and possibly for finding the baryonic mass contained within galaxies and the intergalactic medium. Interesting questions remain as to how much of this background is contributed by galaxies and what role galaxies play in ionizing gas around and between them that is detected as Ly$`\alpha `$ absorption.

The only largely neutral Ly$`\alpha `$ absorbers are the damped systems which have neutral hydrogen column densities $`N_{HI}>10^{20.3}`$ cm-2. Ionized absorbers include some Lyman limit systems ($`N_{HI}>10^{17.2}`$ cm-2) and Ly$`\alpha `$ forest absorbers which have lower neutral column densities. Lyman limit systems are thought to arise around galaxies (Bergeron & Boissé 1991; Steidel 1995), while Ly$`\alpha `$ forest absorbers have been detected which are as weak as $`N_{HI}10^{12}`$ cm-2. Although many of these may be associated with the smallest amounts of intergalactic gas, including that in void regions (Davé et al. 1999; Stocke et al. 1995; Shull et al. 1996; Penton, Stocke, & Shull 2002), at least some stronger forest absorbers are found near luminous galaxies. In particular Ly$`\alpha `$ absorption is almost always detected at a similar redshift to a galaxy which is found within $`200`$ kpc of a quasar line of sight (Bowen, Blades, & Pettini 1996; Lanzetta et al. 1995a; Le Brun, Bergeron, & Boissé 1996; Chen et al. 1998; 2001). Bowen, Pettini, & Blades (2002) have shown recently that while nearby Ly$`\alpha `$ absorbers are difficult to match with particular observed galaxies, $`N_{HI}`$ is correlated with the local density of detected luminous galaxies.

In carefully observed spiral galaxy discs the neutral column density falls off slowly with radius over most of the extents as seen with 21 cm HI observations, but then a rapid truncation is seen. Bochkarev & Sunyaev (1977) first suggested that a truncation would occur in a spiral disc at a sufficient radius where the HI column becomes ionized by an extragalactic background. Disk edges have been modelled also by Maloney (1993), Dove & Shull (1994a), and Corbelli & Salpeter (1993). More recently ionized gas has been detected in H$`\alpha `$ emission using a Fabry-Perot ‘staring technique’ (Bland-Hawthorn et al. 1994) beyond the HI edges of several nearby galaxies (Bland-Hawthorn, Freeman & Quinn 1997; Bland-Hawthorn 1998).

The intensity of the ionizing background radiation has been measured using the ‘proximity effect’, or the paucity of absorption lines close to a quasar emission redshift, at low redshift first by Kulkarni & Fall (1993) and more recently by Scott et al. (2002) who find $`J(912`$Å$`)=7.6^{+9.4}_{3.0}\times 10^{23}`$ erg cm-2 s-1 Hz-1 sr-1, or a frequency and direction averaged ionization rate of $`1.9\times 10^{13}`$ s-1 at redshift $`z<1`$. Some evidence for redshift evolution in the background is seen. Other methods for estimating this intensity give generally consistent results typically within the lower end of their uncertainty range, including limits on H$`\alpha `$ emission from high-latitude galactic clouds (Vogel 1995; Tufte, Reynolds, & Haffner 1998; Vogel et al. 2002) and extragalactic HI clouds (Stocke et al. 1991; Donahue, Aldering & Stocke 1995) and estimates from the HI galaxy disc edges (Maloney 1993; Dove & Shull 1994a; Corbelli & Salpeter 1993).

Using quasar spectra and considering reprocessing of photons by the intergalactic medium, Haardt & Madau (1996), Davé et al. (1999), and Shull et al. (1999) have calculated the history of the intensity of the ionizing background down to low redshifts. Their values are approximately consistent with the measurements above, so that quasars make an important and possibly dominant contribution to the ionizing background even at low redshifts. While the number density of quasars is low at low redshifts, the universe becomes optically thin to ultraviolet photons at redshifts $`z<2`$ (Haardt & Madau 1996) such that ultraviolet photons emitted at $`z2`$ are likely to survive without reprocessing until $`z0`$. In contrast, the ionizing spectrum at higher redshifts is modified by absorption and reemission (Fardal, Giroux, & Shull 1998).

What contribution might galaxies make to the ionizing background at low redshifts? Some suggestions have been made that insufficient numbers of ionizing photons (less than one percent) escape from galaxies for an important contribution to the ionizing background (Deharveng et al. 1997; Henry 2002), though others measure (Bland-Hawthorn & Maloney 1999; Leitherer et al. 1995; Goldader et al. 2002; Hurwitz, Jelinsky, & Van Dyke Dixon 1997) and model (Dove & Shull 1994b; Dove, Shull & Ferrara 2000) higher escape fractions between three and ten percent. Giallongo, Fontana, & Madau (1997), Shull et al. (1999) and Bianchi, Cristiani, & Kim (2001) find that star-forming galaxies could even dominate the ionizing background if at least a few percent of the ultraviolet photons escape. Some ionizing photons are likely to escape from most galaxies. Bland-Hawthorn (1998) suggests that the gas detected beyond the HI disc edge in several spiral galaxies is ionized by stellar populations within the galaxies, as the emission measures are stronger than those predicted (Maloney 1993; Dove & Shull 1994a) for an extragalactic background.

Given that many stronger Ly$`\alpha `$ absorbers are found close to galaxies, it is possible that stellar populations within galaxies make some contribution to the ultraviolet photons that ionize any nearby absorbers. Thus what is measured as ionizing background radiation may vary in intensity with location, depending upon the galaxy clustering environment or the properties, such as brightness and extinction behaviour, of any nearby galaxies. The method for simulating a fluctuating ionizing background is described in Section 2, while the resulting fluctuations are discussed in Section 3. Results of varying model parameters are discussed in Section 4, and Section 5 describes the relationship of the ionization rate fluctuations to the properties and locations of galaxies. The value of $`H_0`$ is assumed to be 100 km s-1 Mpc-1.

## 2 Method and Simulations

The simulation used here is an updated version of that first described in Linder (1998), where in each case here 12590 clustered galaxies are placed in a cube with an edge of 28.9 Mpc (except where this edge is adjusted at redshift one). Ly$`\alpha `$ absorbers arise in gas within and extending from galaxy discs, which are modelled as in Charlton, Salpeter, & Hogan (1993) and Charlton, Salpeter & Linder (1994). Each galaxy has an exponential inner disc and an outer extension where the column density declines as a power law with radius, assumed as galaxy discs are generally found to be exponential while absorbers roughly obey a power-law column density distribution at lower column densities (see Appendix A). In reality a smoother transition probably occurs, and some evidence for such a transition has been seen by Hoffman et al. (1993). The radius at which each HI disc changes from exponential to power law decline was defined previously (Linder 1998) in terms of the disc ionization edge, as little is known about this switching radius. Since the ionizing background varies here, however, it makes more sense to define this switching radius in terms of the galaxy disc scale length. Assuming the switch from exponential to power law occurs in each galaxy at a radius of four HI disc scale lengths, similar results are seen in the absorber counts arising as compared to absorber counts simulated using the previously defined switching radius.

The galaxies are chosen to have visible properties based upon observed distributions of galaxy parameters, such as a Schechter luminosity function and a flat surface brightness distribution (McGaugh 1996). The HI disc scale lengths ($`h_{HI}`$) are assumed to be proportional to the $`B`$ scale lengths ($`h_B`$), where $`h_{HI}=1.7h_B`$ to start, as this was previously found to give rise to reasonable absorber counts in Linder (1998). The gaseous properties of the galaxies can thus be related to the visible properties. This makes sense as galaxy discs are generally somewhat larger in HI than in optical images, although the HI sizes of galaxy discs also vary depending upon the location within a cluster (Cayatte et al. 1994) so that the average ratio of $`h_B/h_{HI}`$ is uncertain. Each galaxy is placed in a cube of space, where the positions are chosen to be clustered as described in Linder (2000) using a fractal type method based upon Soneira & Peebles (1978). Random lines of sight through the box can then be simulated, and an absorption line is assumed to arise when these lines of sight intersect any disc or outer extension. Neutral column densities for absorbers are found by integrating the HI density along the line of sight.

Each galaxy disc has an ionization edge, or radius beyond which no layer of neutral gas remains. The vertical ionization structure of the gas is modelled as in Linder (1998) which is similar to the model in Maloney (1993). Inside of this ionization radius, the gas is assumed to have a sandwich structure, where the inner shielded layer remains neutral and has a height ($`z_i`$) determined by equation (6) in Linder (1998). The gas above height ($`z_i`$) and beyond the ionization radius is assumed to be in ionization equilibrium where $`\alpha _{rec}n_{tot}^2=\zeta n_H`$, for a highly ionized hydrogen gas with total (neutral plus ionized) density $`n_{tot}`$ and neutral density $`n_H`$. The recombination coefficient is $`\alpha _{rec}=2.42\times 10^{13}`$ cm3 s$`{}_{}{}^{1}(T/10,000\text{K})_{}^{0.75}`$ and the gas temperature $`T`$ is assumed to be 20,000 K. The frequency- and direction-averaged ionization rate $`\zeta `$ is determined at each point in space while converging numerically upon the ionization edge (the minimum disc radius where ($`z_i=0`$)) in a self-consistent manner, and $`\zeta `$ is calculated as described below.

The intensity of ionizing radiation is allowed to vary at each point in space within the box. The ionization rate $`\zeta `$, which was previously assumed to be constant in Linder (1998; 2000), is recalculated here at each point in space, where $`\zeta =\zeta _b+\zeta _{gal}`$ and $`\zeta _b`$ is the contribution from quasars. The value of $`\zeta _{gal}`$ can be recalculated at any point within the box based upon the flux from the surrounding galaxies. The value of $`\zeta _b=3.035\times 10^{14}`$ s-1 is assumed from the calculation of Davé et al. (1999) at $`z=0`$ based upon spectra from Haardt & Madau (1996).

Bland-Hawthorn & Maloney (1999) modelled the escape of ionizing photons from our galaxy by extrapolating from a calculation of the ionizing photon surface density at the Solar Circle using nearby O stars by Vacca, Garmany, & Shull (1996). Bland-Hawthorn (1998) gives a simple estimate of the number of ionizing photons escaping from the Galaxy, where $`\phi =2\times 10^{10}e^\tau r_{kpc}^2cos^{0.6\tau +0.5}\mathrm{\Theta }`$ phot cm-2 s-1 as in the first equation of their Appendix, at some point with distance $`r`$, where $`\mathrm{\Theta }`$ is the angle from the galactic pole, and $`\tau `$ is the Lyman limit optical depth. In order to add such a radiation field to $`\zeta `$ in the units above, we need a frequency-averaged quantity which also considers the ionization cross section for hydrogen, where $`\sigma _H=6.3\times 10^{18}(\nu /\nu _0)^3`$ at frequency $`\nu `$, and $`\nu _0`$ is the Lyman limit frequency. Thus, for example, the contribution from our galaxy to $`\zeta `$ at some point at a distance $`r_{kpc}`$ from its center would be

$$\zeta _{gal,MW}=_{\nu _0}^{\mathrm{}}\phi _\nu \sigma _H𝑑\nu =\phi \sigma _H,$$
(1)
where $`\phi =_{\nu _0}^{\mathrm{}}\phi _\nu 𝑑\nu `$. The mean value for $`\sigma _H`$ is weighted by assuming that $`\phi _\nu \nu ^{\alpha _s},`$ so that

$$\zeta _{gal,MW}=\phi \sigma _H(\nu _0)\left(\frac{\alpha _s1}{\alpha _s+2}\right).$$
(2)
We assume $`\alpha _s=2.5`$, which gives $`\sigma _H=\sigma _H(\nu _0)/3`$, while Sutherland & Shull (1999) prefer a similar $`\alpha _s1.9`$ to $`2.2`$ for starburst galaxies, which would result in $`\sigma _H\sigma _H(\nu _0)/4`$.

Bland-Hawthorn & Maloney (1999) assumed that our galaxy has an axisymmetric exponential disc where the ionizing photon surface density $`n_d(r)=n_0e^{r/h}`$ for disc scale length $`h`$ and central ionizing photon surface density $`n_0`$. Integrating $`n_d(r)`$ over the disc area out to an infinite radius gives a number of ionizing photons which is proportional to $`h^2`$, while the ionizing photon surface density can also be expressed as an ionizing surface brightness ($`\mu `$) where $`n/n_0=100^{(\mu _0\mu )/5}`$. Thus we extrapolate the formula above to other galaxies by correcting for variations in central surface brightness ($`\mu _0`$) and disc scale length for galaxy $`i`$ as compared to Galactic (MW) values, by assuming that the ionizing scale lengths and central surface brightnesses are proportional to the B values. The galaxy contribution to $`\zeta `$ for some galaxy $`i`$ becomes

$$\zeta _{gal,i}=\phi \left(\frac{\sigma _H}{3}\right)10^{(\mu _{0,MW}\mu _{0,i})/5}\left(\frac{h_{B,i}}{h_{B,MW}}\right)^2.$$
(3)
At any point in space at which we wish to calculate $`\zeta `$ we sum the contributions from all the galaxies in the simulation, so that

$$\zeta _{\mathrm{gal}}=\underset{i}{}\zeta _{gal,i},$$
(4)
where galaxy $`i`$ is at a distance $`r`$, and $`\mathrm{\Theta }_i`$ is calculated for each galaxy as in Appendix B.

When calculating the ionizing intensity seen by the outer part of a galaxy, extinction from gas and dust is important in shielding absorbing gas from being ionized by the inner parts of the galaxy. Although some neutral gas must remain around galaxies which is often seen to give rise to absorption, the galaxy itself still may be the most important contributor to ionizing the gas in its outer parts. To start we assume that each galaxy disc is flat within two HI scale lengths and then warped by ten degrees beyond that value (Briggs 1990), so that the outer parts of the disc are exposed to some ionizing radiation which escapes from the inner regions.

A value of $`\tau =2.8`$ is preferred by Bland-Hawthorn (1998) when modelling our Galaxy, although the preferred value could be different as a result of an error (Bland-Hawthorn & Maloney 2001). On the other hand it has been difficult to detect any dust extinction in low surface brightness (LSB) galaxies (for example O’Neil, Bothun & Impey 1997). Little is known about the gas-to-dust ratio in LSB galaxies, although the total extinction is likely to be higher in high surface brightness (HSB) galaxies. Thus it might make sense to assume that $`\tau _i`$ is related to central surface brightness for the simulated galaxies. Thus a linear relationship was assumed where $`\tau =2.8`$ for a galaxy with a Freeman surface brightness value of $`\mu _{0,i}=21.65`$, and $`\tau =0`$ for $`\mu _{0,i}=25`$, so that $`\tau _i=0.836(\mu _{0,i}25)`$.

Shadowing, or extinction from gas between an absorber and a given ionizing source, is not taken into account as this would require substantially more computing time. This is a reasonable approximation in the sense that the universe is optically thin at redshifts $`<2`$ (Haardt & Madau 1996) Shadowing could make the calculated $`\zeta `$ values slightly lower in some cases, although typically the second closest galaxy to an absorber contributes only a few percent of the ultraviolet flux that the closest galaxy contributes.

Starburst galaxies are not treated as emitting differently from other galaxies within the simulation, although the galaxy population is chosen within the simulation to be consistent with the observed optical galaxy luminosity function and thus does not exclude the existence of such objects. Some of the more luminous galaxies may have a clumpy distribution of dust, which might allow for a larger fraction of their ionizing photons to escape as compared to other galaxies. There could be an additional population of infrared selected galaxies that would not be included within the luminosity function simulated here. Although these galaxies also might make some contribution to the ionizing background, a fairly small fraction of ultraviolet photons are thought to escape from them (Goldader et al. 2002).

Assuming the conversion between the intensity at the Lyman limit and the one-sided flux seen by galaxies, as defined in Tumlinson et al. (1999), the first simulation, as illustrated in the figures, gives rise to a number of Lyman limit absorbers per unit redshift $`(dN/dz)_{0,LL}=3.67`$ when the number density of galaxies is adjusted to produce $`(dN/dz)_0=24.3`$ for forest absorbers as in Bahcall et al. (1996). The number density of galaxies used here is found to remain consistent with observed galaxy luminosity functions as discussed in Linder (1998). The observed values for $`(dN/dz)_{0,LL}`$ tend to be $`1`$ or lower (Lanzetta, Wolfe, & Turnshek 1995b; Storrie Lombardi et al. 1994; Stengler-Larrea et al. 1995). Adjusting the switching radius does not substantially change the number of Lyman limit absorbers, as these absorbers still arise largely in the exponential parts of the discs. However, if the scale length ratio $`h_{H1}/h_B`$ is decreased to $`1.2`$ then a more realistic number of Lyman limit absorbers arises as seen in Table 2. In this case an extra population of weaker absorbers would be needed in order to produce the observed $`(dN/dz)_0`$. However most Ly$`\alpha `$ absorbers, including even the weakest ones, are found to trace the large scale galaxy distribution, so that they are likely to arise in gas which is about as close to galaxies as that in the first simulation. However this absorbing gas could be higher above the planes of galaxy discs and thus be even more highly ionized, as in the fifth simulation shown in Table 2. Alternatively the additional absorbers could behave more like randomly distributed points, in which case they would have a distribution of ionization rates similar to that for the first simulation, as illustrated in Fig. 1.

Another possibility is that Lyman limit absorbers arise only around luminous, high surface brightness galaxies. Observers have also questioned whether galaxies which are low in luminosity and/or surface brightness give rise to Lyman limit absorption (McLin, Giroux, & Stocke 1998; Steidel 1995; Steidel et al. 1997; Bergeron & Boissé 1991), although such objects are being found to give rise to stronger damped Ly$`\alpha `$ absorption (Cohen 2001; Turnshek et al. 2000; Bowen, Tripp, & Jenkins 2001). Some possible explanations include gas being blown out more easily from less massive galaxies as suggested by McLin et al. (1998), differences in the column density profiles in the outer parts of LSB galaxies compared to what is simulated here, a slightly steeper neutral column density distribution compared to the $`N_{HI}^{1.5}`$ assumed here, and/or a galaxy surface brightness distribution which allows for fewer moderate to large sized LSB galaxies compared to the flat surface brightness distribution simulated here. Other possible scenarios and implications for the nature of Ly$`\alpha `$ absorbers will be discussed further in a future paper.

## 3 Ionization Rate Fluctuations

A further understanding of the fluctuations in the ionizing background intensity due to galaxies is important for numerous reasons. First of all, the fluctuations need to be understood as a source of uncertainty in measuring the overall background intensity. Histograms of values for the ionization rate $`\zeta `$ are shown in Fig. 1 for the first simulation, and are shown both for Ly$`\alpha `$ absorbers ($`N_{HI}>10^{12}`$ cm-2) and for random points in the box. The histograms are shown along with the $`z=0`$ quasar value from Davé et al. (1999), based upon Haardt & Madau (1996) spectra, which is the assumed minimal value for $`\zeta `$.

Absorbers see higher $`\zeta `$ values somewhat more often than randomly chosen points, as absorbers arise on average closer to galaxies. Overall the ionization rate seen by Ly$`\alpha `$ absorbers at $`z=0`$ varies over about a factor of about two in this simulation. None of the absorbers or random points are exposed to ionization rates which are within about ten percent of the minimal assumed background, although extinction from gas between the absorbers and their ionization sources is not modelled here, so that in reality there may be a few. Most often both the random points and absorbers have $`\zeta `$ values which are about a factor of 1.4 larger than $`\zeta _b`$. Varying the spectral index of the contribution from these nearby galaxies to $`\alpha _s2`$ would simply move this peak to $`\zeta 1.3\zeta _b`$. Points with the largest values of $`\zeta `$ tend to arise at quite low impact parameters from the centres of galaxies, as will be seen in Fig. 4.

Also shown in Fig. 1 is the measurement from Scott et al. (2002) for $`z<1`$. This measurement has error bars which are large compared to the range of $`\zeta `$ values shown in this plot, and the lower error bar would be at a slightly higher value than the peak of the plotted histogram, although an extra contribution from star-forming galaxies would move the calculated peak within the measurement error bars. While the galaxies are simulated here at $`z0`$, the ionization rate is seen to evolve only by $`<0.2`$ orders of magnitude between the Scott et al. (2002) measurements at $`z<1`$ and $`z>1`$. According to the redshift evolution model they fit, where the background intensity evolves as $`(1+z)^{0.017}`$, there would be even less difference expected between their measurement for $`z<1`$ and what would be expected at $`z0`$. This could mean that more ionizing radiation escapes from galaxies than is assumed here, although it is more likely that this power law model does not describe the evolution in the ionizing background very well down to $`z0`$. However, an additional uniform contribution could also come from galaxies at redshifts $`<2`$, as the universe is optically thin to ionizing photons at these redshifts. Such a contribution would likely be $`\zeta _b`$, as calculated for star-forming galaxies (Giallongo et al. 1997; Shull et al. 1999; Bianchi et al. 2001). Another possible contribution could come from gas in the intragroup medium (Maloney & Bland-Hawthorn 1999; 2001). On the other hand, the other previously mentioned low redshift measurements also tend to be consistent with $`\zeta `$ values closer to the assumed $`\zeta _b`$, so the value at $`z=0`$ need not be as large as the Scott et al. (2002) measurement.

While the background intensity detected using the proximity effect is likely to be the most common value in a peaked distribution like the one found here, other values could be seen, for example, when making measurements of the ionization rate around a galaxy in an unusual environment.

Distributions of $`\zeta `$ values for absorbers are shown in Fig. 2, where the limiting neutral column density for absorbers is varied. It can be seen that more high $`\zeta `$ values arise for stronger absorbers, as these arise on average closer to galaxies. The average $`\mathrm{log}\zeta `$ value increases only slightly with limiting $`N_{HI}`$ however, but the distributions become much less strongly peaked due to larger tails of high $`\zeta `$ values, as shown in Table 1.

Values of $`\zeta `$ are plotted versus neutral column density ($`N_{HI}`$) for absorbers in Fig. 3. Different numbers of simulated points are plotted in different regions of the plot in order to reduce saturation for low $`\zeta `$ values and to show more detail for absorbers with high $`N_{HI}`$. Again the minimum assumed $`\zeta =\zeta _b`$ produces a cutoff on the left side of the plot. Few points are seen with $`N_{HI}10^{18}`$ to $`10^{19}`$, which is related to the galaxy disc ionization edges where $`N_{HI}`$ falls off quickly with increasing radius around these values. It can be seen that absorbers with a wide range of $`N_{HI}`$ can be exposed to a wide range of ionization rates. Even more absorbers with a wide range of higher $`\zeta `$ values would be seen for a wide range of $`N_{HI}`$ if more ionizing photons were allowed to escape from galaxies in the simulation. This happens even though one might expect absorbers exposed to large $`\zeta `$ to be ionized away or seen only at lower values of $`N_{HI}`$. High $`N_{HI}`$ values with high $`\zeta `$ still arise, as the galaxies are simulated with a full range of disc inclinations.

Occasionally voids are reported in the Ly$`\alpha `$ forest (Crotts 1987; Dobrzycki & Bechtold 1991; Cristiani et al. 1995), and there is the possibility that variations in the ionizing background might contribute to such voids. However at this time numbers of voids beyond what would be expected for a random absorber population have not yet been detected for voids smaller than the box size simulated here (Williger 2002).

## 4 Model Parameter Variations

Several model parameters were varied in further simulations as described in Table 2. The number of Lyman alpha absorbers having $`N_{HI}>10^{14.3}`$ cm-2, the number of Lyman limit systems, and the mean and standard deviation $`\sigma `$ for $`\mathrm{log}\zeta `$ are shown for each simulation. In each case the mode for the distribution of $`\mathrm{log}\zeta `$ is very close in value to the mean. In cases where $`\sigma `$ is relatively large, there tends to be a more substantial tail of points having high $`\zeta `$ values. The optical depth $`\tau `$ was varied in order to explore the uncertainty range in the fraction of ionizing photons escaping from galaxies. The value of $`\tau =2.8`$, preferred for our Galaxy by Bland-Hawthorn (1998), corresponds to a direction-averaged escape fraction of $`2`$ percent of the ionizing photons (Bland-Hawthorn & Maloney 2001). In the first simulation, it is assumed that $`\tau `$ is dependent upon galaxy central surface brightness as discussed above, while in the second simulation we assume $`\tau =2.8`$ for all galaxies. In the third simulation $`\tau =3.5`$ is used for all galaxies in order to produce an escape fraction of $`1`$ percent, while $`\tau =1.5`$ is used for all galaxies in the fourth simulation, giving an escape fraction $`10`$ percent. A similar distribution for $`\zeta `$ arises when the value $`\tau =2.8`$ is assumed for all galaxies as compared to the first simulation. The mean and mode values of $`\mathrm{log}\zeta `$ correspond to $`1.38\zeta _b`$ in the first simulation, $`1.23\zeta _b`$ in the second simulation, $`1.11\zeta _b`$ where $`\tau =3.5`$, and $`1.95\zeta _b`$ where $`\tau =1.5`$. Thus the uncertainty in the fraction of ionizing photons escaping from galaxies means that normal galaxies could contribute between ten percent of the quasar background and an amount about equal to the quasar background.

The typical disc warping angle, which is also rather uncertain, was also varied as shown in the fifth simulation in Table 2. Bland-Hawthorn (1998) has suggested, for example, that there may be a selection bias against detecting highly warped discs in HI because they become more highly ionized by the stars within the galaxy. When the disc warping angle is increased to $`25^o`$ then a slightly higher mean $`\mathrm{log}\zeta `$ is seen, as more ionizing photons escape higher above the plane of a disc. However the absorbers even in this case are not generally far above the plane of the disc, as the disc is only warped beyond two HI scale lengths.

The distributions in ionization rates seen in the simulations here are generally quite strongly peaked, although there may be more absorbers with high $`\zeta `$ if there is substantial absorbing gas above the planes of galaxy discs. The contribution to the ionization rate varies by a factor of $`45`$ for the Bland-Hawthorn (1998) model between polar angles of $`0^o`$ and $`80^o`$ at some distance from a galaxy with $`\tau =2.8`$. An additional simulation was done where absorbers arise in galaxy haloes with column density profiles obeying equation (24) from Chen et al. (1998). While the absorbing gas is not modeled in this case, the distribution of ionization parameters is found to be similar to that seen in the fifth simulation (where the warping angle $`=25^o`$). Even in this case, however, or for randomly chosen points, or in any case where absorbers arise in random directions relative to galaxies, few of the points or absorbers will arise close to the galactic poles.

The sixth simulation was done with a reduced $`h_{21}/h_B=1.2`$ in order to illustrate a scenario with a more realistic number of Lyman limit absorbers. In this case the mean $`\mathrm{log}\zeta `$ is slightly lower compared to the first simulation because the simulated absorbers arise typically somewhat closer to the centres of galaxies within the warped outer discs, so that they arise closer to the planes of the discs. In order to make such a scenario realistic, however, an additional population of low column density absorbers would be needed to account for the observed $`(dN/dz)_0`$ as in Bahcall et al. (1996). The additional absorbers could either arise far from luminous galaxies and thus behave more like the random points illustrated in Fig. 1, or they could arise higher above galactic planes where they could be more highly ionized.

A simulation was also run at redshift one by decreasing the box size by a factor of $`(1+z)`$ and assuming $`\zeta _b=3.33\times 10^{13}`$ s-1, again based upon the calculations of Davé et al. (1999) and Haardt & Madau (1996) at $`z=1`$. Any inconsistency might indicate some galaxy luminosity evolution and/or require more photons to escape from galaxies at $`z=1`$, although the $`\zeta `$ distribution was found to be peaked at $`3.7\times 10^{13}`$ s-1, which is between the Scott et al. (2002) measurements for $`z<1`$ and $`z>1`$.

## 5 Relationship to Galaxies

Understanding how the ionizing background varies with galactic environment will be important for understanding what kinds of objects give rise to Ly$`\alpha `$ absorption, and in which environments Ly$`\alpha `$ absorption is most likely to arise. Tripp et al. (1998) suggest that no absorption is found near a galaxy cluster due to increased ionization. Fluctuations in the ionizing background may also allow for substantial variations in the environments affecting galaxy formation processes. For example, it has been suggested that dwarf galaxies may form less easily in an intense radiation field (Tully et al. 2002; Efstathiou 1992; Quinn, Katz, & Efstathiou 1996; but see the discussion in Sabatini et al. 2003).

In order to attempt to parametrize the galaxy clustering environment, in Fig. 4 $`\zeta `$ values are plotted (again for the first simulation) versus the average distance to the nearest four galaxies having $`M_B<16`$, as observers are generally unable to detect less luminous galaxies around even the nearest absorbers. Again here and in the next two figures, different numbers of simulated points are plotted for $`\mathrm{log}\zeta <13.3`$ values in order to reduce the saturation in the plot. The nearest four galaxies are used because the ionizing background is likely to be somewhat higher even in a group environment in addition to being higher in a rich cluster. The shapes of the plotted points give more information about the nearest single galaxy with $`M_B<16`$. The $`\zeta `$ values are shown for absorbers with $`N_{HI}>10^{12}`$ cm-2. Most of the points with $`\zeta \zeta _b`$ are far from luminous galaxies, while those with higher $`\zeta `$ arise more often closer to luminous galaxies. However, selection effects against LSB galaxies may make this correlation less clearly visible to an observer. Some higher $`\zeta `$ values can arise even far from luminous galaxies, however, as it was assumed that some ionizing radiation escapes even from dwarf galaxies which are not assumed to be strongly clustered. Still the presence of any luminous galaxy may have a more important effect on the ionization rate rather than the overall clustering environment, as large $`\zeta `$ values tend to arise more often when a luminous galaxy is within 200 kpc.

In Figs. 5 and 6, $`\zeta `$ values are plotted versus galaxy luminosity and central surface brightness for each absorber, where their associated galaxies are known from the simulation. (Note that an observer might identify a different galaxy as associated with an absorber, as discussed in Linder (2000).) Points are seen to lie on horizontal lines in either plot, as galaxies which are luminous or moderately low in surface brightness are assumed to have large absorption cross sections for their surrounding gas and give rise to numerous absorbers within the simulation. It can be seen in either plot that absorbers arising around galaxies with a wide range of properties are exposed to a wide range of ionization rates. Thus variations in $`\zeta `$ happen around particular galaxies, although these galaxies can have a wide range of properties. High $`\zeta `$ values will be seen most often in locations where absorbers arise most often, such as those close to luminous galaxies. Yet many more faint galaxies exist, where some absorbers with high $`\zeta `$ values can also be seen, and no evidence is seen for a variation in the average $`\zeta `$ values with galaxy luminosity or surface brightness.

The ionization rate tends to be higher close to galaxies and in regions of higher galaxy density where Ly$`\alpha `$ absorbers often arise, but how much is the intergalactic medium affected on average by ionizing radiation from galaxies? The lowest $`\zeta `$ values tend to be seen when looking as far as possible from a luminous galaxy, as can be seen in Fig. 7. A fall-off can be seen in the average $`\zeta `$ value with impact parameter from a galaxy with $`M_B<16`$, and such a fall-off appears to be steeper for more luminous galaxies. Again this plot may be affected by luminous galaxies having more absorbers with high $`\zeta `$ values around them simply because more absorbing gas is assumed to be located around luminous galaxies.

A less biased view of the ionization of the intergalactic medium can be seen from looking at a similar plot of the average $`\zeta `$ value versus impact parameter to the nearest galaxy for random points rather than absorbers, as shown in Fig. 8. While it becomes even more difficult here to simulate points which are very close to galaxies, it can be seen even more clearly that the intergalactic medium is more highly ionized at points which are closer to more luminous galaxies. While Fig. 7 is a prediction of what observers might see if they are able to measure $`\zeta `$ for numerous absorbers, Fig. 8 is a better representation of how the ionization of the intergalactic medium could be simulated.

## 6 Conclusions

Normal galaxies are likely to contribute at least thirty to forty percent of what quasars do to the ionizing background of Lyman continuum photons at zero redshift, assuming that ionizing photons escape from other galaxies in an analogous manner to the Bland-Hawthorn (1998) model of our Galaxy where $`2`$ percent of ionizing photons escape. Allowing for some uncertainty in this direction-averaged ionizing photon escape fraction, assuming that between $`1`$ and $`10`$ percent of ionizing photons escape means that the contribution to the ionizing background from normal galaxies could be between $`10`$ and $`100`$ percent of the assumed quasar contribution. This ultraviolet background is important for ionizing gas surrounding galaxies and within the intergalactic medium. This gas gives rise to Ly$`\alpha `$ absorption and makes an uncertain contribution to the baryon content in the local universe due to uncertainties in ionization intensities and mechanisms.

Distant quasars at somewhat higher redshifts will ionize the low redshift universe in a relatively uniform manner, but ionizing radiation escaping from normal galaxies at low redshift will result in local fluctuations in the ionizing background. Fluctuations have been found in the ionization rate of gas around simulated galaxies, which will give rise to variations in the neutral gas fractions in Ly$`\alpha `$ absorbers with a wide range of neutral column densities. A wide range of ionization rates are found to arise close to galaxies having a wide range of properties, but normal galaxies also play an important role in ionizing the more distant intergalactic medium. Ionization rates for absorbers are found to be about twice as high as the quasar background on average when looking at $`200`$ kpc from a luminous galaxy, about 1.4 times the quasar background when looking at $`1`$ to 2 Mpc from a luminous galaxy, and only as little as $`1.1`$ times the quasar background when looking as far as possible from luminous galaxies. Luminous star forming galaxies, which may contain rather clumpy dust and thus have more complex extinction behaviour than was modelled here, will also give rise to both local and larger scale fluctuations in the ionizing background.

Fluctuations in the ionizing background may have implications for the formation and evolution, and our ability to detect, smaller objects located near luminous galaxies, such as dwarf galaxies and high velocity clouds. Such fluctuations will also give rise to variations in galaxy disc ionization edges, which will have implications for the column density distribution of Lyman limit absorbers. Fluctuations in the ionizing background may also have some implications for the nature of Ly$`\alpha `$ absorbers and their relationship to galaxies. If galaxies play an important role in ionizing the gas around them, gas which must make some contribution to Ly$`\alpha `$ absorption, then further constraints may be made on models for galaxies giving rise to absorption. Gas which is too close to a luminous galaxy, and in particular that located far above the plane of the disc, will be exposed to more ionizing radiation than absorbing gas which is ionized largely by a quasar background, possibly reducing the number density of absorbers that will arise in such environments. Variations in the fractions of ionizing radiation that escape from galaxies with various properties may be important for determining what kinds of galaxies can give rise to absorption. A further understanding of the distribution of ionization rates will enable us to learn more about chemical abundances using metal absorption line systems.

The fluctuations in the ionizing background are not seen to be substantial in the simulations here however, although most absorbers are assumed to arise fairly close to the planes of galaxy discs. Larger variations in the photoionization rates would only be seen if substantial amounts of absorbing gas are concentrated above galactic poles, although in this case the gas might include components which are ejected from the galaxies so that collisional ionization processes might also be important.

## Acknowledgments

We are grateful to R. Davé, S. Eales, and J. Scott for valuable discussions and to J. Charlton and the referee, S. Bianchi, for careful reading and helpful suggestions for improving the manuscript.

## Appendix A Relationship between the Column Density Profile in a Disc and the Column Density Distribution

Suppose absorbers arise in the outer parts of galaxy discs, where the column density $`N_{HI}`$ in each disc falls off with radius $`r`$ as a power law where $`N_{HI}r^p`$. The neutral column density distribution $`d𝒩/dN_{HI}`$ resulting from these absorbers in then $`d𝒩/dN_{HI}=d𝒩/dr\times dr/dN_{HI}=2\pi r\times dr/dN_{HI}`$. Since $`dN_{HI}/drr^{(p+1)}`$ from the assumed column density profile then $`d𝒩/dN_{HI}r^{(p+2)}(N_{HI}^{1/p})^{(p+2)}`$. Thus when the neutral column density distribution in each outer disc falls off as a power law with exponent $`p`$, then the resulting neutral column density distribution is also a power law having exponent $`ϵ`$, where $`d𝒩/dN_{HI}N_{HI}^ϵN_{HI}^{(p+2)/p}`$ and $`p=2/(ϵ1)`$.

## Appendix B Polar Angle Calculation

At a point $`(x,y,z)`$ in space where the ionization rate is calculated, each galaxy $`i`$ contributes emission which is seen at angle $`\mathrm{\Theta }_i(\pi /2)`$ from the galaxy’s pole. Each galaxy has a randomly simulated inclination $`\theta `$ between the disc plane and the $`z`$-axis, thus chosen from a uniform distribution in $`\mathrm{cos}\theta `$, and a random orientation $`\varphi `$, where $`0\varphi <2\pi `$.

The angle between the galaxy’s rotation axis given by the vector $`𝐯`$ and the line given by the vector $`𝐝=(xx_i,yy_i,zz_i)`$ equals

$`\mathrm{min}(\mathrm{}(𝐯,𝐝),\mathrm{}(𝐯,𝐝))`$
$`=`$ $`\mathrm{min}(\mathrm{cos}^1\left({\displaystyle \frac{𝐯,𝐝}{𝐯𝐝}}\right),\mathrm{cos}^1\left({\displaystyle \frac{𝐯,𝐝}{𝐯𝐝}}\right))`$
$`=`$ $`\mathrm{cos}^1\left({\displaystyle \frac{|𝐯,𝐝|}{𝐯𝐝}}\right)`$
$`=`$ $`\mathrm{cos}^1\left({\displaystyle \frac{|v_xd_x+v_yd_y+v_zd_z|}{𝐯𝐝}}\right).`$
This angle is always in the interval $`[0,\pi /2].`$ Here $`𝐝=\sqrt{d_x^2+d_y^2+d_z^2}`$. The vector $`𝐯`$ is produced by rotating the vector $`(0,0,1)`$ first by $`\pi /2\theta `$ in the $`xz`$-plane, which gives the vector $`(\mathrm{cos}\theta ,0,\mathrm{sin}\theta )`$, and then rotating by angle $`\varphi `$ in the $`xy`$-plane, which gives the vector $`(\mathrm{cos}\theta \mathrm{cos}\varphi ,\mathrm{cos}\theta \mathrm{sin}\varphi ,\mathrm{sin}\varphi ).`$ Hence $`𝐯=1`$.

The polar angle is thus

$$\mathrm{\Theta }_i=\mathrm{cos}^1\left(\frac{|d_x\mathrm{cos}\theta \mathrm{cos}\varphi d_y\mathrm{cos}\theta \mathrm{sin}\varphi +d_z\mathrm{sin}\theta |}{(d_x^2+d_y^2+d_z^2)^{1/2}}\right)$$
(5)
where

$`d_x=xx_i`$ (6)
$`d_y=yy_i`$ (7)
$`d_z=zz_i`$ (8)
for galaxy $`i`$ centred at $`(x_i,y_i,z_i)`$.