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Description
We present results of a deep spectroscopic survey quantifying the statistics of the escape of ionizing radiation from star-forming galaxies at z~3. We measure the ratio of ionizing to non-ionizing UV flux density <f_900_/f_1500_>_obs_, where f_900_ is the mean flux density evaluated over the range [880,910]{AA}. We quantify the emergent ratio of ionizing to non-ionizing UV flux density by analyzing high signal-to-noise ratio composite spectra formed from subsamples with common observed properties and numbers sufficient to reduce the statistical uncertainty in the modeled IGM+CGM correction to obtain precise values of <f_900_/f_1500_>_out_, including a full-sample average <f_900_/f_1500>_out_=0.057{+/-}0.006. We show that <f_900_/f_1500_>_out_ increases monotonically with W_{lambda}_(Ly{alpha}), inducing an inverse correlation with UV luminosity as a by-product. We fit the composite spectra using stellar spectral synthesis together with models of the ISM in which a fraction f_c_ of the stellar continuum is covered by gas with column density N_HI_. We show that the composite spectra simultaneously constrain the intrinsic properties of the stars (L_900_/L_1500_)_int_ along with f_c_, N_HI_, E(B-V), and f_esc,abs_, the absolute escape fraction of ionizing photons. We find a sample-averaged f_esc,abs_=0.09{+/-}0.01, with subsamples falling along a linear relation <f_esc,abs_>~0.75[W_{lambda}_(Ly{alpha})/110{AA}]. Using the far-UV luminosity function, the distribution function n(W(Ly{alpha})), and the relationship between W_{lambda}_(Ly{alpha}) and <f_900_/f_1500_>_out_, we estimate the total ionizing emissivity of z~3 star-forming galaxies with M_uv_<=-19.5, which exceeds the contribution of quasi-stellar objects by a factor of ~3, and accounts for ~50% of the total {epsilon}LyC at z~3 estimated using indirect methods.
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