The escape fraction of ionizing photons from galaxies at z=0-6

The escape fraction of ionizing photons from galaxies is a crucial quantity controlling the cosmic ionizing background radiation and the reionization. Various estimates of this parameter can be obtained in the redshift range z = 0-6, either from direct observations or from the observed ionizing background intensities. We compare them homogeneously in terms of the observed flux density ratio of ionizing (similar to 900 angstrom rest-frame) to non-ionizing ultraviolet (similar to 1500 angstrom rest-frame) corrected for the intergalactic absorption. The escape fraction is found to increase by an order of magnitude, from a value less than 0.01 at z less than or similar to 1 to about 0.1 at z greater than or similar to 4.