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The cosmic ionizing emissivity from star-forming galaxies has long been anchored to UV luminosity functions. Here, we introduce an emissivity framework based on Lyα emitters (LAEs), which naturally hones in on the subset of galaxies responsible for the ionizing background due to the intimate connection between production and escape of Lyα and LyC photons. Using constraints on the escape fractions of bright LAEs (LLyα > 0.2L*) at z ≈ 2 obtained from resolved Lyα profiles, and arguing for their redshift-invariance, we show that: (i) quasars and LAEs together reproduce the relatively flat emissivity at z ≈ 2–6, which is non-trivial given the strong evolution in both the star formation density and quasar number density at these epochs and (ii) LAEs produce late and rapid reionization between z ≈ 6−9 under plausible assumptions. Within this framework, the >10 × rise in the UV population-averaged fesc between z ≈ 3–7 naturally arises due to the same phenomena that drive the growing LAE fraction with redshift. Generally, a LAE dominated emissivity yields a peak in the distribution of the ionizing budget with UV luminosity as reported in latest simulations. Using our adopted parameters ($f_{\rm {esc}}=50{{\ \rm per\ cent}}$, ξion = 1025.9 Hz erg−1 for half the bright LAEs), a highly ionizing minority of galaxies with MUV < −17 accounts for the entire ionizing budget from star-forming galaxies. Rapid flashes of LyC from such rare galaxies produce a ‘disco’ ionizing background. We conclude proposing tests to further develop our suggested Lyα-anchored formalism.

The ionizing photon escape fraction [Lyman continuum (LyC) fesc] of star-forming galaxies is the single greatest unknown in the reionization budget. Stochastic sightline effects prohibit the direct separation of LyC leakers from non-leakers at significant redshifts. Here we circumvent this uncertainty by inferring fesc using resolved (R > 4000) Lyman α (Lyα) profiles from the X-SHOOTER Lyα survey at z = 2 (XLS-z2). With empirically motivated criteria, we use Lyα profiles to select leakers ($f_{\mathrm{ esc}} > 20{{\ \rm per\ cent}}$) and non-leakers ($f_{\mathrm{ esc}} < 5{{\ \rm per\ cent}}$) from a representative sample of >0.2L* Lyman α emitters (LAEs). We use median stacked spectra of these subsets over λrest ≈ 1000–8000 Å to investigate the conditions for LyC fesc. Our stacks show similar mass, metallicity, MUV, and βUV. We find the following differences between leakers versus non-leakers: (i) strong nebular C iv and He ii emission versus non-detections; (ii) [O iii]/[O ii] ≈ 8.5 versus ≈3; (iii) Hα/Hβ indicating no dust versus E(B − V) ≈ 0.3; (iv) Mg ii emission close to the systemic velocity versus redshifted, optically thick Mg ii; and (v) Lyα fesc of ${\approx} 50{{\ \rm per\ cent}}$ versus ${\approx} 10{{\ \rm per\ cent}}$. The extreme equivalent widths (EWs) in leakers ([O iii]+$\mathrm{ H}\beta \approx 1100$ Å rest frame) constrain the characteristic time-scale of LyC escape to ≈3–10 Myr bursts when short-lived stars with the hardest ionizing spectra shine. The defining traits of leakers – extremely ionizing stellar populations, low column densities, a dust-free, high-ionization state interstellar medium (ISM) – occur simultaneously in the $f_{\rm esc} > 20{{\ \rm per\ cent}}$ stack, suggesting they are causally connected, and motivating why indicators like [O iii]/[O ii] may suffice to constrain fesc at z > 6 with the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). The leakers comprise half of our sample, have a median LyC$f_{\rm esc} \approx 50{{\ \rm per\ cent}}$ (conservative range: $20\!-\!55{{\ \rm per\ cent}}$), and an ionizing production efficiency $\log ({\xi _{\rm {ion}}/\rm {Hz\ erg^{-1}}})\approx 25.9$ (conservative range: 25.7–25.9). These results show LAEs – the type of galaxies rare at z ≈ 2, but that become the norm at higher redshift – are highly efficient ionizers, with extreme ξion and prolific fesc occurring in sync.

Far-ultraviolet (FUV; ∼1200–2000 Å) spectra are fundamental to our understanding of star-forming galaxies, providing a unique window on massive stellar populations, chemical evolution, feedback processes, and reionization. The launch of the James Webb Space Telescope will soon usher in a new era, pushing the UV spectroscopic frontier to higher redshifts than ever before; however, its success hinges on a comprehensive understanding of the massive star populations and gas conditions that power the observed UV spectral features. This requires a level of detail that is only possible with a combination of ample wavelength coverage, signal-to-noise, spectral-resolution, and sample diversity that has not yet been achieved by any FUV spectral database. We present the Cosmic Origins Spectrograph Legacy Spectroscopic Survey (CLASSY) treasury and its first high-level science product, the CLASSY atlas. CLASSY builds on the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) archive to construct the first high-quality (S/N_{1500 Å}≳ 5/resel), high-resolution (R∼ 15,000) FUV spectral database of 45 nearby (0.002 <z< 0.182) star-forming galaxies. The CLASSY atlas, available to the public via the CLASSY website, is the result of optimally extracting and coadding 170 archival+new spectra from 312 orbits of HST observations. The CLASSY sample covers a broad range of properties including stellar mass (6.2 < logM_⋆(M_⊙) < 10.1), star formation rate (−2.0 < log SFR (M_⊙yr⁻¹) < +1.6), direct gas-phase metallicity (7.0 < 12+log(O/H) < 8.8), ionization (0.5 < O₃₂< 38.0), reddening (0.02 <E(B−V) < 0.67), and nebular density (10 <n_e(cm⁻³) < 1120). CLASSY is biased to UV-bright star-forming galaxies, resulting in a sample that is consistent with thez∼ 0 mass–metallicity relationship, but is offset to higher star formation rates by roughly 2 dex, similar toz≳ 2 galaxies. This unique set of properties makes the CLASSY atlas the benchmark training set for star-forming galaxies across cosmic time.