Heating and Ionization of the Intergalactic Medium by an Early X-Ray Background

Observational studies indicate that the intergalactic medium (IGM) is highly ionized up to redshifts just over 6. A number of models have been developed to describe the process of reionization and the effects of the ionizing photons from the first luminous objects. In this paper we study the impact of an X-ray background, such as high-energy photons from early quasars, on the temperature and ionization of the IGM prior to reionization, before the fully ionized bubbles associated with individual sources have overlapped. X-rays have large mean free paths relative to EUV photons, and their photoelectrons can have significant effects on the thermal and ionization balance. We find that hydrogen ionization is dominated by the X-ray photoionization of neutral helium and the resulting secondary electrons. Thus, the IGM may have been warm and weakly ionized prior to full reionization. We examine several related consequences, including the filtering of the baryonic Jeans mass scale, signatures in the cosmic microwave background, and the H^--catalyzed production of molecular hydrogen.