 Cooling suppression by photoionization

Photoionization changes the ion population, often removing bound-state coolants at temperatures where collisional equilibrium would retain them. It can therefore suppress primordial line-cooling peaks. It also supplies photoionization heating. The net loss is cooling minus heating and depends on radiation spectrum, intensity, shielding and gas density. A universal density-independent function of temperature alone is not generally sufficient for irradiated gas.