Propagation of the ionizing radiations leaked out of bright H II regions into the diffuse interstellar medium

Diffuse ionized gas (DIG or warm ionized medium, WIM) outside traditional regions is a major component of the interstellar medium (ISM) not only in our Galaxy, but also in other galaxies. It is generally believed that major fraction of the Halpha emission in the DIG is provided by OB stars. In the "standard" photoionization models, the Lyman continuum photons escaping from bright H II regions is the dominant source responsible for ionizing the DIG. Then, a complex density structure must provide the low-density paths that allow the photons to traverse kiloparsec scales and ionize the gas far from the OB stars not only at large heights above the midplane, but also within a galactic plane. Here, I present Monte-Carlo models to examine the propagation of the ionizing radiation leaked out of traditional H II regions into the diffuse ISM applied to two face-on spirals M 51 and NGC 7424. We find that the "standard" scenario requires absorption too unrealistically small to be believed, but the obtained scale-height of the galactic disk is consistent with those of edge-on galaxies. We also report that the probability density functions of the Halpha intensities of the DIG and H II regions in the galaxies are log-normal, indicating the turbulence property of the ISM.