Abstract We present self-consistent radiation hydrodynamic simulations of hydrogen reionization performed with arepo-rt complemented by a state-of-the-art galaxy formation model. We examine how photoheating feedback, due to reionization, shapes the galaxies properties. Our fiducial model completes reionization by z ≈ 6 and matches observations of the Ly α forest, the cosmic microwave background electron scattering optical depth, the high-redshift ultraviolet (UV) luminosity function, and stellar mass function. Contrary to previous works, photoheating suppresses star formation rates by more than $50{{\ \rm per\ cent}}$ only in haloes less massive than ∼108.4 M⊙ (∼108.8 M⊙) at z = 6 (z = 5), suggesting inefficient photoheating feedback from photons within galaxies. The use of a uniform UV background that heats up the gas at z ≈ 10.7 generates an earlier onset of suppression of star formation compared to our fiducial model. This discrepancy can be mitigated by adopting a UV background model with a more realistic reionization history. In the absence of stellar feedback, photoheating alone is only able to quench haloes less massive than ∼109 M⊙ at z ≳ 5, implying that photoheating feedback is sub-dominant in regulating star formation. In addition, stellar feedback, implemented as a non-local galactic wind scheme in the simulations, weakens the strength of photoheating feedback by reducing the amount of stellar sources. Most importantly, photoheating does not leave observable imprints in the UV luminosity function, stellar mass function, or the cosmic star formation rate density. The feasibility of using these observables to detect imprints of reionization therefore requires further investigation.
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thesan-hr : how does reionization impact early galaxy evolution?
The feedback loop between the galaxies producing the background radiation field for reionization and their growth is crucial, particularly for low-mass haloes. Despite this, the vast majority of galaxy formation studies employ a spatially uniform, time-varying reionizing background, with the majority of reionization studies employing galaxy formation models only required to work at high redshift. This paper uses the well-studied TNG galaxy formation model, calibrated at low redshift, coupled to the arepo-rt code, to self-consistently solve the coupled problems of galaxy evolution and reionization, evaluating the impact of patchy (and slow) reionization on early galaxies. thesan-hr is an extension of the thesan project to higher resolution (a factor of 50 increase, with a baryonic mass of mb ≈ 104 M⊙), to additionally enable the study of ‘mini-haloes’ with virial temperatures Tvir < 104 K. Comparing the self-consistent model to a uniform UV background, we show that galaxies in thesan-hr are predicted to be larger in physical extent (by a factor ∼2), less metal enriched (by ∼0.2 dex), and less abundant (by a factor ∼10 at M1500 = − 10) by z = 5. We show that differences in star formation and enrichment patterns lead to significantly different predictions for star formation in low mass haloes, low-metallicity star formation, and even the occupation fraction of haloes. We posit that cosmological galaxy formation simulations aiming to study early galaxy formation (z ≳ 3) must employ a spatially inhomogeneous UV background to accurately reproduce galaxy properties.
more » « less- PAR ID:
- 10463838
- Publisher / Repository:
- Oxford University Press
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
- Volume:
- 525
- Issue:
- 4
- ISSN:
- 0035-8711
- Format(s):
- Medium: X Size: p. 5932-5950
- Size(s):
- p. 5932-5950
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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ABSTRACT We investigate galaxy sizes at redshift $z\gtrsim 6$ with the cosmological radiation-magnetohydrodynamic simulation suite thesan(-hr). These simulations simultaneously capture reionization of the large-scale intergalactic medium and resolved galaxy properties. The intrinsic sizes ($r^{\ast }_{1/2}$) of simulated galaxies increase moderately with stellar mass at $M_{\ast } \lesssim 10^{8}{\, \rm M_\odot}$ and decrease fast at larger masses, resulting in a hump feature at $M_{\ast }\sim 10^{8}{\, \rm M_\odot}$ that is insensitive to redshift. Low-mass galaxies are in the initial phase of size growth and are better described by a spherical shell model with feedback-driven outflows competing with the cold inflowing gas streams. In contrast, massive galaxies fit better with the disc formation model. They generally experience a phase of rapid compaction and gas depletion, likely driven by internal disc instability rather than external processes. We identify four compact quenched galaxies in the $(95.5\, {\rm cMpc})^{3}$ volume of thesan-1 at $z\simeq 6$ and their quenching follows reaching a characteristic stellar surface density akin to the massive compact galaxies at cosmic noon. Compared to observations, we find that the median ultraviolet effective radius ($R^{\rm UV}_{\rm eff}$) of simulated galaxies is at least three times larger than the observed ones at $M_{\ast }\lesssim 10^{9}{\, \rm M_\odot}$ or $M_{\rm UV}\gtrsim -20$ at $6 \lesssim z \lesssim 10$. The population of compact galaxies ($R^{\rm UV}_{\rm eff}\lesssim 300\, {\rm pc}$) galaxies at $M_{\ast }\sim 10^{8}{\, \rm M_\odot}$ is missing in our simulations. This inconsistency persists across many other cosmological simulations with different galaxy formation models and demonstrates the potential of using galaxy morphology to constrain physics of galaxy formation at high redshifts.
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Abstract A fundamental requirement for reionizing the Universe is that a sufficient fraction of the ionizing photons emitted by galaxies successfully escapes into the intergalactic medium. However, due to the scarcity of high-redshift observational data, the sources driving reionization remain uncertain. In this work, we calculate the ionizing escape fractions (fesc) of reionization-era galaxies from the state-of-the-art thesan simulations, which combine an accurate radiation-hydrodynamic solver (arepo-rt) with the well-tested IllustrisTNG galaxy formation model to self-consistently simulate both small-scale galaxy physics and large-scale reionization throughout a large patch of the universe ($L_\text{box} = 95.5\, \text{cMpc}$). This allows the formation of numerous massive haloes ($M_\text{halo} \gtrsim 10^{10}\, {\text{M}_{\odot }}$), which are often statistically underrepresented in previous studies but are believed to be important to achieving rapid reionization. We find that low-mass galaxies ($M_\text{stars} \lesssim 10^7\, {\text{M}_{\odot }}$) are the main drivers of reionization above z ≳ 7, while high-mass galaxies ($M_\text{stars} \gtrsim 10^8\, {\text{M}_{\odot }}$) dominate the escaped ionizing photon budget at lower redshifts. We find a strong dependence of fesc on the effective star formation rate (SFR) surface density defined as the SFR per gas mass per escape area, i.e. $\bar{\Sigma }_\text{SFR} = \text{SFR}/M_\text{gas}/R_{200}^2$. The variation in halo escape fractions decreases for higher mass haloes, which can be understood from the more settled galactic structure, SFR stability, and fraction of sightlines within each halo significantly contributing to the escaped flux. Dust is capable of reducing the escape fractions of massive galaxies, but the impact on the global fesc depends on the dust model. Finally, active galactic nuclei are unimportant for reionization in thesan and their escape fractions are lower than stellar ones due to being located near the centres of galaxy gravitational potential wells.more » « less
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ABSTRACT The observability of Lyα emitting galaxies (LAEs) during the Epoch of Reionization can provide a sensitive probe of the evolving neutral hydrogen gas distribution, thus setting valuable constraints to distinguish different reionization models. In this study, we utilize the new thesan suite of large-volume ($L_\text{box} = 95.5\, \text{cMpc}$) cosmological radiation-hydrodynamic simulations to directly model the Lyα emission from individual galaxies and the subsequent transmission through the intergalactic medium. thesan combines the arepo-rt radiation-hydrodynamic solver with the IllustrisTNG galaxy formation model and includes high- and medium-resolution simulations designed to investigate the impacts of halo-mass-dependent escape fractions, alternative dark matter models, and numerical convergence. We find important differences in the Lyα transmission based on reionization history, bubble morphology, frequency offset from line centre, and galaxy brightness. For a given global neutral fraction, Lyα transmission reduces when low-mass haloes dominate reionization over high-mass haloes. Furthermore, the variation across sightlines for a single galaxy is greater than the variation across all galaxies. This collectively affects the visibility of LAEs, directly impacting observed Lyα luminosity functions (LFs). We employ Gaussian Process Regression using SWIFTEmulator to rapidly constrain an empirical model for dust escape fractions and emergent spectral-line profiles to match observed LFs. We find that dust strongly impacts the Lyα transmission and covering fractions of MUV ≲ −19 galaxies in $M_\text{vir} \gtrsim 10^{11}\, \text{M}_{\bigodot }$ haloes, such that the dominant mode of removing Lyα photons in non-LAEs changes from low-IGM transmission to high dust absorption around z ∼ 7.
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ABSTRACT We measure escape fractions, fesc, of ionizing radiation from galaxies in the sphinx suite of cosmological radiation-hydrodynamical simulations of reionization, resolving haloes with $M_{\rm vir}\gtrsim 7.5 \times 10^7 \ {\rm {M}_{\odot }}$ with a minimum cell width of ≈10 pc. Our new and largest 20 co-moving Mpc wide volume contains tens of thousands of star-forming galaxies with halo masses up to a few times 1011 M⊙. The simulated galaxies agree well with observational constraints of the ultraviolet (UV) luminosity function in the Epoch of Reionization. The escape fraction fluctuates strongly in individual galaxies over time-scales of a few Myr, due to its regulation by supernova and radiation feedback, and at any given time a tiny fraction of star-forming galaxies emits a large fraction of the ionizing radiation escaping into the intergalactic medium. Statistically, fesc peaks in intermediate-mass, intermediate-brightness, and low-metallicity galaxies (M* ≈ 107 M⊙, M1500 ≈ −17, Z ≲ 5 × 10−3 Z⊙), dropping strongly for lower and higher masses, brighter and dimmer galaxies, and more metal-rich galaxies. The escape fraction correlates positively with both the short-term and long-term specific star formation rate. According to sphinx, galaxies too dim to be yet observed, with ${M_{1500}}\gtrsim -17$, provide about 55 per cent of the photons contributing to reionization. The global averaged fesc naturally decreases with decreasing redshift, as predicted by UV background models and low-redshift observations. This evolution is driven by decreasing specific star formation rates over cosmic time.
