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  1. ABSTRACT

    Using 3D radiation-hydrodynamical simulations, we study the effects of ionizing radiation on the formation of second-generation (SG) stars in globular clusters (GCs) with multiple stellar populations. In particular, we focus on massive ($10^7 \, \mathrm{M}_{\odot }$) and young (40-Myr old) GCs. We consider stellar winds from asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stars, ram pressure, gas accretion on to the cluster, and photo-ionization feedback of binary stars. We find that the stellar luminosity is strong enough to warm and ionize the intracluster medium, but it does not lead to a significant gas expulsion. The cluster can thus retain the ejecta of AGB stars and the accreted pristine gas. In addition, efficient cooling occurs in the central region of the cluster within $50\, \mathrm{Myr}$ from the formation of first generation stars, leading to the formation of SG stars. Our results indicate that the inclusion of photo-ionization does not suppress SG formation, but rather delays it by about $\sim 10\, \mathrm{Myr}$. The time delay depends on the density of the pristine gas, so that a denser medium exhibits a shorter delay in star formation. Moreover, photo-ionization leads to a modest decrease in the total SG mass, compared to a model without it.

     
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  2. ABSTRACT

    By means of 3D hydrodynamic simulations, we explore the effects of rotation in the formation of second-generation (SG) stars in globular clusters (GC). Our simulations follow the SG formation in a first-generation (FG) internally rotating GC; SG stars form out of FG asymptotic giant branch (AGB) ejecta and external pristine gas accreted by the system. We have explored two different initial rotational velocity profiles for the FG cluster and two different inclinations of the rotational axis with respect to the direction of motion of the external infalling gas, whose density has also been varied. For a low (10−24 g cm−3) external gas density, a disc of SG helium-enhanced stars is formed. The SG is characterized by distinct chemo-dynamical phase space patterns: it shows a more rapid rotation than the FG with the helium-enhanced SG subsystem rotating more rapidly than the moderate helium-enhanced one. In models with high external gas density ($10^{-23}\, {\rm g\ cm^{-3}}$), the inner SG disc is disrupted by the early arrival of external gas and only a small fraction of highly enhanced helium stars preserves the rotation acquired at birth. Variations in the inclination angle between the rotation axis and the direction of the infalling gas and the velocity profile can slightly alter the extent of the stellar disc and the rotational amplitude. The results of our simulations illustrate the complex link between dynamical and chemical properties of multiple populations and provide new elements for the interpretation of observational studies and future investigations of the dynamics of multiple-population GCs.

     
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  3. ABSTRACT

    We introduce a new set of zoom-in cosmological simulations with sub-pc resolution, intended to model extremely faint, highly magnified star-forming stellar clumps, detected at z = 6.14 thanks to gravitational lensing. The simulations include feedback from individual massive stars (in both the pre-supernova and supernova phases), generated via stochastic, direct sampling of the stellar initial mass function. We adopt a modified ‘delayed cooling’ feedback scheme, specifically created to prevent artificial radiative loss of the energy injected by individual stars in very dense gas (n ∼ 103–105 cm−3). The sites where star formation ignites are characterized by maximum densities of the order of 105 cm−3 and gravitational pressures Pgrav/k >107 K cm−3, corresponding to the values of the local, turbulent regions where the densest stellar aggregates form. The total stellar mass at z = 6.14 is 3.4$\times 10^7~\rm M_{\odot }$, in satisfactory agreement with the observed stellar mass of the observed systems. The most massive clumps have masses of $\sim 10^6~\rm M_{\odot }$ and half-mass sizes of ∼100 pc. These sizes are larger than the observed ones, including also other samples of lensed high-redshift clumps, and imply an average density one orders of magnitude lower than the observed one. In the size–mass plane, our clumps populate a sequence that is intermediate between the ones of observed high-redshift clumps and local dSph galaxies.

     
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  4. null (Ed.)
    ABSTRACT By means of 3D hydrodynamic simulations, we study how Type Ia supernovae (SNe) explosions affect the star formation history and the chemical properties of second-generation (SG) stars in globular clusters (GC). SG stars are assumed to form once first generation asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stars start releasing their ejecta; during this phase, external gas is accreted by the system and SNe Ia begin exploding, carving hot and tenuous bubbles. Given the large uncertainty on SNe Ia explosion times, we test two different values for the ‘delay time’. We run two different models for the external gas density: in the low-density scenario with short delay time, the explosions start at the beginning of the SG star formation, halting it in its earliest phases. The external gas hardly penetrates the system, therefore most SG stars present extreme helium abundances (Y > 0.33). The low-density model with delayed SN explosions has a more extended SG star formation epoch and includes SG stars with modest helium enrichment. On the contrary, the high-density model is weakly affected by SN explosions, with a final SG mass similar to the one obtained without SNe Ia. Most of the stars form from a mix of AGB ejecta and pristine gas and have a modest helium enrichment. We show that gas from SNe Ia may produce an iron spread of ∼0.14 dex, consistent with the spread found in about $20{{\ \rm per\ cent}}$ of Galactic GCs, suggesting that SNe Ia might have played a key role in the formation of this sub-sample of GCs. 
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  5. ABSTRACT

    We investigate the abundance and distribution of metals in the high-redshift intergalactic medium and circum-galactic medium through the analysis of a sample of almost 600 Si iv absorption lines detected in high- and intermediate-resolution spectra of 147 quasars. The evolution of the number density of Si iv lines, the column density distribution function, and the cosmic mass density are studied in the redshift interval 1.7 ≲ z ≲ 6.2 and for log N(Si iv) ≥ 12.5. All quantities show a rapid increase between z ∼ 6 and z ≲ 5 and then an almost constant behaviour to z ∼ 2 in very good agreement with what is already observed for C iv absorption lines. The present results are challenging for numerical simulations: When simulations reproduce our Si iv results, they tend to underpredict the properties of C iv, and when the properties of C iv are reproduced, the number of strong Si iv lines [log N(Si iv) > 14] is overpredicted.

     
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  6. Aims. The dust content of normal galaxies and the dust mass density (DMD) at high- z ( z  > 4) are unconstrained given the source confusion and the sensitivity limitations of previous observations. The ALMA Large Program to INvestigate [CII] at Early times (ALPINE), which targeted 118 ultra-violet (UV)-selected star-forming galaxies at 4.4 <  z  < 5.9, provides a new opportunity to tackle this issue for the first time with a statistically robust dataset. Methods. We exploited the rest-frame far-infrared (FIR) fluxes of 23 galaxies individually detected in their continuum emission, as well as stacked continuum images, to measure the dust content of the 118 UV-selected ALPINE galaxies. We focused on the dust scaling relations and, by comparison with predictions from chemical evolution models, we probed the evolutionary stage of UV-selected galaxies at high- z . By using the observed correlation between the UV luminosity and the dust mass, we estimated the DMD of UV-selected galaxies at z  ∼ 5, weighting the galaxies by means of the UV luminosity function. The derived DMD is compared with the value we estimated from ten ALPINE galaxies blindly detected in the FIR continuum, at the redshift of the ALPINE targets. Results. Our ALMA survey allows the exploration for the first time of the dust content in normal star-forming galaxies at z  > 4 in a statistically robust sample of sources. The comparison of the observed dust scaling relations with chemical evolution models suggests that ALPINE galaxies are not likely progenitors of disc galaxies, but of intermediate- and low-mass proto-spheroids, resulting in present-day bulges of spiral or elliptical galaxies. Interestingly, this conclusion is in line with the independent morphological analysis that shows that the majority (∼70%) of the dust-continuum detected galaxies have a disturbed morphology. The DMD obtained at z  ∼ 5 from UV-selected sources is ∼30% of the value obtained from blind FIR-selected sources, showing that the UV selection misses the most dust-rich, UV-obscured galaxies. 
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  7. ABSTRACT We discovered a strongly lensed (μ ≳ 40) Ly α emission at z = 6.629 (S/N ≃ 18) in the MUSE Deep Lensed Field (MDLF) targeting the Hubble Frontier Field (HFF) galaxy cluster MACS J0416. Dedicated lensing simulations imply that the Ly α emitting region necessarily crosses the caustic. The arc-like shape of the Ly α extends 3 arcsec on the observed plane and is the result of two merged multiple images, each one with a de-lensed Ly α luminosity L ≲ 2.8 × 1040 erg s−1 arising from a confined region (≲150 pc effective radius). A spatially unresolved Hubble Space Telescope(HST) counterpart is barely detected at S/N ≃ 2 after stacking the near-infrared bands, corresponding to an observed (intrinsic) magnitude m1500 ≳ 30.8 (≳35.0). The inferred rest-frame Ly α equivalent width is EW0 > 1120 if the IGM transmission is TIGM < 0.5. The low luminosities and the extremely large Ly α EW0 match the case of a Population III (Pop III) star complex made of several dozens stars (∼104 M⊙) that irradiate an H ii region crossing the caustic. While the Ly α and stellar continuum are among the faintest ever observed at this redshift, the continuum and the Ly α emissions could be affected by differential magnification, possibly biasing the EW0 estimate. The aforementioned tentative HST detection tends to favour a large EW0, making such a faint Pop III candidate a key target for the James Webb Space Telescope and Extremely Large Telescopes. 
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