Contact.
The star formation rate (SFR) in high-redshift galaxies is expected due to competing physical processes. This stochastic variability might boost the luminosity of galaxies and might explain ...the over-abundance seen at
z
≳ 10 by the
James Webb
Space Telescope.
Aims.
We quantify the amplitude and timescales of this variability and identify the key physical processes.
Methods.
We selected 245
z
= 7.7 galaxies with stellar mass 5 × 10
6
≲
M
⋆
/
M
⊙
≲ 5 × 10
10
from
SERRA
, which is a suite of high-resolution radiation-hydrodynamic cosmological simulations. After fitting the average SFR trend, ⟨SFR⟩, we quantified the time-dependent variation,
δ
(
t
)≡logSFR/⟨SFR⟩, for each system and performed a periodogram analysis to search for periodicity modulations.
Results.
We find that
δ
(
t
) is distributed as a zero-mean Gaussian, with standard deviation
σ
δ
≃ 0.24 (corresponding to a UV magnitude s.d.
σ
UV
≃ 0.61) that is independent of
M
⋆
. However, the modulation timescale increases with stellar mass:
t
δ
∼ (9, 50, 100) Myr for
M
⋆
∼ (0.1, 1, 5)×10
9
M
⊙
, respectively. These timescales are imprinted on the SFR by different processes: (i) photoevaporation, (ii) supernova explosions, and (iii) cosmological accretion/merging dominating in low-, intermediate-, and high-mass systems, respectively.
Conclusions.
The predicted SFR variations cannot account for the required
z
≳ 10 UV luminosity function boost. Other processes, such as radiation-driven outflows clearing the dust, must then be invoked to explain the enhanced luminosity of super-early systems.
ABSTRACT We study the origin of the cold molecular clumps in quasar outflows, recently detected in CO and HCN emission. We first describe the physical properties of such radiation-driven outflows and ...show that a transition from a momentum- to an energy-driven flow must occur at a radial distance of . During this transition, the shell of swept-up material fragments due to Rayleigh-Taylor instabilities, but these clumps contain little mass and are likely to be rapidly ablated by the hot gas in which they are immersed. We then explore an alternative scenario in which clumps form from thermal instabilities at , possibly containing enough dust to catalyze molecule formation. We investigate this process with 3D two-fluid (gas+dust) numerical simulations of a kpc3 patch of the outflow, including atomic and dust cooling, thermal conduction, dust sputtering, and photoionization from the QSO radiation field. In all cases, dust grains are rapidly destroyed in years; and while some cold clumps form at later times, they are present only as transient features, which disappear as cooling becomes more widespread. In fact, we only find a stable two-phase medium with dense clumps if we artificially enhance the QSO radiation field by a factor of 100. This result, together with the complete destruction of dust grains, renders the interpretation of molecular outflows a very challenging problem.
Abstract
The recent discovery of dusty galaxies well into the Epoch of Reionization (redshift z > 6) poses challenging questions about the properties of the interstellar medium in these pristine ...systems. By combining state-of-the-art hydrodynamic and dust radiative transfer simulations, we address these questions focusing on the recently discovered dusty galaxy A2744_YD4 (z = 8.38, Laporte et al.). We show that we can reproduce the observed spectral energy distribution (SED) only using different physical values with respect to the inferred ones by Laporte et al., i.e. a star formation rate of SFR = 78 $\mathrm{M}_{\odot } \rm yr^{-1}$, a factor ≈4 higher than deduced from simple SED fitting. In this case, we find: (i) dust attenuation (corresponding to τV = 1.4) is consistent with a Milky Way (MW) extinction curve; (ii) the dust-to-metal ratio is low, fd ∼ 0.08, implying that early dust formation is rather inefficient; (iii) the luminosity-weighted dust temperature is high, $T_{\rm d}=91\pm 23\, \rm K$, as a result of the intense (≈100 × MW) interstellar radiation field; and (iv) due to the high Td, the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array Band 7 detection can be explained by a limited dust mass, Md = 1.6 × 106 M⊙. Finally, the high dust temperatures might solve the puzzling low infrared excess (IRX) recently deduced for high-z galaxies from the IRX–β relation.
ABSTRACT
We investigate the C ii line intensity mapping (IM) signal from galaxies in the Epoch of Reionization (EoR) to assess its detectability, the possibility to constrain the $L_{\rm C\,{\small ...II}}\!-\!{\rm SFR}$ relation, and to recover the C ii luminosity function (LF) from future experiments. By empirically assuming that ${\rm log}\,L_{\rm C\,{\small II}}={\rm log}\,A+\gamma {\rm SFR}\pm \sigma _\mathrm{ L}$, we derive the C ii LF from the observed UV LF, and the C ii IM power spectrum. We study the shot noise and the full power spectrum separately. Although, in general, the shot-noise component has a much higher signal-to-noise ratio than the clustering one, it cannot be used to put independent constraints on log A and γ. Full power spectrum measurements are crucial to break such degeneracy and reconstruct the C ii LF. In our fiducial survey S1 (inspired by CCAT-p/1000 h) at z ∼ 6, the shot-noise (clustering) signal is detectable for two (one) of the five considered $L_{\rm C\,{\small II}}\!-\!{\rm SFR}$ relations. The shot noise is generally dominated by galaxies with $L_{\rm C\,{\small II}}\gtrsim 10^{8}\!-\!10^{9}~ \mathrm{L}_\odot$ (MUV ∼ −20 to −22), already at reach of ALMA pointed observations. However, given the small field of view of such telescope, an IM experiment would provide unique information on the bright end of the LF. The detection depth of an IM experiment crucially depends on the (poorly constrained) $L_{\rm C\,{\small II}}\!-\!{\rm SFR}$ relation in the EoR. If the $L_{\rm C\,{\small II}}\!-\!{\rm SFR}$ relation varies in a wide log A–γ range, but still consistent with ALMA C ii LF upper limits, even the signal from galaxies with $L_{\rm C\,{\small II}}$ as faint as ∼107 L⊙ could be detectable. Finally, we consider the contamination by continuum foregrounds (cosmic infrared background, dust, cosmic microwave background) and CO interloping lines, and derive the requirements on the residual contamination level to reliably extract the C ii signal.
We study the initial mass function (IMF) and hosting halo properties of intermediate-mass black holes (IMBHs, 104−6 M⊙) formed inside metal-free, UV-illuminated atomic-cooling haloes (virial ...temperature T
vir ≥ 104 K) either via the direct collapse of the gas or via an intermediate supermassive star (SMS) stage. These IMBHs have been recently advocated as the seeds of the supermassive black holes observed at z ≈ 6. We achieve this goal in three steps: (a) we derive the gas accretion rate for a proto-SMS to undergo General Relativity instability and produce a direct collapse black hole (DCBH) or to enter the zero-age main sequence and later collapse into an IMBH; (b) we use merger-tree simulations to select atomic-cooling haloes in which either a DCBH or SMS can form and grow, accounting for metal enrichment and major mergers that halt the growth of the proto-SMS by gas fragmentation. We derive the properties of the hosting haloes and the mass distribution of black holes at this stage, and dub it the ‘birth mass function’; (c) we follow the further growth of the DCBH by accreting the leftover gas in the parent halo and compute the final IMBH mass. We consider two extreme cases in which minihaloes (T
vir < 104 K) can (fertile) or cannot (sterile) form stars and pollute their gas leading to a different IMBH IMF. In the (fiducial) fertile case, the IMF is bimodal extending over a broad range of masses, M ≈ (0.5–20) × 105 M⊙, and the DCBH accretion phase lasts from 10 to 100 Myr. If minihaloes are sterile, the IMF spans the narrower mass range M ≈ (1–2.8) × 106 M⊙, and the DCBH accretion phase is more extended (70–120 Myr). We conclude that a good seeding prescription is to populate haloes (a) of mass 7.5 < log (M
h/ M⊙) < 8, (b) in the redshift range 8 < z < 17, (c) with IMBH in the mass range 4.75 < (log M
•/ M⊙) < 6.25.
ABSTRACT
ALMA observations have revealed the presence of dust in galaxies in the Epoch of Reionization (EoR; redshift z > 6). However, the dust temperature, Td, remains unconstrained, and this ...introduces large uncertainties, particularly in the dust mass determinations. Using an analytical and physically motivated model, we show that dust in high-z, star-forming giant molecular clouds (GMCs), largely dominating the observed far-infrared luminosity, is warmer ($T_\mathrm{ d} \lower.5ex\hbox{$\,\, \buildrel\,\gt\, \over \sim \,\,$}60\ \mathrm{K}$) than locally. This is due to the more compact GMC structure induced by the higher gas pressure and turbulence characterizing early galaxies. The compactness also delays GMC dispersal by stellar feedback, thus $\sim 40$ per cent of the total UV radiation emitted by newly born stars remains obscured. A higher Td has additional implications: it (a) reduces the tension between local and high-z IRX–β relation, and (b) alleviates the problem of the uncomfortably large dust masses deduced from observations of some EoR galaxies.
We present zoom-in, adaptive mesh refinement, high-resolution (...30 pc) simulations of high-redshift (z ... 6) galaxies with the aim of characterizing their internal properties and interstellar ...medium. Among other features, we adopt a star formation model based on a physically sound molecular hydrogen prescription, and introduce a novel scheme for supernova feedback, stellar winds and dust-mediated radiation pressure. In the zoom-in simulation, the target halo hosts 'Dahlia', a galaxy with a stellar mass M... = 1.6 x 10 super( 10) M..., representative of a typical z ~ 6 Lyman-break galaxy. Dahlia has a total H2 mass of 108.5 M... that is mainly concentrated in a disc-like structure of effective radius ...0.6 kpc and scale height ...200 pc. Frequent mergers drive fresh gas towards the centre of the disc, sustaining a star formation rate per unit area of ...15 M...yr super( -1) kpc super( -2). The disc is composed of dense (n ... 25 cm super( -3)), metal-rich (Z ... 0.5 Z...) gas that is pressure supported by radiation. We compute the 158 ...m Cii emission arising from Dahlia, and find that ...95 per cent of the total Cii luminosity ($$L_...\rm C\,\small ...II......\simeq 10 greater than or equal to ..7.5...\,...\rm L..._...\odot ...$$) arises from the H2 disc. Although 30 per cent of the Cii mass is transported out of the disc by outflows, such gas negligibly contributes to Cii emission, due to its low density (n ... 10 cm super( -3)) and metallicity (Z ... 10 super( -1) Z...). Dahlia is underluminous with respect to the local Cii-SFR relation; however, its luminosity is consistent with upper limits derived for most z ~ 6 galaxies. (ProQuest: ... denotes formulae/symbols omitted.)
Dust growth via accretion of gas species has been proposed as the dominant process to increase the amount of dust in galaxies. We show here that this hypothesis encounters severe difficulties that ...make it unfit to explain the observed UV and IR properties of such systems, particularly at high redshifts. Dust growth in the diffuse ISM phases is hampered by (a) too slow accretion rates, (b) too high dust temperatures, and (c) the Coulomb barrier that effectively blocks accretion. In molecular clouds these problems are largely alleviated. Grains are cold (but not colder than the CMB temperature, T
CMB ≈ 20 K at redshift z = 6). However, in dense environments accreted materials form icy water mantles, perhaps with impurities. Mantles are immediately (≲1 yr) photo-desorbed as grains return to the diffuse ISM at the end of the cloud lifetime, thus erasing any memory of the growth. We conclude that dust attenuating stellar light at high-z must be ready-made stardust largely produced in supernova ejecta.
ABSTRACT
A tight relation between the C ii 158 $\mu$m line luminosity and star formation rate is measured in local galaxies. At high redshift (z > 5), though, a much larger scatter is observed, with ...a considerable (15–20 per cent) fraction of the outliers being C ii-deficient. Moreover, the C ii surface brightness ($\Sigma_{\rm C\, \small {II}}$) of these sources is systematically lower than expected from the local relation. To clarify the origin of such C ii-deficiency, we have developed an analytical model that fits local C ii data and has been validated against radiative transfer simulations performed with cloudy. The model predicts an overall increase of $\Sigma_{\rm C\, \small {II}}$ with ΣSFR. However, for ΣSFR ${\gtrsim} 1 \, \mathrm{M}_\odot \,{\rm yr}^{-1}\,{\rm kpc}^{-2}$, $\Sigma_{\rm C\, \small {II}}$ saturates. We conclude that underluminous C ii systems can result from a combination of three factors: (a) large upward deviations from the Kennicutt–Schmidt relation (κs ≫ 1), parametrized by the ‘burstiness’ parameter κs; (b) low metallicity; (c) low gas density, at least for the most extreme sources (e.g. CR7). Observations of C ii emission alone cannot break the degeneracy among the above three parameters; this requires additional information coming from other emission lines (e.g. O iii88 $\mu$m, C iii1909 Å, CO lines). Simple formulae are given to interpret available data for low- and high-z galaxies.
ABSTRACT
We study the impact of deviations from the Kennicutt–Schmidt relation (quantified by the ‘burstiness’ parameter κs), gas metallicity (Z), and density (n) on the observed O iii88 μm/C ii158 ...μm surface brightness ratios (ΣO iii/ΣC ii) in nine galaxies at z ≈ 6−9. We first discuss possible biases in the measured ΣO iii/ΣC ii ratios by comparing the data with zoom-in cosmological simulations and then use a Markov Chain Monte Carlo algorithm to derive the best-fitting values of (κs, Z, n). We find that (i) the strongest dependence of ΣO iii/ΣC ii is on κs; (ii) high ratios identify starburst galaxies with short gas depletion times ($t_{\rm dep}=6-49\, \rm Myr$); (iii) a secondary dependence on density is found, with ΣO iii/ΣC ii anticorrelating with n as a result of the lower O iii critical density; and (iv) the ratio weakly depends only on Z. The nine galaxies are significantly enriched (Z = 0.2−0.5 Z⊙) and dense n ≈ 101−3 cm−3. This lends further support to the starburst scenario in which a rapid enrichment of the interstellar medium is expected.
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