No Arabic abstract
We investigate the properties of the galaxies that reionized the Universe and the history of cosmic reionization using the Evolution and Assembly of GaLaxies and their environments (EAGLE) cosmological hydrodynamical simulations. We obtain the evolution of the escape fraction of ionizing photons in galaxies assuming that galactic winds create channels through which 20~percent of photons escape when the local surface density of star formation is greater than $0.1$ M$_odot$ yr$^{-1}$ kpc$^{-2}$. Such threshold behaviour for the generation of winds is observed, and the rare local objects which have such high star formation surface densities exhibit high escape fractions of $sim 10$ percent. In our model the luminosity-weighted mean escape fraction increases with redshift as $bar f_{rm esc}=0.045~((1+z)/4)^{1.1}$ at $z>3$, and the galaxy number weighted mean as $langle f_{rm esc} rangle=2.2times10^{-3}~((1+z)/4)^4$, and becomes constant $approx0.2$ at redshift $z>10$. The escape fraction evolves as an increasingly large fraction of stars forms above the critical surface density of star formation at earlier times. This evolution of the escape fraction, combined with that of the star formation rate density from EAGLE, reproduces the inferred evolution of the filling factor of ionized regions during the reionization epoch ($6<z<8$), the evolution of the post-reionization ($0leq z<6$) hydrogen photoionisation rate, and the optical depth due to Thomson scattering of the cosmic microwave background photons measured by the Planck satellite.
We study galaxy super-winds driven in major mergers, using pc-resolution simulations with detailed models for stellar feedback that can self-consistently follow the formation/destruction of GMCs and generation of winds. The models include molecular cooling, star formation at high densities in GMCs, and gas recycling and feedback from SNe (I&II), stellar winds, and radiation pressure. We study mergers of systems from SMC-like dwarfs and Milky Way analogues to z~2 starburst disks. Multi-phase super-winds are generated in all passages, with outflow rates up to ~1000 M_sun/yr. However, the wind mass-loading efficiency (outflow rate divided by SFR) is similar to that in isolated galaxy counterparts of each merger: it depends more on global galaxy properties (mass, size, escape velocity) than on the dynamical state of the merger. Winds tend to be bi- or uni-polar, but multiple events build up complex morphologies with overlapping, differently-oriented bubbles/shells at a range of radii. The winds have complex velocity and phase structure, with material at a range of speeds up to ~1000 km/s, and a mix of molecular, ionized, and hot gas that depends on galaxy properties and different feedback mechanisms. These simulations resolve a problem in some sub-grid models, where simple wind prescriptions can dramatically suppress merger-induced starbursts. But despite large mass-loading factors (>~10) in the winds, the peak SFRs are comparable to those in no wind simulations. Wind acceleration does not act equally, so cold dense gas can still lose angular momentum and form stars, while blowing out gas that would not have participated in the starburst in the first place. Considerable wind material is not unbound, and falls back on the disk at later times post-merger, leading to higher post-starburst SFRs in the presence of stellar feedback. This may require AGN feedback to explain galaxy quenching.
We examine the reionization history of present-day galaxies by explicitly tracing the building blocks of halos from the Cosmic Reionization On Computers project. We track dark matter particles that belong to $z=0$ halos to trace the neutral fractions at corresponding positions during rapid global reionization. The resulting particle reionization histories allow us to explore different definitions of a halos reionization redshift and to account for the neutral content of the interstellar medium. Consistent with previous work, we find a systematic trend of reionization redshift with mass - present day halos with higher masses have earlier reionization times. Finally, we quantify the spread of reionization times within each halo, which also has a mass dependence.
Dust grains can be efficiently accelerated and shattered in warm ionized medium (WIM) because of the turbulent motion. This effect is enhanced in starburst galaxies, where gas is ionized and turbulence is sustained by massive stars. Moreover, dust production by Type II supernovae (SNe II) can be efficient in starburst galaxies. In this paper, we examine the effect of shattering in WIM on the dust grains produced by SNe II. We find that although the grains ejected from SNe II are expected to be biased to large sizes ($aga 0.1 micron$, where $a$ is the grain radius) because of the shock destruction in supernova remnants, the shattering in WIM is efficient enough in $sim 5$ Myr to produce small grains if the metallicity is nearly solar or more. The production of small grains by shattering steepens the extinction curve. Thus, steepening of extinction curves by shattering should always be taken into account for the system where the metallicity is solar and the starburst age is typically larger than 5 Myr. These conditions may be satisfied not only in nearby starbursts but also in high redshift ($z>5$) quasars.
In this study we present three-dimensional radiative cooling hydrodynamical simulations of galactic winds generated particularly in M82-like starburst galaxies. We have considered intermittent winds induced by SNe explosions within super star clusters randomly distributed in the central region of the galaxy and were able to reproduce the observed M82 wind conditions with its complex morphological outflow structure. We have found that the environmental conditions in the disk in nearly recent past are crucial to determine whether the wind will develop a large scale rich filamentary structure, as in M82 wind, or not. Also, the numerical evolution of the SN ejecta have allowed us to obtain the abundance distribution over the first 3 kpc extension of the wind and we have found that the SNe explosions change significantly the metallicity only of the hot, low-density wind component. Moreover, we have found that the SN-driven wind transports to outside the disk large amounts of energy, momentum and gas, but the more massive high-density component reaches only intermediate altitudes smaller than 1.5 kpc. Therefore, no significant amounts of gas mass are lost to the IGM and the mass evolution of the galaxy is not much affected by the starburst events occurring in the nuclear region.
We present the first detailed structure formation and radiative transfer simulations of the reionization history of our cosmic neighbourhood. To this end, we follow the formation of the Local Group of galaxies and nearby clusters by means of constrained simulations, which use the available observational constraints to construct a representation of those structures which reproduces their actual positions and properties at the present time. We find that the reionization history of the Local Group is strongly dependent on the assumed photon production efficiencies of the ionizing sources, which are still poorly constrained. If sources are relatively efficient, i.e. the process is photon-rich, the Local Group is primarily ionized externally by the nearby clusters. Alternatively, if the sources are inefficient, i.e. reionization is photon-poor the Local Group evolves largely isolated and reionizes itself. The mode of reionization, external vs. internal, has important implications for the evolution of our neighbourhood, in terms of e.g. its satellite galaxy populations and primordial stellar populations. This therefore provides an important avenue for understanding the young universe by detailed studies of our nearby structures.