The stellar populations of high-redshift dwarf galaxies


Abstract in English

We use high-resolution ($approx 10$ pc), zoom-in simulations of a typical (stellar mass $M_starsimeq10^{10}M_odot$) Lyman Break Galaxy (LBG) at $zsimeq 6$ to investigate the stellar populations of its six dwarf galaxy satellites, whose stellar [gas] masses are in the range $log (M_star/M_odot) simeq 6-9$ [$log (M_{gas}/M_odot) simeq4.3-7.75$]. The properties and evolution of satellites show no dependence on the distance from the central massive LBG ($< 11.5$ kpc). Instead, their star formation and chemical enrichment histories are tightly connected their stellar (and sub-halo) mass. High-mass dwarf galaxies ($rm M_star gtrsim 5times 10^8 M_odot$) experience a long history of star formation, characterised by many merger events. Lower-mass systems go through a series of short star formation episodes, with no signs of mergers; their star formation activity starts relatively late ($zapprox 7$), and it is rapidly quenched by internal stellar feedback. In spite of the different evolutionary patterns, all satellites show a spherical morphology, with ancient and more metal-poor stars located towards the inner regions. All six dwarf satellites experienced high star formation rate ($rm >5,M_odot yr ^{-1}$) bursts, which can be detected by JWST while targeting high-$z$ LBGs.

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