scholarly journals Measuring dynamical masses from gas kinematics in simulated high-redshift galaxies

2020 ◽  
Vol 497 (4) ◽  
pp. 4051-4065 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah Wellons ◽  
Claude-André Faucher-Giguère ◽  
Daniel Anglés-Alcázar ◽  
Christopher C Hayward ◽  
Robert Feldmann ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT Advances in instrumentation have recently extended detailed measurements of gas kinematics to large samples of high-redshift galaxies. Relative to most nearby, thin disc galaxies, in which gas rotation accurately traces the gravitational potential, the interstellar medium (ISM) of $z$ ≳ 1 galaxies is typically more dynamic and exhibits elevated turbulence. If not properly modelled, these effects can strongly bias dynamical mass measurements. We use high-resolution FIRE-2 cosmological zoom-in simulations to analyse the physical effects that must be considered to correctly infer dynamical masses from gas kinematics. Our analysis covers a range of galaxy properties from low-redshift Milky-Way-mass galaxies to massive high-redshift galaxies (M⋆ > 1011 M⊙ at $z$ = 1). Selecting only snapshots where a disc is present, we calculate the rotational profile $\bar{v}_\phi (r)$ of the cool ($10^{3.5}\,\lt {\it T}\lt 10^{4.5}~\rm {K}$) gas and compare it to the circular velocity $v_{\rm c}=\sqrt{GM_{\rm enc}/r}$. In the simulated galaxies, the gas rotation traces the circular velocity at intermediate radii, but the two quantities diverge significantly in the centre and in the outer disc. Our simulations appear to over-predict observed rotational velocities in the centres of massive galaxies (likely from a lack of black hole feedback), so we focus on larger radii. Gradients in the turbulent pressure at these radii can provide additional radial support and bias dynamical mass measurements low by up to 40 per cent. In both the interior and exterior, the gas’ motion can be significantly non-circular due to e.g. bars, satellites, and inflows/outflows. We discuss the accuracy of commonly used analytic models for pressure gradients (or ‘asymmetric drift’) in the ISM of high-redshift galaxies.

2019 ◽  
Vol 488 (2) ◽  
pp. 1941-1959 ◽  
Author(s):  
Madeline A Marshall ◽  
Simon J Mutch ◽  
Yuxiang Qin ◽  
Gregory B Poole ◽  
J Stuart B Wyithe

Abstract We study the sizes, angular momenta, and morphologies of high-redshift galaxies, using an update of the meraxes semi-analytic galaxy evolution model. Our model successfully reproduces a range of observations from redshifts z = 0–10. We find that the effective radius of a galaxy disc scales with ultraviolet (UV) luminosity as $R_\mathrm{ e}\propto L_{\textrm{UV}}^{0.33}$ at z = 5–10, and with stellar mass as $R_e\propto M_\ast ^{0.24}$ at z = 5 but with a slope that increases at higher redshifts. Our model predicts that the median galaxy size scales with redshift as Re ∝ (1 + z)−m, where m = 1.98 ± 0.07 for galaxies with (0.3–1)$L^\ast _{z=3}$ and m = 2.15 ± 0.05 for galaxies with (0.12–0.3)$L^\ast _{z=3}$. We find that the ratio between stellar and halo specific angular momentum is typically less than 1 and decreases with halo and stellar mass. This relation shows no redshift dependence, while the relation between specific angular momentum and stellar mass decreases by ∼0.5 dex from z = 7 to z = 2. Our model reproduces the distribution of local galaxy morphologies, with bulges formed predominantly through galaxy mergers for low-mass galaxies, disc-instabilities for galaxies with M* ≃ 1010–$10^{11.5}\, \mathrm{M}_\odot$, and major mergers for the most massive galaxies. At high redshifts, we find galaxy morphologies that are predominantly bulge-dominated.


2012 ◽  
Vol 748 (1) ◽  
pp. 47 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Melbourne ◽  
Benjamin F. Williams ◽  
Julianne J. Dalcanton ◽  
Philip Rosenfield ◽  
Léo Girardi ◽  
...  

2016 ◽  
Vol 820 (1) ◽  
pp. 71 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brian D. Crosby ◽  
Brian W. O’Shea ◽  
Timothy C. Beers ◽  
Jason Tumlinson

2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (S359) ◽  
pp. 136-140
Author(s):  
Minju M. Lee ◽  
Ichi Tanaka ◽  
Rohei Kawabe

AbstractWe present studies of a protocluster at z =2.5, an overdense region found close to a radio galaxy, 4C 23.56, using ALMA. We observed 1.1 mm continuum, two CO lines (CO (4–3) and CO (3–2)) and the lower atomic carbon line transition ([CI](3P1-3P0)) at a few kpc (0″.3-0″.9) resolution. The primary targets are 25 star-forming galaxies selected as Hα emitters (HAEs) that are identified with a narrow band filter. These are massive galaxies with stellar masses of > 1010Mʘ that are mostly on the galaxy main sequence at z =2.5. We measure the molecular gas mass from the independent gas tracers of 1.1 mm, CO (3–2) and [CI], and investigate the gas kinematics of galaxies from CO (4–3). Molecular gas masses from the different measurements are consistent with each other for detection, with a gas fraction (fgas = Mgas/(Mgas+ Mstar)) of ≃ 0.5 on average but with a caveat. On the other hand, the CO line widths of the protocluster galaxies are typically broader by ˜50% compared to field galaxies, which can be attributed to more frequent, unresolved gas-rich mergers and/or smaller sizes than field galaxies, supported by our high-resolution images and a kinematic model fit of one of the galaxies. We discuss the expected scenario of galaxy evolution in protoclusters at high redshift but future large surveys are needed to get a more general view.


2020 ◽  
Vol 493 (3) ◽  
pp. 4315-4332 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiangcheng Ma ◽  
Michael Y Grudić ◽  
Eliot Quataert ◽  
Philip F Hopkins ◽  
Claude-André Faucher-Giguère ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT We report the formation of bound star clusters in a sample of high-resolution cosmological zoom-in simulations of z ≥ 5 galaxies from the Feedback In Realistic Environments project. We find that bound clusters preferentially form in high-pressure clouds with gas surface densities over $10^4\, \mathrm{ M}_{\odot }\, {\rm pc}^{-2}$, where the cloud-scale star formation efficiency is near unity and young stars born in these regions are gravitationally bound at birth. These high-pressure clouds are compressed by feedback-driven winds and/or collisions of smaller clouds/gas streams in highly gas-rich, turbulent environments. The newly formed clusters follow a power-law mass function of dN/dM ∼ M−2. The cluster formation efficiency is similar across galaxies with stellar masses of ∼107–$10^{10}\, \mathrm{ M}_{\odot }$ at z ≥ 5. The age spread of cluster stars is typically a few Myr and increases with cluster mass. The metallicity dispersion of cluster members is ∼0.08 dex in $\rm [Z/H]$ and does not depend on cluster mass significantly. Our findings support the scenario that present-day old globular clusters (GCs) were formed during relatively normal star formation in high-redshift galaxies. Simulations with a stricter/looser star formation model form a factor of a few more/fewer bound clusters per stellar mass formed, while the shape of the mass function is unchanged. Simulations with a lower local star formation efficiency form more stars in bound clusters. The simulated clusters are larger than observed GCs due to finite resolution. Our simulations are among the first cosmological simulations that form bound clusters self-consistently in a wide range of high-redshift galaxies.


2020 ◽  
Vol 498 (1) ◽  
pp. 164-180 ◽  
Author(s):  
Harley Katz ◽  
Dominika Ďurovčíková ◽  
Taysun Kimm ◽  
Joki Rosdahl ◽  
Jeremy Blaizot ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT Identifying low-redshift galaxies that emit Lyman continuum radiation (LyC leakers) is one of the primary, indirect methods of studying galaxy formation in the epoch of reionization. However, not only has it proved challenging to identify such systems, it also remains uncertain whether the low-redshift LyC leakers are truly ‘analogues’ of the sources that reionized the Universe. Here, we use high-resolution cosmological radiation hydrodynamics simulations to examine whether simulated galaxies in the epoch of reionization share similar emission line properties to observed LyC leakers at z ∼ 3 and z ∼ 0. We find that the simulated galaxies with high LyC escape fractions (fesc) often exhibit high O32 and populate the same regions of the R23–O32 plane as z ∼ 3 LyC leakers. However, we show that viewing angle, metallicity, and ionization parameter can all impact where a galaxy resides on the O32–fesc plane. Based on emission line diagnostics and how they correlate with fesc, lower metallicity LyC leakers at z ∼ 3 appear to be good analogues of reionization-era galaxies. In contrast, local [S ii]-deficient galaxies do not overlap with the simulated high-redshift LyC leakers on the S ii Baldwin–Phillips–Terlevich (BPT) diagram; however, this diagnostic may still be useful for identifying leakers. We use our simulated galaxies to develop multiple new diagnostics to identify LyC leakers using infrared and nebular emission lines. We show that our model using only [C ii]158 μm and [O iii]88 μm can identify potential leakers from non-leakers from the local Dwarf Galaxy Survey. Finally, we apply this diagnostic to known high-redshift galaxies and find that MACS 1149_JD1 at z = 9.1 is the most likely galaxy to be actively contributing to the reionization of the Universe.


2004 ◽  
Vol 615 (1) ◽  
pp. 98-117 ◽  
Author(s):  
Samantha A. Rix ◽  
Max Pettini ◽  
Claus Leitherer ◽  
Fabio Bresolin ◽  
Rolf‐Peter Kudritzki ◽  
...  

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