Dust Evolution in Galaxy Cluster Simulations

Gaseous astrophysical media are splattered with solid agglomerates of molecules we call cosmic dust. Observations, in particular, are quite sensitive to dust properties such as composition and grain size. A need emerges to include dust within theoretical models of galaxy and galaxy cluster evolution. The INAF Astronomical Observatory of Trieste has developed a custom state-of-the-art cosmological N-body simulation of galaxy clusters based on the GADGET-3 code. Adding dust to this framework has not been feasible until now. Tracing the continuous grain size (or its discrete approximation) would burden with additional dimensions the already heavy particle structure and calculations, slowing down the runs to impractical rates. Dust was instead treated in post processing Granato+15, and its properties were assumed a priori. Then Hirashita15 proposed an approximation. Instead of computing the grain size continuum, he postulated that dust grains are divided between large (nominally 0.1 micrometers) and small (nominally 0.01 micrometers). He therefore adapted a comprehensive one-zone dust evolution model Asano+13 to this approximation. The binary grain size was selected for both observational and modeling reasons. When dust grains are produced in the envelopes of evolved stars or in supernova remnants, the dominant size is around 0.1 micrometers. In the ISM however, smaller dust is often just as prevalent or at times even dominant. This suggests that ISM evolution alters the grain size distribution. The phenomenon is captured in the modeling. Some processes are most efficient on one grain size over the other, or at times they have opposite effects on each size domain. We successfully adapted the Hirashita15 model to our custom GADGET-3 cosmological zoom-in simulation code, specifically we embedded the model so that each simulated gas particle will trace, on top of the usual gas elements obtained from stellar and supernovae yields, also small and large dust grains. We tested our method on four massive ( two M200 > 3 x 10e14 solar masses and two M200 > 10e15 solar masses) galaxy clusters. We also improved on previous dust production routines, which assumed a fixed dust condensation efficiency for each element. Instead, we form the two most representative dust species observed in nature: carbonaceous dust and astrophysical silicates, based on the element abundance produced by stellar or supernovae yields. At the peak of star formation activity at z > 3 when proto-clusters start to assemble, we find that the gas particles in our simulations are rich in dust, as expected. In order to test the impact of dust processes on dust growth other than stellar production, we ran simulations with dust production and destruction alone, without any grain-gas or grain-grain interactions. Dust is enhanced by a factor of two to three due to the processes occurring in the ISM. We investigated variations of the model through different runs to understand the interdependence of all the processes. We were able to reproduce the dust abundance to metallicity relations observed in local galaxies, however we under-produced the dust content of galaxy clusters around z < 0.5 observed by IRAS, Planck, and Herschel observations. This discrepancy can be mended only by assuming a lower sputtering efficiency, which erodes dust grains in the hot Intracluster Medium (ICM). The abundance of the two dust species, silicates and carbonaceous dust, is also slightly different from the Milky Way average, and from the common values adopted in calculations of dust reprocessing. These differences may have a strong impact on the predicted SED. This method lays the groundwork for further developments, such as cosmological simulations of single galaxies, or the refinement of radiative cooling routines and H2 catalysis on grain surfaces

Assessing stellar yields in Galaxy chemical evolution: observational stellar abundance patterns

One-zone Galactic Chemical Evolution (GCE) models have provided useful insights on a great wealth of average abundance patterns in many environments, especially for the Milky Way and its satellites. However, the scatter of such abundance patterns is still a challenging aspect to reproduce. The leading hypothesis is that dynamics is a likely major source of the dispersion. In this work we test another hypothesis, namely that different assumptions on yield modeling may be at play simultaneously. We compare whether the abundance patterns spanned by the models are consistent with those observed in Galactic data. First, we test the performance of recent yield tabulations, and we show which of these tabulations best fit Galactic stellar abundances. We then group the models and test if yield combinations match data scatter and standard deviation. On a fixed Milky-Way-like parametrization of NuPyCEE, we test a selection of yields for the three dominant yield sets: low-to-intermediate mass stars, massive stars, and Type Ia supernovae. We also include the production of r-process elements by neutron star mergers. We explore the statistical properties spanned by such yields. We identify the differences and commonalities among yield sets. We define criteria that estimate whether an element is in agreement with the data, or if the model overestimates or underestimates it in various redshift bins. While it is true that yields are a major source of uncertainty in GCE models, the scatter of abundances in stellar spectra cannot be explained by a simple averaging of runs across yield prescriptions.Comment: 22 pages, 19 figures, accepted for publication in MNRA

The many tensions with dark-matter based models and implications on the nature of the Universe

(Abridged) Fundamental tensions between observations and dark-matter based cosmological models have emerged. This updated review has two purposes: to explore new tensions that have arisen in recent years, compounding the unresolved tensions from previous studies, and to use the shortcomings of the current theory to guide the development of a successful model. Tensions arise in view of the profusion of thin disk galaxies, the pronounced symmetrical structure of the Local Group of Galaxies, the common occurrence of planes of satellite systems, the El Gordo and Bullet galaxy clusters, significant matter inhomogeneities on scales much larger than 100 Mpc, and the observed rapid formation of galaxies and super-massive black holes at redshifts larger than 7. Given the nature of the tensions, the real Universe needs to be described by a model in which gravitation is effectively stronger than Einsteinian/Newtonian gravitation at accelerations below Milgrom's acceleration scale. The promising nuHDM model, anchored on Milgromian dynamics but keeping the standard expansion history with dark energy, solves many of the above tensions. However galaxy formation appears to occur too late in this model, model galaxy clusters reach too large masses, and the mass function of model galaxy clusters is too flat and thus top-heavy in comparison to the observed mass function. Classes of models that reassess inflation, dark energy and the role of the CMB should be explored.Comment: 58 pages, 9 figures, 291 references, based on invited presentation and to appear in the proceedings of Corfu2022: Workshop on Tensions in Cosmology, Corfu Sept. 7-12., 2022 (organisers: E. Saridakis, S. Basilakos, S. Capozziello, E. Di Valentino, O. Mena, S. Pan, J. Levi Said); replaced version contains updated citation

Dust evolution in galaxy cluster simulations

We implement a state-of-the-art treatment of the processes affecting the production and Interstellar Medium (ISM) evolution of carbonaceous and silicate dust grains within SPH simulations. We trace the dust grain size distribution by means of a two-size approximation. We test our method on zoom-in simulations of four massive (M_{200} 65 3 7 10^{14} M_{ 99 }) galaxy clusters. We predict that during the early stages of assembly of the cluster at z 73 3, where the star formation activity is at its maximum in our simulations, the proto-cluster regions are rich in dusty gas. Compared to the case in which only dust production in stellar ejecta is active, if we include processes occurring in the cold ISM, the dust content is enhanced by a factor 2-3. However, the dust properties in this stage turn out to be significantly different from those observationally derived for the average Milky Way dust, and commonly adopted in calculations of dust reprocessing. We show that these differences may have a strong impact on the predicted spectral energy distributions. At low redshift in star-forming regions our model reproduces reasonably well the trend of dust abundances over metallicity as observed in local galaxies. However we underproduce by a factor of 2-3 the total dust content of clusters estimated observationally at low redshift, z 72 0.5 using IRAS, Planck, and Herschel satellites data. This discrepancy does not subsist by assuming a lower sputtering efficiency, which erodes dust grains in the hot intracluster medium

Type Ia Supernovae Selection and Forecast of Cosmology Constraints for the Dark Energy Survey

We present the results of a study of selection criteria to identify Type Ia supernovae photometrically in a simulated mixed sample of Type Ia supernovae and core collapse supernovae. The simulated sample is a mockup of the expected results of the Dark Energy Survey. Fits to the MLCS2k2 and SALT2 Type Ia supernova models are compared and used to help separate the Type Ia supernovae from the core collapse sample. The Dark Energy Task Force Figure of Merit (modified to include core collapse supernovae systematics) is used to discriminate among the various selection criteria. This study of varying selection cuts for Type Ia supernova candidates is the first to evaluate core collapse contamination using the Figure of Merit. Different factors that contribute to the Figure of Merit are detailed. With our analysis methods, both SALT2 and MLCS2k2 Figures of Merit improve with tighter selection cuts and higher purities, peaking at 98% purity.Comment: submitted to JCAP, 23 pages, 36 picture

LAMOST meets Gaia: The Galactic Open Clusters

Open Clusters are born and evolve along the Milky Way plane, on them is imprinted the history of the Galactic disc, including the chemical and dynamical evolution. Chemical and dynamical properties of open clusters can be derived from photometric, spectroscopic, and astrometric data of their member stars. Based on the photometric and astrometric data from the Gaia mission, the membership of stars in more than 2000 Galactic clusters has been identified in the literature. The chemical and kinematical properties, however, are still poorly known for many of these clusters. In synergy with the large spectroscopic survey LAMOST (data release 8) and Gaia (data release 2), we report a new comprehensive catalogue of 386 open clusters. This catalogue has homogeneous parameter determinations of radial velocity, metallicity, and dynamical properties, such as orbit, eccentricity, angular momenta, total energy, and 3D Galactic velocity. These parameters allow the first radial velocity determination and the first spectroscopic [Fe/H] determination for 44 and 137 clusters, respectively. The metallicity distribution of majority clusters shows falling trends in the parameter space of the Galactocentric radius, the total energy, and the Z component of angular momentum -- except for two old groups that show flat tails in their own parameter planes. Cluster populations of ages younger and older than 500 Myrs distribute diversely on the disc. The latter has a spatial consistency with the Galactic disc flare. The 3-D spatial comparison between very young clusters (< 100 Myr) and nearby molecular clouds revealed a wide range of metallicity distribution along the Radcliffe gas cloud wave, indicating a possible inhomogeneous mixing or fast star formation along the wave. This catalogue would serve the community as a useful tool to trace the chemical and dynamical evolution of the Milky Way.Comment: accepted for publication on A&

LAMOST meets

Open clusters (OCs) are born and evolve along the Milky Way (MW) plane. On them is imprinted the history of the Galactic disc, including its chemical and dynamical evolution. Chemical and dynamical properties of OCs can be derived from photometric, spectroscopic, and astrometric data of their member stars. Based on the photometric and astrometric data from the Gaia mission, the membership of stars in more than two thousand Galactic clusters has been identified in the literature. The chemical properties (e.g. metallicity) and kinematical properties (e.g. radial velocity), however, are still poorly known for many of these clusters. In synergy with the large spectroscopic survey LAMOST (data release 8) and Gaia (data release 2), we report a new comprehensive catalogue of 386 OCs. This catalogue has homogeneous parameter determinations of radial velocity, metallicity, and dynamical properties, such as orbit, eccentricity, angular momenta, total energy, and 3D Galactic velocity. These parameters enable the first radial velocity determination for 44 clusters, and the first spectroscopic [Fe/H] determination for 137 clusters. The metallicity distributions of the majority of clusters show falling trends in the parameter space of the Galactocentric radius, the total energy, and the Z component of angular momentum, except for two old groups that show flat tails in their own parameter planes. Cluster populations of ages younger and older than 500 Myr distribute diversely on the disc. The latter have a spatial consistency with the Galactic disc flare. The 3D spatial comparison between very young clusters (< 100 Myr) and nearby molecular clouds revealed a wide range of metallicity distribution along the Radcliffe gas cloud wave, indicating a possible inhomogeneous mixing or fast star formation along the wave. This catalogue will serve the community as a useful tool to trace the chemical and dynamical evolution of the MW

On the origin of dust in galaxy clusters at low-to-intermediate redshift

We consider both a hierarchical scenario of galaxy formation and an independent evolution of the three main galactic morphologies: elliptical/S0, spiral and irregular. We separate the dust residing within galaxies from the dust ejected in the intracluster medium. To the latter, we apply thermal sputtering. The model results are compared to low-to-intermediate redshift observations of dust masses. We find that in any of the considered scenarios, elliptical/S0 galaxies contribute negligibly to the present-time intracluster dust, despite producing the majority of gas-phase metals in galaxy clusters. Spiral galaxies, instead, provide both the bulk of the spatially unresolved dust and of the dust ejected into the intracluster medium. The total dust-to-gas mass ratio in galaxy clusters amounts to 10-4, while the intracluster medium dust-to-gas mass ratio amounts to 10-6 at most. These dust abundances are consistent with the estimates of cluster observations at 0.2 < z < 1. We propose that galactic sources, spiral galaxies in particular, are the major contributors to the cluster dust budget