2,139 research outputs found
DLAs and Galaxy Formation
Damped Lyman-alpha systems (DLAs) are useful probes of star formation and
galaxy formation at high redshift. We study the physical properties of DLAs and
their relationship to Lyman-break galaxies using cosmological hydrodynamic
simulations based on the concordance Lambda cold dark matter model. Fundamental
statistics such as global neutral hydrogen (HI) mass density, HI column density
distribution function, DLA rate-of-incidence and mean halo mass of DLAs are
reproduced reasonably well by the simulations, but with some deviations that
need to be understood better in the future. We discuss the feedback effects by
supernovae and galactic winds on the DLA distribution. We also compute the
[C_II] emission from neutral gas in high-z galaxies, and make predictions for
the future observations by ALMA and SPICA. Agreement and disagreement between
simulations and observations are discussed, as well as the future directions of
our DLA research.Comment: 15 pages, 10 figures. Invited brief review for Modern Physics Letters
A, in pres
The Lyman Break Galaxies: their Progenitors and Descendants
We study the evolution of Lyman Break Galaxies (LBGs) from z=5 to z=0 by
tracing the merger trees of galaxies in a large-scale hydrodynamic simulation
based on a Lambda cold dark matter model. In particular, we emphasize on the
range of properties of the sample selected by the rest-frame V band luminosity,
in accordance with recent near-IR observations. The predicted rest-frame V band
luminosity function agrees well with the observed one when dust extinction is
taken into account. The stellar content and the star formation histories of
LBGs are also studied. We find that the LBGs intrinsically brighter than
Mv=-21.0 at z=3 have stellar masses of at least 10^9\Msun, with a median of
10^{10}h^{-1}\Msun. The brightest LBGs (Mv<-23) at z=3 merge into
clusters/groups of galaxies at z=0, as suggested from clustering studies of
LBGs. Roughly one half of the galaxies with -23<Mv<-22 at z=3 fall into
groups/clusters, and the other half become typical L* galaxies at z=0 with
stellar mass of ~10^{11}\Msun. Descendants of LBGs at the present epoch have
formed roughly 30% of their stellar mass by z=3, and the half of their current
stellar population is 10 Gyr old, favoring the scenario that LBGs are the
precursors of the present day spheroids. We find that the most luminous LBGs
have experienced a starburst within 500 Myr prior to z=3, but also have formed
stars continuously over a period of 1 Gyr prior to z=3 when all the star
formation in progenitors is coadded. We also study the evolution of the mean
stellar metallicity distribution of galaxies, and find that the entire
distribution shifts to lower metallicity at higher redshift. The observed
sub-solar metallicity of LBGs at z=3 is naturally predicted in our simulation.Comment: 29 pages, including 11 figures, ApJ in press. One reference adde
Photometric Properties of Lyman-break Galaxies at z=3 in Cosmological SPH Simulations
We study the photometric properties of Lyman-break galaxies (LBGs) formed by
redshift z=3 in a set of large cosmological smoothed-particle hydrodynamics
simulations of the Lambda cold dark matter (CDM) model. Our numerical
simulations include radiative cooling and heating with a uniform UV background,
star formation, supernova feedback, and a phenomenological model for galactic
winds. Analysing a series of simulations of varying boxsize and particle number
allows us to isolate the impact of numerical resolution on our results. We
compute spectra of simulated galaxies using a population synthesis model, and
derive colours and luminosity functions of galaxies at z=3 after applying local
dust extinction and absorption by the intergalactic medium (IGM). We find that
the simulated galaxies have U-G and G-R colours consistent with observations,
provided that intervening absorption by the IGM is applied. The observed
properties of LBGs, including their number density, colours, and luminosity
functions, can be explained if LBGs are identified with the most massive
galaxies at z=3, having typical stellar mass of M_{star} ~ 1e10 Msun/h, a
conclusion broadly consistent with earlier studies based on hydrodynamic
simulations of the Lamda CDM model. We also find that most simulated LBGs were
continuously forming stars at a high rate for more than one Gyr up until z=3,
but with numerous starbursts lying on top of the continuous component.
Interestingly, our simulations suggest that more than 50% of the total stellar
mass and star formation rate in the Universe are accounted for by galaxies that
are not detected in the current generation of LBG surveys.Comment: 12 pages, 8 figures, Error in AB magnitude calculation corrected.
Figures in the original published version in MNRAS contain error except Fig.5
& 6, but the basic conclusions are unchanged. Higher resolution version
available at http://cfa-www.harvard.edu/~knagamine/lbg.ps.g
A New Approach for Simulating Galaxy Cluster Properties
We describe a subgrid model for including galaxies into hydrodynamical
cosmological simulations of galaxy cluster evolution. Each galaxy construct- or
galcon- is modeled as a physically extended object within which star formation,
galactic winds, and ram pressure stripping of gas are modeled analytically.
Galcons are initialized at high redshift (z~3) after galaxy dark matter halos
have formed but before the cluster has virialized. Each galcon moves
self-consistently within the evolving cluster potential and injects mass,
metals, and energy into intracluster (IC) gas through a well-resolved spherical
interface layer. We have implemented galcons into the Enzo adaptive mesh
refinement code and carried out a simulation of cluster formation in a
LambdaCDM universe. With our approach, we are able to economically follow the
impact of a large number of galaxies on IC gas. We compare the results of the
galcon simulation with a second, more standard simulation where star formation
and feedback are treated using a popular heuristic prescription. One advantage
of the galcon approach is explicit control over the star formation history of
cluster galaxies. Using a galactic SFR derived from the cosmic star formation
density, we find the galcon simulation produces a lower stellar fraction, a
larger gas core radius, a more isothermal temperature profile, and a flatter
metallicity gradient than the standard simulation, in better agreement with
observations.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures, submitted for publication in ApJ
Distribution of Damped Lyman-alpha Absorbers in a Lambda Cold Dark Matter Universe
We present the results of a numerical study of a galactic wind model and its
implications on the properties of damped Lyman-alpha absorbers (DLAs) using
cosmological hydrodynamic simulations. We vary both the wind strength and the
internal parameters of the the wind model in a series of cosmological SPH
simulations that include radiative cooling and heating by a UV background, star
formation, and feedback from supernovae and galactic winds. To test our
simulations, we examine the DLA `rate-of-incidence' as a function of halo mass,
galaxy apparent magnitude, and impact parameter. We find that the statistical
distribution of DLAs does not depend on the exact values of internal numerical
parameters that control the decoupling of hydrodynamic forces when the gas is
ejected from starforming regions. The DLA rate-of-incidence in our simulations
at z=3 is dominated by the faint galaxies with apparent magnitude R_AB < 25.5.
However, interestingly in a `strong wind' run, the differential distribution of
DLA sight-lines is peaked at Mhalo = 10^{12} Msun/h (R_AB~27), and the mean DLA
halo mass is Mmean=10^{12.4} Msun/h (R_AB ~ 26). These mass-scales are much
larger than those if we ignore winds, because galactic wind feedback suppresses
the DLA cross section in low-mass halos and increases the relative contribution
to the DLA incidence from more massive halos. The DLAs in our simulations are
more compact than the present-day disk galaxies, and the impact parameter
distribution is very narrow unless we limit the search for the host galaxy to
only bright LBGs. The comoving number density of DLAs is higher than that of
LBGs down to R_AB=30 mag if the physical radius of each DLA is smaller than 5
kpc/h_70. We discuss conflicts between current simulations and observations,
and potential problems with simulations based on the CDM model.Comment: 37 pages, 11 figures. Accepted to ApJ. Additional numerical tests of
the internal parameters of the galactic wind model are presente
QTL detection and allelic effects for growth and fat traits in outbred pig populations
Quantitative trait loci (QTL) for growth and fatness traits have previously been identified on chromosomes 4 and 7 in several experimental pig populations. The segregation of these QTL in commercial pigs was studied in a sample of 2713 animals from five different populations. Variance component analysis (VCA) using a marker-based identity by descent (IBD) matrix was applied. The IBD coefficient was estimated with simple deterministic (SMD) and Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) methods. Data for two growth traits, average daily gain on test and whole life daily gain, and back fat thickness were analysed. With both methods, seven out of 26 combinations of population, chromosome and trait, were significant. Additionally, QTL genotypic and allelic effects were estimated when the QTL effect was significant. The range of QTL genotypic effects in a population varied from 4.8% to 10.9% of the phenotypic mean for growth traits and 7.9% to 19.5% for back fat trait. Heritabilities of the QTL genotypic values ranged from 8.6% to 18.2% for growth traits, and 14.5% to 19.2% for back fat. Very similar results were obtained with both SMD and MCMC. However, the MCMC method required a large number of iterations, and hence computation time, especially when the QTL test position was close to the marker
Massive galaxies in cosmological simulations: UV-selected sample at redshift z=2
We study the properties of galaxies at z=2 in a Lambda CDM universe, using
two different types of hydrodynamic simulation methods (Eulerian TVD and SPH)
and a spectrophotometric analysis in the Un, G, R filter set. The simulated
galaxies at z=2 satisfy the color-selection criteria proposed by Adelberger et
al. (2004) when we assume Calzetti extinction with E(B-V)=0.15. We find that
the number density of simulated galaxies brighter than R<25.5 at z=2 is about
2e-2 h^3/Mpc^3, roughly one order of magnitude larger than that of Lyman break
galaxies at z=3. The most massive galaxies at z=2 have stellar masses >~1e11
Msun, and their observed-frame G-R colors lie in the range 0.0<G-R<1.0. They
typically have been continuously forming stars with a rate exceeding 30 Msun/yr
over a few Gyrs from z=10 to z=2, although the TVD simulation indicates a more
sporadic star formation history than the SPH simulations. Of order half of
their stellar mass was already assembled by z~4. The reddest massive galaxies
at z=2 with G-R >= 1.0 and Mstar>1e10 Msun/h finished the build-up of their
stellar mass by z~3. Interestingly, our study suggests that the majority of the
most massive galaxies at z=2 should be detectable at rest-frame UV wavelengths,
contrary to some recent claims made on the basis of near-IR studies of galaxies
at the same epoch, provided the median extinction is less than E(B-V)<0.3.
However, our results also suggest that the fraction of stellar mass contained
in galaxies that pass the color-selection criteria could be as low as 50% of
the total stellar mass in the Universe at z=2. Our simulations suggest that the
missing stellar mass is contained in fainter (R>25.5) and intrinsically redder
galaxies. Our results do not suggest that hierarchical galaxy formation fails
to account for the massive galaxies at z>=1. (abridged)Comment: 35 pages, 11 figures. Submitted to ApJ. Error in AB magnitude
calculation corrected. Higher resolution version available at
http://cfa-www.harvard.edu/~knagamine/redgal.ps.g
Massive galaxies at redshift 2 in cosmological hydrodynamic simulations
We study the properties of galaxies at z=2 in a Lambda cold dark matter
universe, using two different types of hydrodynamic simulation methods --
Eulerian TVD and smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH) -- and a
spectrophotometric analysis in the U_n, G, R filter set. The simulated galaxies
at z=2 satisfy the color-selection criteria proposed by Adelberger et al.
(2004) and Steidel et al. (2004) when we assume Calzetti extinction with
E(B-V)=0.15. We find that the number density of simulated galaxies brighter
than R<25.5 at z=2 is about 1e-2 h^3 Mpc^-3 for E(B-V)=0.15, which is roughly
twice that of the number density found by Erb et al. (2004) for the UV bright
sample. This suggests that roughly half of the massive galaxies with M*>10^{10}
Msun/h at z=2 are UV bright population, and the other half is bright in the
infra-red wavelengths. The most massive galaxies at z=2 have stellar masses >=
10^{11-12} Msun. They typically have been continuously forming stars with a
rate exceeding 30 Msun/yr over a few Gyrs from z=10 to z=2, together with
significant contribution by starbursts reaching up to 1000 Msun/yr which lie on
top of the continuous component. TVD simulations indicate a more sporadic star
formation history than the SPH simulations. Our results do not imply that
hierarchical galaxy formation fails to account for the observed massive
galaxies at z>=1. The global star formation rate density in our simulations
peaks at z>=5, a much higher redshift than predicted by the semianalytic
models. This star formation history suggests early build-up of the stellar mass
density, and predicts that 70 (50, 30)% of the total stellar mass at z=0 had
already been formed by z=1 (2, 3). Upcoming observations by Spitzer and Swift
might help to better constrain the star formation history at high redshift.Comment: 4 pages, Kluwer style files included. To appear in "Starbursts - from
30 Doradus to Lyman break galaxies" (IoA, Cambridge UK, Sep 2004; talk
summary), Astrophysics & Space Science Library, eds. de Grijs R., Gonzalez
Delgado R.M. (Kluwer: Dordrecht
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