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Main Authors: Kušmić, Samir, Finlator, Kristian, Huscher, Ezra, Steen, Maya
Format: Preprint
Published: 2024
Subjects:
Online Access:https://arxiv.org/abs/2405.00177
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author Kušmić, Samir
Finlator, Kristian
Huscher, Ezra
Steen, Maya
author_facet Kušmić, Samir
Finlator, Kristian
Huscher, Ezra
Steen, Maya
contents How do galaxies of different luminosities contribute to the metal absorber populations of varying species and strength? We present our analysis of the predicted metal contributions from galaxies as observed in quasar absorption line spectra during the end of the Epoch of Reionization (EoR; $10 \geq z \geq 5.5$). This was done by implementing on-the-fly particle tracking into the latest \textsc{Technicolor Dawn} simulation and then linking CII, CIV, SiII, SiIV, OI, and MgII absorbers to host galaxies in post-processing. We define the Host Galaxy Luminosity Distribution (HGLD) as the rest-frame ultraviolet luminosity distribution of galaxies contributing ions to an absorber, weighted by the fractional contribution, and compute its dependence on ion and absorber strength. The HGLD shape is predicted to be indistinguishable from the field luminosity function, indicating that there is no relationship between the absorber strength or ion and the luminosity of the dominant contributing galaxy. Switching from galaxy luminosity to stellar mass, the predicted host galaxy mass distributions (HGMD) indicate that more-massive galaxies contribute a higher fraction of metal ions to absorbers of each species, with the HGMD of stronger absorbers extending out to higher masses. We conclude that the fraction of absorbing metal ions contributed by galaxies increases weakly with stellar mass, but the scatter in luminosity at fixed stellar mass obscures this relationship. For the same reason, we predict that observational analyses of the absorber-galaxy relationship will uncover stronger trends with stellar mass than with luminosity.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2405_00177
institution arXiv
publishDate 2024
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Galaxy-Absorber Association in the Epoch of Reionization: Galactic Population Luminosity Distribution for Different Absorbers at $10 \geq z \geq 5.5$
Kušmić, Samir
Finlator, Kristian
Huscher, Ezra
Steen, Maya
Astrophysics of Galaxies
How do galaxies of different luminosities contribute to the metal absorber populations of varying species and strength? We present our analysis of the predicted metal contributions from galaxies as observed in quasar absorption line spectra during the end of the Epoch of Reionization (EoR; $10 \geq z \geq 5.5$). This was done by implementing on-the-fly particle tracking into the latest \textsc{Technicolor Dawn} simulation and then linking CII, CIV, SiII, SiIV, OI, and MgII absorbers to host galaxies in post-processing. We define the Host Galaxy Luminosity Distribution (HGLD) as the rest-frame ultraviolet luminosity distribution of galaxies contributing ions to an absorber, weighted by the fractional contribution, and compute its dependence on ion and absorber strength. The HGLD shape is predicted to be indistinguishable from the field luminosity function, indicating that there is no relationship between the absorber strength or ion and the luminosity of the dominant contributing galaxy. Switching from galaxy luminosity to stellar mass, the predicted host galaxy mass distributions (HGMD) indicate that more-massive galaxies contribute a higher fraction of metal ions to absorbers of each species, with the HGMD of stronger absorbers extending out to higher masses. We conclude that the fraction of absorbing metal ions contributed by galaxies increases weakly with stellar mass, but the scatter in luminosity at fixed stellar mass obscures this relationship. For the same reason, we predict that observational analyses of the absorber-galaxy relationship will uncover stronger trends with stellar mass than with luminosity.
title Galaxy-Absorber Association in the Epoch of Reionization: Galactic Population Luminosity Distribution for Different Absorbers at $10 \geq z \geq 5.5$
topic Astrophysics of Galaxies
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2405.00177