Simulating High-redshift Galaxies: Enhancing UV Luminosity with Star Formation Efficiency and a Top-heavy IMF

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Main Authors: Jeong, Tae Bong, Jeon, Myoungwon, Song, Hyunmi, Bromm, Volker
Format: Preprint
Published: 2024
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author Jeong, Tae Bong
Jeon, Myoungwon
Song, Hyunmi
Bromm, Volker
author_facet Jeong, Tae Bong
Jeon, Myoungwon
Song, Hyunmi
Bromm, Volker
contents Recent findings from photometric and spectroscopic JWST surveys have identified examples of high-redshift galaxies at $z \gtrsim 10$. These high-$z$ galaxies appear to form much earlier and exhibit greater UV luminosity than predicted by theoretical work. In this study, our goal is to reproduce the brightness of these sources by simulating high-redshift galaxies with virial masses $M_{\rm vir} = 10^{9} - 10^{10} M_{\odot}$ at $z > 10$. To achieve this, we conduct cosmological hydrodynamic zoom-in simulations, modifying baryonic sub-grid physics, and post-process our simulation results to confirm the observability of our simulated galaxies. Specifically, we enhanced star formation activity in high-redshift galaxies by either increasing the star formation efficiency up to 100\% or adopting a top-heavy initial mass function (IMF). Our simulation results indicate that both increasing star formation efficiency and adopting a top-heavy IMF play crucial roles in boosting the UV luminosity of high-redshift galaxies, potentially exceeding the limiting magnitude of JWST surveys in earlier epochs. Especially, the episodic starburst resulting from enhanced star formation efficiency may explain the high-redshift galaxies observed by JWST, as it evacuates dust from star-forming regions, making the galaxies more observable. We demonstrate this correlation between star formation activity and dust mass evolution within the simulated galaxies. Also, adopting a top-heavy IMF could enhance observability due to an overabundance of massive stars, although it may also facilitate rapid metal enrichment. Using our simulation results, we derive several observables such as effective radius, UV slope, and emission line rates, which could serve as valuable theoretical estimates for comparison with existing spectroscopic results and forthcoming data from the JWST NIRSpec and MIRI instruments.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2411_17007
institution arXiv
publishDate 2024
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Simulating High-redshift Galaxies: Enhancing UV Luminosity with Star Formation Efficiency and a Top-heavy IMF
Jeong, Tae Bong
Jeon, Myoungwon
Song, Hyunmi
Bromm, Volker
Astrophysics of Galaxies
Recent findings from photometric and spectroscopic JWST surveys have identified examples of high-redshift galaxies at $z \gtrsim 10$. These high-$z$ galaxies appear to form much earlier and exhibit greater UV luminosity than predicted by theoretical work. In this study, our goal is to reproduce the brightness of these sources by simulating high-redshift galaxies with virial masses $M_{\rm vir} = 10^{9} - 10^{10} M_{\odot}$ at $z > 10$. To achieve this, we conduct cosmological hydrodynamic zoom-in simulations, modifying baryonic sub-grid physics, and post-process our simulation results to confirm the observability of our simulated galaxies. Specifically, we enhanced star formation activity in high-redshift galaxies by either increasing the star formation efficiency up to 100\% or adopting a top-heavy initial mass function (IMF). Our simulation results indicate that both increasing star formation efficiency and adopting a top-heavy IMF play crucial roles in boosting the UV luminosity of high-redshift galaxies, potentially exceeding the limiting magnitude of JWST surveys in earlier epochs. Especially, the episodic starburst resulting from enhanced star formation efficiency may explain the high-redshift galaxies observed by JWST, as it evacuates dust from star-forming regions, making the galaxies more observable. We demonstrate this correlation between star formation activity and dust mass evolution within the simulated galaxies. Also, adopting a top-heavy IMF could enhance observability due to an overabundance of massive stars, although it may also facilitate rapid metal enrichment. Using our simulation results, we derive several observables such as effective radius, UV slope, and emission line rates, which could serve as valuable theoretical estimates for comparison with existing spectroscopic results and forthcoming data from the JWST NIRSpec and MIRI instruments.
title Simulating High-redshift Galaxies: Enhancing UV Luminosity with Star Formation Efficiency and a Top-heavy IMF
topic Astrophysics of Galaxies
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2411.17007