Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Chaikin, Evgenii, Schaye, Joop, Schaller, Matthieu, Ploeckinger, Sylvia, Bahé, Yannick M., Benítez-Llambay, Alejandro, Correa, Camila, Moreno, Victor J. Forouhar, Frenk, Carlos S., Huško, Filip, Kugel, Roi, McGibbon, Robert, Richings, Alexander J., Trayford, James W., Borrow, Josh, Crain, Robert A., Helly, John C., Lacey, Cedric G., Ludlow, Aaron, Nobels, Folkert S. J.
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
Subjects:
Online Access:https://arxiv.org/abs/2509.04067
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1866917407753240576
author Chaikin, Evgenii
Schaye, Joop
Schaller, Matthieu
Ploeckinger, Sylvia
Bahé, Yannick M.
Benítez-Llambay, Alejandro
Correa, Camila
Moreno, Victor J. Forouhar
Frenk, Carlos S.
Huško, Filip
Kugel, Roi
McGibbon, Robert
Richings, Alexander J.
Trayford, James W.
Borrow, Josh
Crain, Robert A.
Helly, John C.
Lacey, Cedric G.
Ludlow, Aaron
Nobels, Folkert S. J.
author_facet Chaikin, Evgenii
Schaye, Joop
Schaller, Matthieu
Ploeckinger, Sylvia
Bahé, Yannick M.
Benítez-Llambay, Alejandro
Correa, Camila
Moreno, Victor J. Forouhar
Frenk, Carlos S.
Huško, Filip
Kugel, Roi
McGibbon, Robert
Richings, Alexander J.
Trayford, James W.
Borrow, Josh
Crain, Robert A.
Helly, John C.
Lacey, Cedric G.
Ludlow, Aaron
Nobels, Folkert S. J.
contents We present the calibration of stellar and active galactic nucleus (AGN) feedback in the subgrid model for the new COLIBRE hydrodynamical simulations of galaxy formation. COLIBRE directly simulates the multi-phase interstellar medium and the evolution of dust grains, which is coupled to the chemistry. COLIBRE is calibrated at three resolutions: particle masses of $m_{\rm gas} \approx m_{\rm dm} \sim 10^7$ (m7), $10^6$ (m6), and $10^5~\mathrm{M_\odot}$ (m5). To calibrate the COLIBRE feedback at m7 resolution, we run Latin hypercubes of $\approx 200$ simulations that vary up to four subgrid parameters in cosmological volumes of ($50~\mathrm{cMpc}$)$^{3}$. We train Gaussian process emulators on these simulations to predict the $z=0$ galaxy stellar mass function (GSMF) and size - stellar mass relation (SSMR) as functions of the model parameters, which we then fit to observations. The trained emulators not only provide the best-fitting parameter values but also enable us to investigate how different aspects of the prescriptions for supernova and AGN feedback affect the predictions. In particular, we demonstrate that while the observed $z=0$ GSMF and SSMR can be matched individually with a relatively simple supernova feedback model, simultaneously reproducing both necessitates a more sophisticated prescription. We show that the calibrated m7 COLIBRE model not only reproduces the calibration target observables, but also matches various other galaxy properties to which the model was not calibrated. Finally, we apply the calibrated m7 model to the m6 and m5 resolutions and, after slight manual adjustments of the subgrid parameters, achieve a similar level of agreement with the observed $z=0$ GSMF and SSMR.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2509_04067
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle COLIBRE: calibrating subgrid feedback in cosmological simulations that include a cold gas phase
Chaikin, Evgenii
Schaye, Joop
Schaller, Matthieu
Ploeckinger, Sylvia
Bahé, Yannick M.
Benítez-Llambay, Alejandro
Correa, Camila
Moreno, Victor J. Forouhar
Frenk, Carlos S.
Huško, Filip
Kugel, Roi
McGibbon, Robert
Richings, Alexander J.
Trayford, James W.
Borrow, Josh
Crain, Robert A.
Helly, John C.
Lacey, Cedric G.
Ludlow, Aaron
Nobels, Folkert S. J.
Astrophysics of Galaxies
We present the calibration of stellar and active galactic nucleus (AGN) feedback in the subgrid model for the new COLIBRE hydrodynamical simulations of galaxy formation. COLIBRE directly simulates the multi-phase interstellar medium and the evolution of dust grains, which is coupled to the chemistry. COLIBRE is calibrated at three resolutions: particle masses of $m_{\rm gas} \approx m_{\rm dm} \sim 10^7$ (m7), $10^6$ (m6), and $10^5~\mathrm{M_\odot}$ (m5). To calibrate the COLIBRE feedback at m7 resolution, we run Latin hypercubes of $\approx 200$ simulations that vary up to four subgrid parameters in cosmological volumes of ($50~\mathrm{cMpc}$)$^{3}$. We train Gaussian process emulators on these simulations to predict the $z=0$ galaxy stellar mass function (GSMF) and size - stellar mass relation (SSMR) as functions of the model parameters, which we then fit to observations. The trained emulators not only provide the best-fitting parameter values but also enable us to investigate how different aspects of the prescriptions for supernova and AGN feedback affect the predictions. In particular, we demonstrate that while the observed $z=0$ GSMF and SSMR can be matched individually with a relatively simple supernova feedback model, simultaneously reproducing both necessitates a more sophisticated prescription. We show that the calibrated m7 COLIBRE model not only reproduces the calibration target observables, but also matches various other galaxy properties to which the model was not calibrated. Finally, we apply the calibrated m7 model to the m6 and m5 resolutions and, after slight manual adjustments of the subgrid parameters, achieve a similar level of agreement with the observed $z=0$ GSMF and SSMR.
title COLIBRE: calibrating subgrid feedback in cosmological simulations that include a cold gas phase
topic Astrophysics of Galaxies
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2509.04067