Modeling Dust Production, Growth, and Destruction in Reionization-era Galaxies with the CROC Simulations: Methods and Parameter Exploration
We introduce a model for the explicit evolution of interstellar dust in a cosmological galaxy formation simulation. We post-process a simulation from the Cosmic Reionization on Computers project, integrating an ordinary differential equation for the evolution of the dust-to-gas ratio along pathlines...
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IOP Publishing
2022-01-01
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| Series: | The Astrophysical Journal |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/ac9612 |
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| author | Clarke J. Esmerian Nickolay Y. Gnedin |
| author_facet | Clarke J. Esmerian Nickolay Y. Gnedin |
| author_sort | Clarke J. Esmerian |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | We introduce a model for the explicit evolution of interstellar dust in a cosmological galaxy formation simulation. We post-process a simulation from the Cosmic Reionization on Computers project, integrating an ordinary differential equation for the evolution of the dust-to-gas ratio along pathlines in the simulation sampled with a tracer particle technique. This model incorporates the effects of dust grain production in asymptotic giant branch star winds and supernovae, grain growth due to the accretion of heavy elements from the gas phase of the interstellar medium, and grain destruction due to thermal sputtering in the high-temperature gas of supernova remnants. A main conclusion of our analysis is the importance of a carefully chosen dust destruction model, for which different reasonable parameterizations can predict very different values at the ∼100 pc resolution of the interstellar medium (ISM) in our simulations. We run this dust model on the single most massive galaxy in a 10 h ^−1 comoving megaparsec box, which attains a stellar mass of ∼2 × 10 ^9 M _⊙ by z = 5. We find that the model is capable of reproducing dust masses and dust-sensitive observable quantities broadly consistent with existing data from high-redshift galaxies. The total dust mass in the simulated galaxy is somewhat sensitive to parameter choices for the dust model, especially the timescale for grain growth due to accretion in the ISM. Consequently, observations that can constrain galaxy dust masses at these epochs are potentially useful for placing constraints on dust physics. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-9da91ed6d08c47818f6a3da0e788f7f2 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 1538-4357 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2022-01-01 |
| publisher | IOP Publishing |
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| series | The Astrophysical Journal |
| spelling | doaj-art-9da91ed6d08c47818f6a3da0e788f7f22025-08-20T03:51:59ZengIOP PublishingThe Astrophysical Journal1538-43572022-01-0194017410.3847/1538-4357/ac9612Modeling Dust Production, Growth, and Destruction in Reionization-era Galaxies with the CROC Simulations: Methods and Parameter ExplorationClarke J. Esmerian0https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4575-4845Nickolay Y. Gnedin1https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5925-4580Department of Astronomy & Astrophysics, University of Chicago , Chicago, IL 60637 USA ; cesmerian@uchicago.edu; Kavli Institute for Cosmological Physics; The University of Chicago ; Chicago, IL 60637 USA; Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory ; Batavia, IL 60510, USADepartment of Astronomy & Astrophysics, University of Chicago , Chicago, IL 60637 USA ; cesmerian@uchicago.edu; Kavli Institute for Cosmological Physics; The University of Chicago ; Chicago, IL 60637 USA; Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory ; Batavia, IL 60510, USAWe introduce a model for the explicit evolution of interstellar dust in a cosmological galaxy formation simulation. We post-process a simulation from the Cosmic Reionization on Computers project, integrating an ordinary differential equation for the evolution of the dust-to-gas ratio along pathlines in the simulation sampled with a tracer particle technique. This model incorporates the effects of dust grain production in asymptotic giant branch star winds and supernovae, grain growth due to the accretion of heavy elements from the gas phase of the interstellar medium, and grain destruction due to thermal sputtering in the high-temperature gas of supernova remnants. A main conclusion of our analysis is the importance of a carefully chosen dust destruction model, for which different reasonable parameterizations can predict very different values at the ∼100 pc resolution of the interstellar medium (ISM) in our simulations. We run this dust model on the single most massive galaxy in a 10 h ^−1 comoving megaparsec box, which attains a stellar mass of ∼2 × 10 ^9 M _⊙ by z = 5. We find that the model is capable of reproducing dust masses and dust-sensitive observable quantities broadly consistent with existing data from high-redshift galaxies. The total dust mass in the simulated galaxy is somewhat sensitive to parameter choices for the dust model, especially the timescale for grain growth due to accretion in the ISM. Consequently, observations that can constrain galaxy dust masses at these epochs are potentially useful for placing constraints on dust physics.https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/ac9612Interstellar dust processesHydrodynamical simulationsGalaxy formationComputational methods |
| spellingShingle | Clarke J. Esmerian Nickolay Y. Gnedin Modeling Dust Production, Growth, and Destruction in Reionization-era Galaxies with the CROC Simulations: Methods and Parameter Exploration The Astrophysical Journal Interstellar dust processes Hydrodynamical simulations Galaxy formation Computational methods |
| title | Modeling Dust Production, Growth, and Destruction in Reionization-era Galaxies with the CROC Simulations: Methods and Parameter Exploration |
| title_full | Modeling Dust Production, Growth, and Destruction in Reionization-era Galaxies with the CROC Simulations: Methods and Parameter Exploration |
| title_fullStr | Modeling Dust Production, Growth, and Destruction in Reionization-era Galaxies with the CROC Simulations: Methods and Parameter Exploration |
| title_full_unstemmed | Modeling Dust Production, Growth, and Destruction in Reionization-era Galaxies with the CROC Simulations: Methods and Parameter Exploration |
| title_short | Modeling Dust Production, Growth, and Destruction in Reionization-era Galaxies with the CROC Simulations: Methods and Parameter Exploration |
| title_sort | modeling dust production growth and destruction in reionization era galaxies with the croc simulations methods and parameter exploration |
| topic | Interstellar dust processes Hydrodynamical simulations Galaxy formation Computational methods |
| url | https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/ac9612 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT clarkejesmerian modelingdustproductiongrowthanddestructioninreionizationeragalaxieswiththecrocsimulationsmethodsandparameterexploration AT nickolayygnedin modelingdustproductiongrowthanddestructioninreionizationeragalaxieswiththecrocsimulationsmethodsandparameterexploration |