Cosmological Zoom-in Simulations Research Articles

Hyenas: X-ray Bubbles and Cavities in the Intra-Group Medium

Abstract We investigate the role of the Simba feedback model on the structure of the Intra-Group Medium (IGrM) in the new Hyenas suite of cutting-edge cosmological zoom-in simulations. Using 34 high-resolution zooms of halos spanning from 1013 − 1014M⊙ at z = 0.286, we follow halos for 700 Myr, over several major active galactic nuclei (AGN) jet feedback events. We use the moxha package to generate mock Chandra X-ray observations, as well as predictive mocks for the upcoming LEM mission, identifying many feedback-generated features such as cavities, shock-fronts, and hot-spots, closely mimicking real observations. Our sample comprises 105 snapshots with identified cavities, 50 with single bubbles and 55 with two, and spans three orders of magnitude in observed cavity enthalpies, from 1041 − 1044 erg/s. Comparing semi-major axis length, midpoint radius, and eccentricity to a matched sample of observations, we find good agreement in cavity dimensions with real catalogues. We estimate cavity power from our mock maps following observational procedures, showing that this is typically more than enough to offset halo cooling, particularly in low-mass halos, where we match the observed excess in energy relative to cooling. Bubble enthalpy as measured with the usual midpoint pressure typically exceeds the energy released by the most recent jet event, hinting that the mechanical work is done predominantly at a lower pressure against the IGrM. We demonstrate for the first time that X-ray cavities are observable in a modern large-scale simulation suite and discuss the use of realistic cavity mock observations as new halo-scale constraints on feedback models in cosmological simulations.

Deciphering the Milky Way disc formation time encrypted in the bar chrono-kinematics

Abstract We present a novel method to constrain the formation time of the Milky Way disc using the chrono-kinematic signatures of the inner Galaxy. We construct an O-rich Mira variable sample from the Gaia Long-period Variable catalogue to study the kinematic behaviour of stars with different ages in the inner Galaxy. From the Auriga suite of cosmological zoom-in simulations, we find that the age of the oldest stellar population with imprints of the bar in density and kinematics matches the disc spin-up epoch. This is because stars born before the spin-up show insufficient rotation and are not kinematically cold enough to be efficiently trapped by the bar. We find that the bar kinematic signature disappears for Mira variables with a period shorter than 190 days. Using the period-age relation of Mira variables, we constrain the spin-up epoch of the Milky Way to be younger than ∼11 − 12 Gyr (redshift ∼3). We also discuss and compare our method and result to other evidence of the Milky Way spin-up epoch under the context of a realistic age uncertainty. Age uncertainty leads to an overestimation of the disc formation time when performing backward modelling. Our constrain of the spin-up epoch is independent from previous studies because it relies on the kinematics of the inner Galaxy instead of the solar vicinity.

Spectral reconstruction for radiation hydrodynamic simulations of galaxy evolution

Radiation from stars and active galactic nuclei (AGN) plays an important role in galaxy formation and evolution, and profoundly transforms the intergalactic, circumgalactic, and interstellar medium (IGM, CGM, and ISM). On-the-fly radiative transfer (RT) has started being incorporated in cosmological simulations, but the complex evolving radiation spectra are often crudely approximated with a small number of broad bands with piece-wise constant intensity and a fixed photo-ionisation cross-section. Such a treatment is unable to capture the changes to the spectrum as light is absorbed while it propagates through a medium with non-zero opacity. This can lead to large errors in photo-ionisation and heating rates. In this work we present a novel approach of discretising the radiation field at discrete photon energies, at the edges of the typically used photo-ionising bands, in order to capture the power-law slope of the radiation field. In combination with power-law approximations for the photo-ionisation cross-sections, this model allows us to self-consistently combine radiation from sources with different spectra and accurately follow the ionisation states of primordial and metal species through time. The method is implemented in GASOLINE2 in connection with TREVR2, a fast reverse ray tracing algorithm with 𝒪(Nactive log2 N) scaling. We compare our new piece-wise power-law reconstruction to the piece-wise constant method in calculating the primordial chemistry photo-ionisation and heating rates under an evolving UV background (UVB) and stellar spectrum, and find that our method reduces errors significantly, by up to two orders of magnitude in the case of HeII ionisation. We apply our new spectral reconstruction method in RT post-processing of a cosmological zoom-in simulation, MUGS2 g1536, including radiation from stars and a live UVB, and find a significant increase in total neutral hydrogen (HI) mass in the ISM and the CGM due to shielding of the UVB and a low escape fraction of the stellar radiation. This demonstrates the importance of RT and an accurate spectral approximation in simulating the CGM-galaxy ecosystem.

Recovering chemical bimodalities in observed edge-on stellar disks: Insights from AURIGA simulations

The well-known bimodal distribution of Milky Way disk stars in the [α/Fe]–metallicity plane is often used to define thick and thin disks. In external edge-on galaxies, there have been attempts to identify this type of bimodality using integral field spectroscopy (IFS) data. However, for unresolved stellar populations, observations only contain integrated information, making these studies challenging. We assessed the ability to recover chemical bimodalities in IFS observations of edge-on galaxies, using 24 Milky Way-mass galaxies from the AURIGA zoom-in cosmological simulations. We first analyzed the distribution of single stellar particles in the [Mg/Fe]–[Fe/H] plane, finding that bimodality is frequent but not ubiquitous and often unclear. Then we produced mock IFS [Mg/Fe] and [Fe/H] maps of galaxies seen edge on, and considered integrated stellar-population properties (projected and spatially binned). We investigated how the distribution of stars in the [Mg/Fe]–[Fe/H] plane is affected by edge-on projection and spatial binning. Bimodality is preserved, while distributions change their shapes. Naturally, broad distributions of individual star particles are narrowed into smaller [Mg/Fe] and [Fe/H] ranges for spatial bins. We observe continuous distributions from high [Mg/Fe] and low [Fe/H], to lower [Mg/Fe] values and higher [Fe/H]. Despite being continuous, these distributions are bimodal in most cases. The overlap in [Fe/H] is small, and different [Mg/Fe] components show up as peaks instead of sequences (even when the latter are present for individual particles). The larger the spatial bins, the narrower the [Mg/Fe]–[Fe/H] distribution. This narrowing helps amplify the density of different [Mg/Fe] peaks, often leading to a clearer bimodality in mock IFS observations than for original star particles. We also assessed the correspondence of chemical bimodalities with the distinction between geometric thick and thin disks. Their individual particles have different distributions, but mostly overlap in [Mg/Fe] and [Fe/H]. However, integrated properties of geometric thick and thin disks in mock maps do mostly segregate into different regions of the [Mg/Fe]–[Fe/H] plane. In bimodal distributions, they correspond to the two distinct peaks. Our results show that this approach can be used for bimodality studies in future IFS observations of edge-on external galaxies.

Ne viii in the Warm-hot Circumgalactic Medium of FIRE Simulations and in Observations

The properties of warm-hot gas around ∼L * galaxies can be studied with absorption lines from highly ionized metals. We predict Ne viii column densities from cosmological zoom-in simulations of halos with masses in ∼1012 and ∼1013 M ☉ from the Feedback in Realistic Environments (FIRE) project. Ne viii traces the volume-filling, virial-temperature gas in ∼1012 M ☉ halos. In ∼1013 M ☉ halos the Ne viii gas is clumpier, and biased toward the cooler part of the warm-hot phase. We compare the simulations to observations from the COS Absorption Survey of Baryon Harbors (or CASBaH) and COS Ultraviolet Baryon Survey (or CUBS). We show that when inferring halo masses from stellar masses to compare simulated and observed halos, it is important to account for the scatter in the stellar-mass–halo-mass relation, especially at M ⋆ ≳ 1010.5 M ☉. Median Ne viii columns in the fiducial FIRE-2 model are about as high as observed upper limits allow, while the simulations analyzed do not reproduce the highest observed columns. This suggests that the median Ne viii profiles predicted by the simulations are consistent with observations, but that the simulations may underpredict the scatter. We find similar agreement with analytical models that assume a product of the halo gas fraction and metallicity (relative to solar) ∼0.1, indicating that observations are consistent with plausible circumgalactic medium temperatures, metallicities, and gas masses. Variants of the FIRE simulations with a modified supernova feedback model and/or active galactic nuclei feedback included (as well as some other cosmological simulations from the literature) more systematically underpredict Ne viii columns. The circumgalactic Ne viii observations therefore provide valuable constraints on simulations that otherwise predict realistic galaxy properties.

Redshift-dependent galaxy formation efficiency at z = 5 − 13 in the FirstLight Simulations

Context. Some models of the formation of first galaxies predict low masses and faint objects at extremely high redshifts, z ≃ 9 − 15. However, the first observations of this epoch indicate a higher-than-expected number of bright (sometimes massive) galaxies. Aims. Numerical simulations can help to elucidate the mild evolution of the bright end of the UV luminosity function and they can provide the link between the evolution of bright galaxies and variations of the galaxy formation efficiency across different redshifts. Methods. We use the FirstLight database of 377 zoom-in cosmological simulations of a volume- and mass-complete sample of galaxies. Mock luminosities are estimated by a dust model constrained by observations of the β–MUV relation at z = 6 − 9. Results. FirstLight contains a high number of bright galaxies, MUV ≤ −20, consistent with current data at z = 6 − 13. The evolution of the UV cosmic density is driven by the evolution of the galaxy efficiency and the relation between MUV and halo mass. The efficiency of galaxy formation increases significantly with mass and redshift. At a fixed mass, galactic halos at extremely high redshifts convert gas into stars at a higher rate than at lower redshifts. The high gas densities in these galaxies enable high efficiencies. Our simulations predict higher number densities of massive galaxies, M* ≃ 109 M⊙, than other models with constant efficiency. Conclusions. Cosmological simulations of galaxy formation with detailed models of star formation and feedback can reproduce the different regimes of galaxy formation across cosmic history.

Objects May Be Closer than They Appear: Significant Host Galaxy Dispersion Measures of Fast Radio Bursts in Zoom-in Simulations

We investigate the contribution of host galaxies to the overall dispersion measures (DMs) for fast radio bursts (FRBs) using the Feedback in Realistic Environments (FIRE-2) cosmological zoom-in simulation suite. We calculate DMs from every star particle in the simulated L* galaxies by ray-tracing through their multiphase interstellar medium, summing the line-of-sight free thermal electron column for all gas elements within ±20 kpc of the galactic midplane. At z = 0, we find average (median) host-galaxy DMs of 74 (43) and 210 (94) pc cm−3 for older (≳10 Myr) and younger (≲10 Myr) stellar populations, respectively. Inclination raises the median DM measured for older populations (≳10 Myr) in the simulations by a factor of ∼2 but generally does not affect the younger stars deeply embedded in H ii regions except in extreme edge-on cases (inclination ≳85°). In kinematically disturbed snapshots (z = 1 in FIRE), the average (median) host-galaxy DMs are higher: 80 (107) and 266 (795) pc cm−3 for older (≳10 Myr) and younger (≲10 Myr) stellar populations, respectively. FIRE galaxies tend to have higher DM values than cosmological simulations such as IllustrisTNG, with larger tails in their distributions to high DMs. As a result, FRB host galaxies may be closer (lower redshift) than previously inferred. Furthermore, constraining host-galaxy DM distributions may help significantly constrain FRB progenitor models.

Milky Way-est: Cosmological Zoom-in Simulations with Large Magellanic Cloud and Gaia–Sausage–Enceladus Analogs

We present Milky Way-est, a suite of 20 cosmological cold-dark-matter-only zoom-in simulations of Milky Way (MW)-like host halos. Milky Way-est hosts are selected such that they (i) are consistent with the MW’s measured halo mass and concentration, (ii) accrete a Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC)-like (≈1011 M ⊙) subhalo within the last 2 Gyr on a realistic orbit, placing them near 50 kpc from the host center at z ≈ 0, and (iii) undergo a >1:5 sub-to-host halo mass ratio merger with a Gaia–Sausage–Enceladus (GSE)-like system at early times (0.67 < z < 3). Hosts satisfying these LMC and GSE constraints constitute <1% of all halos in the MW’s mass range, and their total masses grow rapidly at late times due to LMC analog accretion. Compared to hosts of a similar final halo mass that are not selected to include LMC and GSE analogs, Milky Way-est hosts contain 22% more subhalos with present-day virial masses above 108 M ⊙ throughout the virial radius, on average. This enhancement reaches ≈80% in the inner 100 kpc and is largely, if not entirely, due to LMC-associated subhalos. These systems also induce spatial anisotropy in Milky Way-est subhalo populations, with ≈60% of the total subhalo population within 100 kpc found in the current direction of the LMC. Meanwhile, we find that GSE-associated subhalos do not significantly contribute to present-day Milky Way-est subhalo populations. These results provide context for our Galaxy’s dark matter structure and subhalo population and will help interpret a range of measurements that are currently only possible in the MW.

Low-mass Globular Clusters from Stripped Dark Matter Halos

The origin and formation of globular clusters (GCs) has remained a mystery. We present a formation scenario for ancient GC-like objects that form in ultrahigh-resolution simulations (smallest cell size < 0.1 pc, mass resolution M cell = 4 M ⊙). The simulations are cosmological zoom-in simulations of dwarf galaxies within the stellar mass range 106−7 M ⊙ that match Local Group dwarf properties well. Our investigation reveals GCs hosting ancient stellar populations, characterized by a lack of dark matter (DM) in the present epoch. The clusters exhibit short, episodic star formation histories, occasionally marked by the presence of multiple stellar generations. The metallicity distributions show a widening, encompassing stars in the range of 10−4 < Z ⋆/Z ⊙ < 1. The presence of these objects is attributable to star formation occurring within low-mass DM halos (M halo ≈ 106 M ⊙) during the early stages of the Universe, preceding reionization (z ≳ 7). As these clusters are accreted into dwarf galaxies, DM is preferentially subjected to tidal stripping, with an average accretion redshift of z¯≈5 .

Chemo-dynamical Evolution of Simulated Satellites for a Milky Way–like Galaxy

The chemical abundances of Milky Way’s (MW's) satellites reflect their star formation histories (SFHs), yet, due to the difficulty of determining the ages of old stars, the SFHs of most satellites are poorly measured. Ongoing and upcoming surveys will obtain around 10 times more medium-resolution spectra for stars in satellites than are currently available. To correctly extract SFHs from large samples of chemical abundances, the relationship between chemical abundances and SFHs needs to be clarified. Here, we perform a high-resolution cosmological zoom-in simulation of a MW-like galaxy with detailed models of star formation, supernova (SN) feedback, and metal diffusion. We quantify SFHs, metallicity distribution functions, and the α-element (Mg, Ca, and Si) abundances in satellites of the host galaxy. We find that star formation in most simulated satellites is quenched before infalling to their host. Star formation episodes in simulated satellites are separated by a few hundred Myr owing to SN feedback; each star formation event produces groups of stars with similar [α/Fe] and [Fe/H]. We then perform a mock observation of the upcoming Subaru Prime Focus Spectrograph (PFS) observations. We find that Subaru PFS will be able to detect distinct groups of stars in [α/Fe] versus [Fe/H] space, produced by episodic star formation. This result means that episodic SFHs can be estimated from the chemical abundances of ≳1000 stars determined with medium-resolution spectroscopy.

Testing the near-far connection with FIRE simulations: inferring the stellar mass function of the proto-Local Group at z &amp;gt; 6 using the fossil record of present-day galaxies

ABSTRACT The shape of the low-mass (faint) end of the galaxy stellar mass function (SMF) or ultraviolet luminosity function (UVLF) at $z \gtrsim 6$ is an open question for understanding which galaxies primarily drove cosmic reionization. Resolved photometry of Local Group low-mass galaxies allows us to reconstruct their star formation histories, stellar masses, and UV luminosities at early times, and this fossil record provides a powerful ‘near-far’ technique for studying the reionization-era SMF/UVLF, probing orders of magnitude lower in mass than direct HST/JWST observations. Using 882 low-mass ($M_{\rm star}\lesssim 10^{9}\, \rm {M_\odot }$) galaxies across 11 Milky Way (MW)- and Local Group-analogue environments from the FIRE-2 cosmological baryonic zoom-in simulations, we characterize their progenitors at $z=6\!-\!9$, the mergers/disruption of those progenitors over time, and how well their present-day fossil record traces the high-redshift SMF. A present-day galaxy with $M_{\rm star}\sim 10^5\, \rm {M_\odot }$ ($\sim 10^9\, \rm {M_\odot }$) had $\approx 1$ ($\approx 30$) progenitors at $z\approx 7$, and its main progenitor comprised $\approx 100~{{\ \rm per\ cent}}$ ($\approx 10~{{\ \rm per\ cent}}$) of the total stellar mass of all its progenitors at $z\approx 7$. We show that although only $\sim 15~{{\ \rm per\ cent}}$ of the early population of low-mass galaxies survives to present day, the fossil record of surviving Local Group galaxies accurately traces the low-mass slope of the SMF at $z \sim 6 \!-\! 9$. We find no obvious mass dependence to the mergers and accretion, and show that applying this reconstruction technique to just low-mass galaxies at $z = 0$ and not the MW/M31 hosts correctly recovers the slope of the SMF down to $M_{\rm star} \sim 10^{4.5}\, \rm {{\rm M}_{\odot }}$ at $z \gtrsim 6$. Thus, we validate the ‘near-far’ approach as an unbiased tool for probing low-mass reionization-era galaxies.

Constraining the physical properties of gas in high-z galaxies with far-infrared and submillimetre line ratios

Optical emission line diagnostics, which are a common tool for constraining the properties of the interstellar medium (ISM) of galaxies, become progressively inaccessible at higher redshifts for ground-based facilities. Far-infrared (FIR) emission lines, which are redshifted into atmospheric windows that are accessible for ground-based submillimetre facilities, could provide ISM diagnostics alternative to optical emission lines. We investigated FIR line ratios involving CII OIII OIII NII and NIII using synthetic emission lines applied to a high-resolution gas $= 883.4 M$_ odot $) cosmological zoom-in simulation, including radiative transfer post-processing with the code at z = 6.5. We find that the CII NII 122 ratio is sensitive to the temperature and density of photodissociation regions. It might therefore be a useful tool for tracing the properties of this gas phase in galaxies. We also find that NII NIII is a good tracer of the temperature and that OIII OIII 88 is a good tracer of the gas density of HII regions. Emission line ratios containing the OIII line are sensitive to high-velocity outflowing gas.

LMC stars and where to find them: inferring birth radii for external galaxies

ABSTRACT It is well known that stars are subject to radial migration, i.e. over time, they move away from their birth location. This dynamical process tends to mix different stellar populations and hence hinders the determination of the true chemical evolution of a galaxy (e.g. metallicity gradients). One way to account for radial migration is to infer stellar birth radii for individual stars. Many attempts to do so have been performed over the last few years, but are limited to the Milky Way, as computing the birth position of stars requires precise measurements of stellar metallicity and age for individual stars that cover large Galactic radii. Fortunately, recent and future surveys will provide numerous opportunities for inferring birth radii for external galaxies such as the LMC. In this paper, we investigate the possibility of doing so using the NIHAO cosmological zoom-in simulations. We find that it is theoretically possible to infer birth radii with a ∼25 per cent median uncertainty for individual stars in galaxies with i) orderliness of the orbits, $\langle v_\phi \rangle /\sigma _{v} &amp;gt; 2 $, ii) a dark matter halo mass greater or equal to approximately the LMC mass (∼2 × 1011 ${\rm M}_\odot$), and iii) after the average azimuthal velocity of the stellar disc reaches ∼70 per cent of its maximum. From our analysis, we conclude that it is possible and useful to infer birth radii for the LMC and other external galaxies that satisfy the above criteria.

Applying machine learning to Galactic Archaeology: how well can we recover the origin of stars in Milky Way-like galaxies?

ABSTRACT We present several machine learning (ML) models developed to efficiently separate stars formed in situ in Milky Way-type galaxies from those that were formed externally and later accreted. These models, which include examples from artificial neural networks, decision trees, and dimensionality reduction techniques, are trained on a sample of disc-like, Milky Way-mass galaxies drawn from the artemis cosmological hydrodynamical zoom-in simulations. We find that the input parameters which provide an optimal performance for these models consist of a combination of stellar positions, kinematics, chemical abundances ([Fe/H] and [α/Fe]), and photometric properties. Models from all categories perform similarly well, with area under the precision–recall curve (PR-AUC) scores of ≃ 0.6. Beyond a galactocentric radius of 5 kpc, models retrieve $\gt 90~{{\ \rm per\ cent}}$ of accreted stars, with a sample purity close to 60 per cent, however the purity can be increased by adjusting the classification threshold. For one model, we also include host galaxy-specific properties in the training, to account for the variability of accretion histories of the hosts, however this does not lead to an improvement in performance. The ML models can identify accreted stars even in regions heavily dominated by the in-situ component (e.g. in the disc), and perform well on an unseen suite of simulations (the auriga simulations). The general applicability bodes well for application of such methods on observational data to identify accreted substructures in the Milky Way without the need to resort to selection cuts for minimizing the contamination from in-situ stars.

The AGORA High-resolution Galaxy Simulations Comparison Project. IV. Halo and Galaxy Mass Assembly in a Cosmological Zoom-in Simulation at z ≤ 2

In this fourth paper from the AGORA Collaboration, we study the evolution down to redshift z = 2 and below of a set of cosmological zoom-in simulations of a Milky Way mass galaxy by eight of the leading hydrodynamic simulation codes. We also compare this CosmoRun suite of simulations with dark matter-only simulations by the same eight codes. We analyze general properties of the halo and galaxy at z = 4 and 3, and before the last major merger, focusing on the formation of well-defined rotationally supported disks, the mass–metallicity relation, the specific star formation rate, the gas metallicity gradients, and the nonaxisymmetric structures in the stellar disks. Codes generally converge well to the stellar-to-halo mass ratios predicted by semianalytic models at z ∼ 2. We see that almost all the hydro codes develop rotationally supported structures at low redshifts. Most agree within 0.5 dex with the observed mass–metallicity relation at high and intermediate redshifts, and reproduce the gas metallicity gradients obtained from analytical models and low-redshift observations. We confirm that the intercode differences in the halo assembly history reported in the first paper of the collaboration also exist in CosmoRun, making the code-to-code comparison more difficult. We show that such differences are mainly due to variations in code-dependent parameters that control the time stepping strategy of the gravity solver. We find that variations in the early stellar feedback can also result in differences in the timing of the low-redshift mergers. All the simulation data down to z = 2 and the auxiliary data will be made publicly available.

Is GN-z11 powered by a super-Eddington massive black hole?

Context. Observations of z ∼ 6 quasars powered by supermassive black holes (SMBHs; MBH ∼ 108 − 10 M⊙) challenge our current understanding of early black hole (BH) formation and evolution. The advent of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has enabled the study of massive BHs (MBHs; MBH ∼ 106 − 7 M⊙) up to z ∼ 11, thus bridging the properties of z ∼ 6 quasars to their ancestors. Aims. The JWST spectroscopic observations of GN-z11, a well-known z = 10.6 star-forming galaxy, have been interpreted with the presence of a super-Eddington (Eddington ratio ≡ λEdd ∼ 5.5) accreting MBH. To test this hypothesis, we used a zoom-in cosmological simulation of galaxy formation and BH co-evolution. Methods. We first tested the simulation results against the observed probability distribution function (PDF) of λEdd found in z ∼ 6 quasars. Then, in the simulation we selected the BHs that satisfy the following criteria: (a) 10 &lt; z &lt; 11, (b) MBH &gt; 106 M⊙. Next, we applied the extreme value statistics to the PDF of λEdd resulting from the simulation. Results. We find that the probability of observing a z ∼ 10 − 11 MBH accreting with λEdd ∼ 5.5 in the volume surveyed by JWST is very low (&lt; 0.2%). We compared our predictions with those in the literature, and discussed the main limitations of our work. Conclusions. Our simulation cannot explain the JWST observations of GN-z11. This might be due to: (i) poor resolution and statistics in simulations, (ii) simplistic sub-grid models (e.g. BH accretion and seeding), (iii) uncertainties in the data analysis and interpretation.

Great Balls of FIRE

Context. Despite the nearly hundred gravitational-wave detections reported by the LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA Collaboration, the question of the cosmological origin of merging binary black holes (BBHs) remains open. The two main formation channels generally considered are from isolated field binaries or via dynamical assembly in dense star clusters. Aims. Here we focus on understanding the dynamical formation of merging BBHs within massive clusters in galaxies of different masses. Methods. To this end, we applied a new framework to consistently model the formation and evolution of massive star clusters in zoom-in cosmological simulations of galaxies. Each simulation, taken from the FIRE project, provides a realistic star formation environment, with a unique star formation history, that hosts realistic giant molecular clouds that constitute the birthplace of star clusters. Combined with the code for star cluster evolution CMC, we are able to produce populations of dynamically formed merging BBHs across cosmic time in different environments. Results. As the most massive star clusters preferentially form in dense massive clouds of gas, we find that, despite their low metallicities favouring the creation of black holes, low-mass galaxies contain few massive clusters and therefore make a limited contribution to the global production of dynamically formed merging BBHs. Furthermore, we find that massive clusters can host hierarchical BBH mergers with clear, identifiable physical properties. Looking at the evolution of the BBH merger rate in different galaxies, we find strong correlations between BBH mergers and the most extreme episodes of star formation. Finally, we discuss the implications for future LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA gravitational wave observations.

Sustained super-Eddington accretion in high-redshift quasars

Observations of z ≳ 6 quasars provide information on the early evolution of the most massive black holes (MBHs) and galaxies. Current observations, able to trace both gas and stellar properties, reveal a population of MBHs that is significantly more massive than expected from the local MBH-stellar mass relation. The population lies on, but mostly above, the relation observed in the nearby Universe. This suggests that these objects grew very rapidly. To explain their presence when the Universe was less than 1 Gyr old and to assess the physical conditions for their rapid growth, we explored whether episodes of accretion above the Eddington limit can occur across cosmic epochs. By employing state-of-the-art high-resolution cosmological zoom-in simulations of a z ∼ 7 quasar, where different accretion regimes are included consistently, together with their associated radiative and kinetic feedback, we show that super-Eddington phases can be sustained for relatively long timescales (tens of millions of years). This allows the MBH to rapidly grow by up to three orders of magnitude, depending on the strength of the kinetic feedback. We also show by means of a semianalytic calculation that the MBH spin remains moderate and does not take on extremely high values during the super-Eddington phases. This results in a lower feedback efficiency, which may allow the rapid growth required to explain over-massive high-redshift MBHs.

The High-Redshift Gas-Phase Mass–Metallicity Relation in FIRE-2

The unprecedented infrared spectroscopic capabilities of JWST have provided high-quality interstellar medium metallicity measurements and enabled characterization of the gas-phase mass–metallicity relation (MZR) for galaxies at z ≳ 5 for the first time. We analyze the gas-phase MZR and its evolution in a high-redshift suite of FIRE-2 cosmological zoom-in simulations at z = 5–12 and for stellar masses M * ∼ 106–1010 M ⊙. These simulations implement a multichannel stellar feedback model and produce broadly realistic galaxy properties, including when evolved to z = 0. The simulations predict very weak redshift evolution of the MZR over the redshift range studied, with the normalization of the MZR increasing by less than 0.01 dex as redshift decreases from z = 12 to z = 5. The median MZR in the simulations is well approximated as a constant power-law relation across this redshift range given by log(Z/Z⊙)=0.37log(M*/M⊙)−4.3 . We find good agreement between our best-fit model and recent observations made by JWST at high redshift. The weak evolution of the MZR at z > 5 contrasts with the evolution at z ≲ 3, where increasing normalization of the MZR with decreasing redshift is observed and predicted by most models. The FIRE-2 simulations predict increasing scatter in the gas-phase MZR with decreasing stellar mass, in qualitative agreement with some observations.

Radio relics in massive galaxy cluster mergers in the TNG-Cluster simulation

Radio relics are diffuse synchrotron sources in the outskirts of merging galaxy clusters energized by the merger shocks. In this paper, we present an overview of the radio relics in massive cluster mergers identified in the new TNG-Cluster simulation. This is a suite of magnetohydrodynamical cosmological zoom-in simulations of 352 massive galaxy clusters with M500c = 1014.0 − 15.3 M⊙ sampled from a 1 Gpc-sized cosmological box. The simulations were performed using the moving-mesh code AREPO with the galaxy formation model and high numerical resolution consistent with the TNG300 run of the IllustrisTNG series. We post-processed the shock properties obtained from the on-the-fly shock finder to estimate the diffuse radio emission generated by cosmological shockwaves for a total of ∼300 radio relics at redshift z = 0 − 1. TNG-Cluster returned a variety of radio relics with diverse morphologies, encompassing classical examples of double radio relics, single relics, and “inverted” radio relics that are convex to the cluster center. Moreover, the simulated radio relics reproduced both the abundance and statistical relations of observed relics. We find that extremely large radio relics (&gt; 2 Mpc) are predominantly produced in massive cluster mergers with M500c ≳ 8 × 1014 M⊙. This underscores the significance of simulating massive mergers to study giant radio relics similar to those found in observations. We released a library of radio relics from the TNG-Cluster simulation, which will serve as a crucial reference for upcoming next-generation surveys.