arXiv subjects

Amiel Sternberg

Publications and source records attributed to Amiel Sternberg.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

arXiv2024

X-ray signatures of galactic outflows into the circumgalactic medium

We present a set of controlled hydrodynamical simulations to study the effects of strong galactic outflows on the density and temperature structures, and associated X-ray signatures, of extra-planar and circumgalactic gas. We consider three initial state models, isothermal, isentropic, and rotating cooling-flow, for the hot circumgalactic medium (CGM) into which the outflows are driven. The energy sources are either stellar winds and supernovae, or active galactic nuclei. We consider energy injection rates in the range $10^{40} < \dot{E}_{\rm inj} <10^{44.5}$ erg s$^{-1}$, and compute the time-dependent soft X-ray (0.5-2 keV) surface brightness. For $\dot{E}_{\rm inj} \gtrsim 10^{41} - 10^{42}$ erg s$^{-1}$, with the exact threshold depending on the initial CGM state, the X-ray response is dominated by dense hot gas in the forward shock that eventually fades into the CGM as a sound wave. The shock surrounds an inner hot bubble leading to a radial flattening of the X-ray surface brightness. For lower energy injection rates, the X-ray surface brightness of the initial CGM state is almost unaffected. We present analytic approximations for the outflow shock propagation and the associated X-ray emissions.

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arXiv2024

[CII] Emission in a Self-Regulated Interstellar Medium

The [CII] 157.74 $μ$m fine structure transition is one of the brightest and most well-studied emission lines in the far-infrared (FIR), produced in the interstellar medium (ISM) of galaxies. We study its properties in sub-pc resolution hydrodynamical simulations for an ISM patch with gas surface density of $Σ_{\rm{g}}=10\;M_{\odot}\;\rm{pc}^{-2}$, coupled with time-dependent chemistry, far-ultraviolet (FUV) dust and gas shielding, star formation, photoionization and supernova (SN) feedback, and full line-radiative transfer. We find a [CII]-to-H$_2$ conversion factor that scales weakly with metallicity $X_{\rm{[CII]}}=6.31\times 10^{19} \;Z^{\prime\;0.17}\; \rm{cm}^{-2}\;(\rm{K}\;\rm{km}\;\rm{s}^{-1})^{-1}$, where $Z^{\prime}$ is the normalized metallicity relative to solar. {The majority of [CII] originates from atomic gas with hydrogen number density $n\sim 10~{\rm cm^{-3}}$.} The [CII] line intensity positively correlates with the star formation rate (SFR), with a normalization factor that scales linearly with metallicity. We find that this is broadly consistent with $z\sim0$ observations. As such, [CII] is a good SFR tracer even in metal-poor environments where molecular lines might be undetectable. Resolving the clumpy structure of the dense ($n=10-10^3\;\rm{cm}^{-3}$) interstellar medium (ISM) is important as it dominates [CII] 157.74 $μ$m emission. We compare our full radiative transfer computation with the optically-thin limit and find that the [CII] line becomes marginally optically thick only at super-solar metallicity for our assumed gas surface density.

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arXiv2024

The Molecular Cloud Lifecycle II: Formation and Destruction of Molecular Clouds Diagnosed via H$_2$ Fluorescent Emission Emission

Molecular hydrogen (H$_2$) formation and dissociation are key processes that drive the gas lifecycle in galaxies. Using the SImulating the LifeCycle of Molecular Clouds (SILCC) zoom-in simulation suite, we explore the utility of future observations of H$_2$ dissociation and formation for tracking the lifecycle of molecular clouds. The simulations used in this work include non-equilibrium H$_2$ formation, stellar radiation, sink particles, and turbulence. We find that, at early times in the cloud evolution, H$_2$ formation rapidly outpaces dissociation and molecular clouds build their mass from the atomic reservoir in their environment. Rapid H$_2$ formation is also associated with a higher early star formation rate. For the clouds studied here, H$_2$ is strongly out of chemical equilibrium during the early stages of cloud formation but settles into a bursty chemical steady-state about 2 Myrs after the first stars form. At the latest stage of cloud evolution, dissociation outweighs formation and the clouds enter a dispersal phase. We discuss how theories for the molecular cloud lifecycle and the star formation efficiency may be distinguished with observational measurements of H$_2$ fluorescence with a space-based high-resolution FUV spectrometer, such as the proposed Hyperion and Eos NASA Explorer missions. Such missions would enable measurements of the H$_2$ dissociation and formation rates, which we demonstrate can be connected to different phases in a molecular cloud's star-forming life, including cloud building, rapidly star-forming, H$_2$ chemical equilibrium, and cloud destruction.

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arXiv2023

HI in Molecular Clouds: Irradiation by FUV plus Cosmic Rays

We extend the analytic theory presented by Sternberg et al. (2014) and Bialy & Sternberg (2016) for the production of atomic hydrogen (HI) via FUV photodissociation at the boundaries of dense interstellar molecular (H$_2$) clouds, to also include the effects of penetrating (low-energy) cosmic-rays for the growth of the total HI column densities. We compute the steady-state abundances of the HI and H$_2$ in one-dimensional gas slabs in which the FUV photodissociation rates are reduced by depth-dependent H$_2$ self-shielding and dust absorption, and in which the cosmic-ray ionization rates are either constant or reduced by transport effects. The solutions for the HI and H$_2$ density profiles and the integrated HI columns, depend primarily on the ratios $I_{\rm UV}/Rn$ and $ζ/Rn$, where $I_{\rm UV}$ is the intensity of the photodissociating FUV field, $ζ$ is the H$_2$ cosmic-ray ionization rate, $n$ is the hydrogen gas density, and $R$ is the dust-surface H$_2$ formation rate coefficient. We present computations for a wide range of FUV field strengths, cosmic-ray ionization rates, and dust-to-gas ratios. We develop analytic expressions for the growth of the HI column densities. For Galactic giant molecular clouds (GMCs) with multiphased (warm/cold) HI envelopes, the interior cosmic-ray zones will dominate the production of the HI only if $ζ\gtrsim 4.5\times 10^{-16} \times (M_{\rm GMC}/10^6 \ M_{\odot})^{-1/2}$~s$^{-1}$, where $M_{\rm GMC}$ is the GMC mass, and including attenuation of the cosmic-ray fluxes. For most Galactic GMCs and conditions, FUV photodissociation dominates over cosmic-ray ionization for the production of the HI column densities. Furthermore, the cosmic-rays do not affect the HI-to-H$_2$ transition points.

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arXiv2023

Co-evolution of Dust and Chemistry in Galaxy Simulations with a Resolved Interstellar Medium

Nearby dwarf irregular galaxies are ideal laboratories for studying the interstellar medium (ISM) at low metallicity, which is expected to be common for galaxies at very high redshift being observed by the James Webb Space Telescope. We present the first high-resolution ($\sim 0.2$~pc) hydrodynamical simulations of an isolated low-metallicity ($0.1~Z_\odot$) dwarf galaxy coupled with a time-dependent chemistry network and a dust evolution model where dust is locally produced and destroyed by various processes. To accurately model carbon monoxide (CO), we post-process the simulations with a detailed chemistry network including the time-dependent effect of molecular hydrogen (H$_2$). Our model successfully reproduces the observed star formation rate and CO(1-0) luminosity ($L_{\rm CO}$). We find that dust growth in dense gas is required to reproduce the observed $L_{\rm CO}$ as otherwise CO would be completely photodissociated. In contrast, the H$_2$ abundance is extremely small and is insensitive to dust growth, leading to a CO-to-H$_2$ conversion factor that is only slightly higher than the Milky Way value despite the low metallicity. An observationally inferred dust-to-gas ratio is thus underestimated if adopting the metallicity-dependent CO-to-H$_2$ conversion factor. The newly-produced dust in dense gas mixes with the ISM through supernova feedback without being completely destroyed by sputtering, which leads to galactic outflows 20% - 50% dustier than the ISM, providing a possible source for intergalactic dust.

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arXiv2022

Hyperion: The origin of the stars A far-UV space telescope for high-resolution spectroscopy over wide fields

We present Hyperion, a mission concept recently proposed to the December 2021 NASA Medium Explorer announcement of opportunity. Hyperion explores the formation and destruction of molecular clouds and planet-forming disks in nearby star-forming regions of the Milky Way. It does this using long-slit, high-resolution spectroscopy of emission from fluorescing molecular hydrogen, which is a powerful far-ultraviolet (FUV) diagnostic. Molecular hydrogen (H2) is the most abundant molecule in the universe and a key ingredient for star and planet formation, but is typically not observed directly because its symmetric atomic structure and lack of a dipole moment mean there are no spectral lines at visible wavelengths and few in the infrared. Hyperion uses molecular hydrogen's wealth of FUV emission lines to achieve three science objectives: (1) determining how star formation is related to molecular hydrogen formation and destruction at the boundaries of molecular clouds; (2) determining how quickly and by what process massive star feedback disperses molecular clouds; and (3) determining the mechanism driving the evolution of planet-forming disks around young solar-analog stars. Hyperion conducts this science using a straightforward, highly-efficient, single-channel instrument design. Hyperion's instrument consists of a 48 cm primary mirror, with an f/5 focal ratio. The spectrometer has two modes, both covering 138.5-161.5 nm bandpasses. A low resolution mode has a spectral resolution of R>10,000 with a slit length of 65 arcmin, while the high resolution mode has a spectral resolution of R>50,000 over a slit length of 5 armin. Hyperion occupies a 2 week long, high-earth, Lunar resonance TESS-like orbit, and conducts 2 weeks of planned observations per orbit, with time for downlinks and calibrations. Hyperion was reviewed as Category I, which is the highest rating possible, but was not selected.

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arXiv2022

Self-ionizing galactic winds

We present hydrodynamical simulations of galactic winds from star-forming galaxies including non-equilibrium ionization and frequency-dependent radiative transfer, processes that have remained largely unaccounted for in galactic wind studies. We consider radiation from massive stars, the metagalactic UV/X-ray background, and the self-radiation of the supernovae heated gas. We compare our results to classical galactic wind solutions and show the importance of our newly included physical processes toward observations of ions such as O III, O VI, O VII and O VIII plus the observable soft X-ray spectra. Non-equilibrium ionization is reflected in over-ionized gas compared to equilibrium solutions, leading to much enhanced column densities of highly ionized species. The wind produces excess soft X-ray ($E\gtrsim 100$ eV) radiation that is several orders of magnitude higher compared to the metagalactic background. This radiation ionizes the higher ions (such as O VII) somewhat, but affects the lower ions (such as O III) significantly. We predict that the observable X-ray spectra should contain the signatures of such non-equilibrium effects, especially in X-ray lines such as O VII and O VIII. Simple estimates suggest that both the temperature and density of the winds may be overestimated by factors of a few to almost 2 orders of magnitude using simple equilibrium models. We conclude that both the non-equilibrium ionization and the radiation from the wind itself need to be considered for proper modeling of the optical/UV/X-ray emitting plasma in galactic winds.

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arXiv2022

Dependence of $X_{\rm CO}$ on metallicity, intensity, and spatial scale in a self-regulated interstellar medium

We study the CO(1-0)-to-H$_2$ conversion factor ($X_{\rm CO}$) and the line ratio of CO(2-1)-to-CO(1-0) ($R_{21}$) across a wide range of metallicity ($0.1 \leq Z/Z_\odot \leq 3$) in high-resolution (~0.2 pc) hydrodynamical simulations of a self-regulated multiphase interstellar medium. We construct synthetic CO emission maps via radiative transfer and systematically vary the "observational" beam size to quantify the scale dependence. We find that the kpc-scale $X_{\rm CO}$ can be over-estimated at low $Z$ if assuming steady-state chemistry or assuming that the star-forming gas is H$_2$-dominated. On parsec scales, $X_{\rm CO}$ varies by orders of magnitude from place to place, primarily driven by the transition from atomic carbon to CO. The pc-scale $X_{\rm CO}$ drops to the Milky Way value of $2\times 10^{20}\ {\rm cm^{-2}~(K~km~s^{-1})^{-1}}$ once dust shielding becomes effective, independent of $Z$. The CO lines become increasingly optically thin at lower $Z$, leading to a higher $R_{21}$. Most cloud area is filled by diffuse gas with high $X_{\rm CO}$ and low $R_{21}$, while most CO emission originates from dense gas with low $X_{\rm CO}$ and high $R_{21}$. Adopting a constant $X_{\rm CO}$ strongly over- (under-)estimates H$_2$ in dense (diffuse) gas. The line intensity negatively (positively) correlates with $X_{\rm CO}$ ($R_{21}$) as it is a proxy of column density (volume density). On large scales, $X_{\rm CO}$ and $R_{21}$ are dictated by beam averaging, and they are naturally biased towards values in dense gas. Our predicted $X_{\rm CO}$ is a multivariate function of $Z$, line intensity, and beam size, which can be used to more accurately infer the H$_2$ mass.

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arXiv2022

The Life and Times of Giant Molecular Clouds

Giant molecular clouds (GMCs) are the sites of star formation and stellar feedback in galaxies. Their properties set the initial conditions for star formation and their lifecycles determine how feedback regulates galaxy evolution. In recent years, the advent of high-resolution telescopes has enabled systematic GMC-scale studies of the molecular interstellar medium in nearby galaxies, now covering a wide range of physical conditions and allowing for the first studies of how GMC properties depend on galactic environment. These observational developments have been accompanied by numerical simulations of improving resolution that are increasingly accurately accounting for the effects of the galactic-scale environment on GMCs, while simultaneously improving the treatment of the small-scale processes of star-formation and stellar feedback within them. The combination of these recent developments has greatly improved our understanding of the formation, evolution, and destruction of GMCs. We review the current state of the field, highlight current open questions, and discuss promising avenues for future studies.

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arXiv2021

Neutral CGM as damped Lyα absorbers at high redshift

Recent searches for the hosts of high-redshift ($z \sim 4$) damped Ly$α$ absorbers (DLAs) have detected bright galaxies at distances of tens of kpc from the DLA. Using the FIRE-2 cosmological zoom simulations, we argue that these relatively large distances are due to a predominantly cool and neutral inner circumgalactic medium (CGM) surrounding high-redshift galaxies. The inner CGM is cool because of the short cooling time of hot gas in $\lesssim10^{12}$ Msun halos, which implies that accretion and feedback energy are radiated quickly, while it is neutral due to the high volume densities and column densities at high redshift which shield cool gas from photoionization. Our analysis predicts large DLA covering factors ($\gtrsim50\%$) out to impact parameters $\sim0.3((1 + z)/5)^{3/2}\ R_{\rm vir}$ from the central galaxies at $z > 1$, equivalent to a physical distance of $\sim 21 M_{12}^{1/3} ((1 + z)/5)^{1/2}$ kpc ($R_{\rm vir}$ and $M_{12}$ are the halo virial radius and mass in units of $10^{12}$ Msun, respectively). This implies that DLA covering factors at $z \sim 4$ may be comparable to unity out to a distance $\sim 10$ times larger than stellar half-mass radii. A predominantly neutral inner CGM in the early universe suggests that its mass and metallicity can be directly constrained by CGM absorption surveys, without resorting to large ionization corrections as required for ionized CGM.

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arXiv2021

HI-to-H$_2$ Transitions in Dust-Free Interstellar Gas

We present numerical computations and analysis of atomic to molecular (HI-to-H$_2$) transitions in cool ($\sim$100 K) low-metallicity dust-free (primordial) gas, in which molecule formation occurs via cosmic-ray driven negative ion chemistry, and removal is by a combination of far-UV photodissociation and cosmic-ray ionization and dissociation. For any gas temperature, the behavior depends on the ratio of the Lyman-Werner (LW) band FUV intensity to gas density, $I_{\rm LW}/n$, and the ratio of the cosmic-ray ionization rate to the gas density, $ζ/n$. We present sets of HI-to-H$_2$ abundance profiles for a wide range of $ζ/n$ and $I_{\rm LW}/n$, for dust-free gas. We determine the conditions for which H$_2$ absorption line self-shielding in optically thick clouds enables a transition from atomic to molecular form for ionization-driven chemistry. We also examine the effects of cosmic-ray energy losses on the atomic and molecular density profiles and transition points. For a unit Galactic interstellar FUV field intensity ($I_{\rm LW}=1$) with LW flux $2.07\times 10^7$ photons cm$^{-2}$ s$^{-1}$, and a uniform cosmic-ray ionization rate $ζ=10^{-16}$ s$^{-1}$, an HI-to-H$_2$ transition occurs at a total hydrogen gas column density of $4\times 10^{21}$ cm$^{-2}$, within $3\times 10^7$ yr, for a gas volume density of $n=10^6$ cm$^{-3}$ at 100 K. For these parameters, the dust-free limit obtains for a dust-to-gas ratio Z$^\prime_d \lesssim 10^{-5}$, which may be reached for overall metallicities $Z^\prime\lesssim 0.01$ relative to Galactic solar values.

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arXiv2021

Exploring the Milky Way Circumgalactic Medium in a Cosmological Context with a Semi-Analytic Model

We combine the Santa-Cruz Semi-Analytic Model (SAM) for galaxy formation and evolution with the circumgalactic medium (CGM) model presented in Faerman et al. (2020) to explore the CGM properties of $L^{*}$ galaxies. We use the SAM to generate a sample of galaxies with halo masses similar to the Milky Way (MW) halo, $M_{\rm vir} \approx 10^{12}~{\rm M_{sun}}$, and find that the CGM mass and mean metallicity in the sample are correlated. We use the CGM masses and metallicities of the SAM galaxies as inputs for the FSM20 model, and vary the amount of non-thermal support. The density profiles in our models can be approximated by power-law functions with slopes in the range of $0.75 < a_n < 1.25$, with higher non-thermal pressure resulting in flatter distributions. We explore how the gas pressure, dispersion measure, OVI-OVIII column densities, and cooling rates behave with the gas distribution and total mass. We show that for CGM masses below $\sim 3 \times 10^{10}~{\rm M_{sun}}$, photoionization has a significant effect on the column densities of OVI and OVIII. The combination of different MW CGM observations favors models with similar fractions in thermal pressure, magnetic fields/cosmic rays, and turbulent support, and with $M_{\rm gas} \sim 3-10 \times 10^{10}~{\rm M_{sun}}$. The MW OVI column requires $t_{\rm cool}/t_{\rm dyn} \sim 4$, independent of the gas distribution. The AGN jet-driven heating rates in the SAM are enough to offset the CGM cooling, although exact balance is not required in star-forming galaxies. We provide predictions for the columns densities of additional metal ions - NV, NeVIII, and MgX.

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arXiv2021

Metallicity dependence of the H/H$_2$ and C$^+$/C/CO distributions in a resolved self-regulating interstellar medium

We study the metallicity dependence of the H/H$_2$ and C$^+$/C/CO distributions in a self-regulated interstellar medium (ISM) across a broad range of metallicities ($0.1 < Z/Z_\odot < 3$). To this end, we conduct high-resolution (particle mass of $1\ {\rm M_\odot}$) hydrodynamical simulations coupled with a time-dependent H$_2$ chemistry network. The results are then post-processed with an accurate chemistry network to model the associated C$^+$/C/CO abundances, based on the time-dependent non-steady-state (``non-equilibrium'') H$_2$ abundances. We find that the time-averaged star formation rate and the ISM structure are insensitive to metallicity. The column densities relevant for molecular shielding appear correlated with the volume densities in gravitationally unstable gas. As metallicity decreases, H$_2$ progressively deviates from steady state (``equilibrium'') and shows shallow abundance profiles until they sharply truncate at the photodissociation fronts. In contrast, the CO profile is sharp and controlled by photodissociation as CO quickly reaches steady state. We construct effective one-dimensional cloud models that successfully capture the time-averaged chemical distributions in simulations. At low metallicities, the steady-state model significantly overestimates the abundance of H$_2$ in the diffuse medium. The overestimated H$_2$, however, has little impact on CO. Consequently, the mass fraction of CO-dark H$_2$ gas is significantly lower than what a fully steady-state model predicts. The mass ratios of H$_2$/C$^+$ and H$_2$/C both show a weaker dependence on $Z^{\prime}$ than H$_2$/CO, which potentially indicates that C$^+$ and C could be alternative tracers for H$_2$ at low $Z^{\prime}$ in terms of mass budget. Our chemistry code for post-processing is publicly available.

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arXiv2021

A new ionisation network and radiation transport module in PLUTO

We introduce a new general-purpose time-dependent ionisation network (IN) and a radiation transport (RT) module in the magneto-hydrodynamic (MHD) code PLUTO. Our ionisation network is reliable for temperatures ranging from 5e3 to 3e8 K, and includes all ionisation states of H, He, C, N, O, Ne, Mg, Si, S and Fe making it suitable for studying a variety of astrophysical scenarios. Radiation loss for each ion-electron pair is calculated using CLOUDY-17 data on-the-fly. Photo-ionisation and charge exchange are the chemical heating mechanisms. The IN is fully coupled to the radiation transport module over a very large range of opacities at different frequencies. The RT module employs a method of short characteristics assuming spherical symmetry. The radiation module requires the assumption of spherical symmetry, while the IN is compatible with full 3D. We also include a simple prescription for dust opacity, grain destruction, and the dust contribution to radiation pressure. We present numerical tests to show the reliability and limitations of the new modules. We also present a post-processing tool to calculate projected column densities and emission spectra.

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arXiv2021

Non-equilibrium ionisation and radiative transport in an evolving supernova remnant

We present numerical simulations of the evolution of a supernova (SN) remnant expanding into a uniform background medium with density $n_H = 1.0$ cm$^{-3}$ and temperature of $10^4$ K. We include a dynamically evolving non-equilibrium ionisation (NEI) network (consisting of all the ions of H, He, C, N, O, Ne, Mg, Si, S, Fe), frequency dependent radiation transfer (RT), thermal conduction, and a simple dust evolution model, all intra-coupled to each other and to the hydrodynamics. We assume spherical symmetry. Photo-ionisation, radiation losses, photo-heating, charge-exchange heating/cooling and radiation pressure are calculated on-the-fly depending on the local radiation field and ion fractions. We find that the dynamics and energetics (but not the emission spectra) of the SN remnants can be well modelled by collisional equilibrium cooling curves even in the absence of non-equilibrium cooling and radiative transport. We find that the effect of precursor ionising radiation at different stages of SN remnant are dominated by rapid cooling of the shock and differ from steady state shocks. The predicted column densities of different ions such as N II, C IV and N V, can be higher by up to several orders of magnitude compared to steady state shocks. We also present some high esolution emission spectra that can be compared with the observed remnants to obtain important information about the physical and chemical states of the remnant, as well as constrain the background ISM.

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arXiv2020

The Kinematics and Dark Matter Fractions of TNG50 Galaxies at z=2 from an Observational Perspective

We contrast the gas kinematics and dark matter contents of $z=2$ star-forming galaxies (SFGs) from state-of-the-art cosmological simulations within the $Λ$CDM framework to observations. To this end, we create realistic mock observations of massive SFGs ($M_*>4\times10^{10} M_{\odot}$, SFR $>50~M_{\odot}$ yr$^{-1}$) from the TNG50 simulation of the IllustrisTNG suite, resembling near-infrared, adaptive-optics assisted integral-field observations from the ground. Using observational line fitting and modeling techniques, we analyse in detail the kinematics of seven TNG50 galaxies from five different projections per galaxy, and compare them to observations of twelve massive SFGs by Genzel et al. (2020). The simulated galaxies show clear signs of disc rotation but mostly exhibit more asymmetric rotation curves, partly due to large intrinsic radial and vertical velocity components. At identical inclination angle, their one-dimensional velocity profiles can vary along different lines of sight by up to $Δv=200$ km s$^{-1}$. From dynamical modelling we infer rotation speeds and velocity dispersions that are broadly consistent with observational results. We find low central dark matter fractions compatible with observations ($f_{\rm DM}^v(<R_e)=v_{\rm DM}^2(R_e)/v_{\rm circ}^2(R_e)\sim0.32\pm0.10$), however for disc effective radii $R_e$ that are mostly too small: at fixed $R_e$ the TNG50 dark matter fractions are too high by a factor of $\sim2$. We speculate that the differences in gas kinematics and dark matter content compared to the observations may be due to physical processes that are not resolved in sufficient detail with the numerical resolution available in current cosmological simulations.

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arXiv2020

Detecting the Cosmic Web: Lyα Emission from Simulated Filaments at z=3

The standard cosmological model ($Λ$CDM) predicts the existence of the cosmic web: a distribution of matter into sheets and filaments connecting massive halos. However, observational evidence has been elusive due to the low surface brightness of the filaments. Recent deep MUSE/VLT data and upcoming observations offer a promising avenue for Ly$α$ detection, motivating the development of modern theoretical predictions. We use hydrodynamical cosmological simulations run with the AREPO code to investigate the potential detectability of large-scale filaments, excluding contributions from the halos embedded in them. We focus on filaments connecting massive ($M_{200c}\sim(1-3)\times10^{12} M_\odot$) halos at z=3, and compare different simulation resolutions, feedback levels, and mock-image pixel sizes. We find increasing simulation resolution does not substantially improve detectability notwithstanding the intrinsic enhancement of internal filament structure. By contrast, for a MUSE integration of 31 hours, including feedback increases the detectable area by a factor of $\simeq$5.5 on average compared with simulations without feedback, implying that even the non-bound components of the filaments have substantial sensitivity to feedback. Degrading the image resolution from the native MUSE scale of (0.2")$^2$ per pixel to (5.3")$^2$ apertures has the strongest effect, increasing the detectable area by a median factor of $\simeq$200 and is most effective when the size of the pixel roughly matches the width of the filament. Finally, we find the majority of Ly$α$ emission is due to electron impact collisional excitations, as opposed to radiative recombination.

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arXiv2020

Massive Warm/Hot Galaxy Coronae: II. Isentropic Model

We construct a new analytic phenomenological model for the extended circumgalactic material (CGM) of $L^*$ galaxies. Our model reproduces the OVII/OVIII absorption observations of the Milky Way (MW) and the OVI measurements reported by the COS-Halos and eCGM surveys. The warm/hot gas is in hydrostatic equilibrium in a MW gravitational potential, and we adopt a barotropic equation of state, resulting in a temperature variation as a function of radius. A pressure component with an adiabatic index of $γ=4/3$ is included to approximate the effects of a magnetic field and cosmic rays. We introduce a metallicity gradient motivated by the enrichment of the inner CGM by the Galaxy. We then present our fiducial model for the corona, tuned to reproduce the observed OVI-OVIII column densities, and with a total mass of $M_{\rm gas} \approx 5.5 \times 10^{10}~{\rm M_{\odot}}$ inside $r_{\rm cgm} \approx 280$ kpc. The gas densities in the CGM are low ($n_{\rm H} = 10^{-5} - 3 \times 10^{-4}~{\rm cm^{-3}}$) and its collisional ionization state is modified by the metagalactic radiation field (MGRF). We show that for OVI-bearing warm/hot gas with typical observed column densities $N_{\rm OVI} \sim 3 \times 10^{14}~{\rm cm^{-2}}$ at large ($\gtrsim 100$ kpc) impact parameters from the central galaxies, the ratio of the cooling to dynamical times, $t_{\rm cool}/t_{\rm dyn}$, has a model-independent upper limit of $\lesssim 4$. In our model, $t_{\rm cool}/t_{\rm dyn}$ at large radii is $\sim 2-3$. We present predictions for a wide range of future observations of the warm/hot CGM, from UV/X-ray absorption and emission spectroscopy, to dispersion measure (DM) and Sunyaev-Zeldovich CMB measurements. We provide the model outputs in machine-readable data files, for easy comparison and analysis.

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