arXiv subjects

Dominik R. G. Schleicher

Publications and source records attributed to Dominik R. G. Schleicher.

At least 73 records · Page 4Linked to original sources

arXiv2016

Galactic synchrotron emission and the FIR-radio correlation at high redshift

Galactic magnetic fields in the local Universe are strong and omnipresent. There is mounting evidence that galaxies were magnetized already in the early Universe. Theoretical scenarios including the turbulent small-scale dynamo predict magnetic energy densities comparable to the one of turbulence. Based on the assumption of this energy equipartition, we determine the galactic synchrotron flux as a function of redshift z. The conditions in the early Universe are different from the present day, in particular the galaxies have more intense star formation. To cover a large range of conditions we consider models based on two different systems: one model galaxy comparable to the Milky Way and one typical high-z starburst galaxy. We include a model of the steady state cosmic ray spectrum and find that synchrotron emission can be detected up to cosmological redshifts with current and future radio telescopes. Turbulent dynamo theory is in agreement with the origin of the observed correlation between the far-infrared (FIR) luminosity L_FIR and the radio luminosity L_radio. Our model reproduces this correlation well at z=0. We extrapolate the FIR-radio correlation to higher redshift and predict a time evolution with a significant deviation from its present-day appearance already at z~2 for a gas density that increases strongly with z. In particular, we predict a decrease of the radio luminosity with redshift which is caused by the increase of cosmic ray energy losses at high z. The result is an increase of the ratio between L_FIR and L_radio. Simultaneously, we predict that the slope of the FIR-radio correlation becomes shallower with redshift. This behavior of the correlation could be observed in the near future with ultra-deep radio surveys.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2016

A chemical model for the interstellar medium in galaxies

We present and test chemical models for three-dimensional hydrodynamical simulations of galaxies. We explore the effect of changing key parameters such as metallicity, radiation and non-equilibrium versus equilibrium metal cooling approximations on the transition between the gas phases in the interstellar medium. The microphysics is modelled by employing the public chemistry package KROME and the chemical networks have been tested to work in a wide range of densities and temperatures. We describe a simple H/He network following the formation of H$_2$, and a more sophisticated network which includes metals. Photochemistry, thermal processes, and different prescriptions for the H$_2$ catalysis on dust are presented and tested within a one-zone framework. The resulting network is made publicly available on the KROME webpage. We find that employing an accurate treatment of the dust-related processes induces a faster HI--H$_2$ transition. In addition, we show when the equilibrium assumption for metal cooling holds, and how a non-equilibrium approach affects the thermal evolution of the gas and the HII--HI transition. These models can be employed in any hydrodynamical code via an interface to KROME and can be applied to different problems including isolated galaxies, cosmological simulations of galaxy formation and evolution, supernova explosions in molecular clouds, and the modelling of star-forming regions. The metal network can be used for a comparison with observational data of CII 158 $μ$m emission both for high-redshift as well as for local galaxies.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2016

Witnessing the birth of a supermassive protostar

The detection of $\rm z>6$ quasars reveals the existence of supermassive black holes of a few $\rm 10^9~M_{\odot}$. One of the potential pathways to explain their formation in the infant universe is the so-called direct collapse model which provides massive seeds of $\rm 10^5-10^6~M_{\odot}$. An isothermal direct collapse mandates that halos should be of a primordial composition and the formation of molecular hydrogen remains suppressed in the presence of a strong Lyman Werner flux. In this study, we perform high resolution cosmological simulations for two massive primordial halos employing a detailed chemical model which includes $\rm H^-$ cooling as well as realistic opacities for both the bound-free $\rm H^-$ emission and the Rayleigh scattering of hydrogen atoms. We are able to resolve the collapse up to unprecedentedly high densities of $\rm \sim 10^{-3}~g/cm^3$ and to scales of about $\rm 10^{-4}$ AU. Our results show that the gas cools down to $\rm \sim $ 5000 K in the presence of $\rm H^-$ cooling, and induces fragmentation at scales of about 8000 AU in one of the two simulated halos, which may lead to the formation of a binary. In addition, fragmentation also occurs on the AU scale in one of the halos but the clumps are expected to merge on short time scales. Our results confirm that $\rm H^-$ cooling does not prevent the formation of a supermassive star and the trapping of cooling radiation stabilises the collapse on small scales.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2015

Magnetic fields in primordial accretion disks

Magnetic fields are considered as a vital ingredient of contemporary star formation, and may have been important during the formation of the first stars in the presence of an efficient amplification mechanism. Initial seed fields are provided via plasma fluctuations, and are subsequently amplified by the small-scale dynamo, leading to a strong tangled magnetic field. Here we explore how the magnetic field provided by the small-scale dynamo is further amplified via the $α-Ω$ dynamo in a protostellar disk and assess its implications. For this purpose, we consider two characteristic cases, a typical Pop.~III star with $10$~M$_\odot$ and an accretion rate of $10^{-3}$~M$_\odot$~yr$^{-1}$, and a supermassive star with $10^5$~M$_\odot$ and an accretion rate of $10^{-1}$~M$_\odot$~yr$^{-1}$. For the $10$~M$_\odot$ Pop.~III star, we find that coherent magnetic fields can be produced on scales of at least $100$~AU, which are sufficient to drive a jet with a luminosity of $100$~L$_\odot$ and a mass outflow rate of $10^{-3.7}$~M$_\odot$~yr$^{-1}$. For the supermassive star, the dynamical timescales in its environment are even shorter, implying smaller orbital timescales and an efficient magnetization out to at least $1000$~AU. The jet luminosity corresponds to $\sim10^{6.0}$~L$_\odot$, and a mass outflow rate of $10^{-2.1}$~M$_\odot$~yr$^{-1}$. We expect that the feedback from the supermassive star can have a relevant impact on its host galaxy.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2015

The chemical evolution of self-gravitating primordial disks

Numerical simulations show the formation of self-gravitating primordial disks during the assembly of the first structures in the Universe, in particular during the formation of Pop.~III and supermassive stars. Their subsequent evolution is expected to be crucial to determine the mass scale of the first cosmological objects, which depends on the temperature of the gas and the dominant cooling mechanism. Here, we derive a one-zone framework to explore the chemical evolution of such disks and show that viscous heating leads to the collisional dissociation of an initially molecular gas. The effect is relevant on scales of 10 AU (1000 AU) for a central mass of 10 M_sun (10^4 M_sun) at an accretion rate of 10^{-1} M_sun yr^{-1}, and provides a substantial heat input to stabilize the disk. If the gas is initially atomic, it remains atomic during the further evolution, and the effect of viscous heating is less significant. The additional thermal support is particularly relevant for the formation of very massive objects, such as the progenitors of the first supermassive black holes. The stabilizing impact of viscous heating thus alleviates the need for a strong radiation background as a means of keeping the gas atomic.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2015

Saturation of the Turbulent Dynamo

The origin of strong magnetic fields in the Universe can be explained by amplifying weak seed fields via turbulent motions on small spatial scales and subsequently transporting the magnetic energy to larger scales. This process is known as the turbulent dynamo and depends on the properties of turbulence, i.e. on the hydrodynamical Reynolds number and the compressibility of the gas, and on the magnetic diffusivity. While we know the growth rate the magnetic energy in the linear regime, the saturation level, i.e. the ratio of magnetic energy to turbulent kinetic energy that can be reached, is not known from analytical calculations. In this paper we present the first scale-dependent saturation model based on an effective turbulent resistivity which is determined by the turnover timescale of turbulent eddies and the magnetic energy density. The magnetic resistivity increases compared to the Spitzer value and the effective scale on which the magnetic energy spectrum is at its maximum moves to larger spatial scales. This process ends when the peak reaches a characteristic wavenumber k* which is determined by the critical magnetic Reynolds number. The saturation level of the dynamo also depends on the type of turbulence and differs for the limits of large and small magnetic Prandtl numbers Pm. With our model we find saturation levels between 43.8% and 1.3% for Pm>>1 and between 2.43% and 0.135% for Pm<<1, where the higher values refer to incompressible turbulence and the lower ones to highly compressible turbulence.

physics.plasm-ph↗

arXiv2015

Helium reionization in the presence of self-annihilating clumpy dark matter

The reionization of helium describes the transition from its singly ionized state to a doubly-ionized state in the intergalactic medium (IGM). This process is important for the thermal evolution of the IGM and influences the mean free path of photons with energies above $54.4$~eV. While it is well-known that helium reionization is mostly driven by the contribution of energetic quasars at $z<6$, we study here how helium reionization proceeds if there is an additional contribution due to the annihilation of dark matter. We explore the effects of different dark matter profiles for the dark matter clumping factor, which can significantly enhance the annihilation rate at late times. We find that the presence of dark matter annihilation enhances the He$^{++}$ abundance at early stages where it would be zero within the standard model, and it can further increase during structure formation, reflecting the increase of the dark matter clumping factor. The latter is, however, degenerate with the build-up of the quasar contribution, and we therefore expect no significant changes at late times. We expect that future studies of the He$^+$ Lyman $α$ forest may help to assess whether the evolution is consistent with the contribution from quasars alone, or if an additional component may be required.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2015

Modeling gravitational instabilities in self-gravitating protoplanetary disks with adaptive mesh refinement techniques

The astonishing diversity in the observed planetary population requires theoretical efforts and advances in planet formation theories. Numerical approaches provide a method to tackle the weaknesses of current planet formation models and are an important tool to close gaps in poorly constrained areas. We present a global disk setup to model the first stages of giant planet formation via gravitational instabilities (GI) in 3D with the block-structured adaptive mesh refinement (AMR) hydrodynamics code ENZO. With this setup, we explore the impact of AMR techniques on the fragmentation and clumping due to large-scale instabilities using different AMR configurations. Additionally, we seek to derive general resolution criteria for global simulations of self-gravitating disks of variable extent. We run a grid of simulations with varying AMR settings, including runs with a static grid for comparison, and study the effects of varying the disk radius. Adopting a marginally stable disk profile (Q_init=1), we validate the numerical robustness of our model for different spatial extensions, from compact to larger, extended disks (R_disk = 10, 100 and 300 AU, M_disk ~ 0.05 M_Sun, M_star = 0.646 M_Sun). By combining our findings from the resolution and parameter studies we find a lower limit of the resolution to be able to resolve GI induced fragmentation features and distinct, turbulence inducing clumps. Irrespective of the physical extension of the disk, topologically disconnected clump features are only resolved if the fragmentation-active zone of the disk is resolved with at least 100 cells, which holds as a minimum requirement for all global disk setups. Our simulations illustrate the capabilities of AMR-based modeling techniques for planet formation simulations and underline the importance of balanced refinement settings to reproduce fragmenting structures.

astro-ph.EP↗

arXiv2014

The Turbulent Dynamo in Highly Compressible Supersonic Plasmas

The turbulent dynamo may explain the origin of cosmic magnetism. While the exponential amplification of magnetic fields has been studied for incompressible gases, little is known about dynamo action in highly-compressible, supersonic plasmas, such as the interstellar medium of galaxies and the early Universe. Here we perform the first quantitative comparison of theoretical models of the dynamo growth rate and saturation level with three-dimensional magnetohydrodynamical simulations of supersonic turbulence with grid resolutions of up to 1024^3 cells. We obtain numerical convergence and find that dynamo action occurs for both low and high magnetic Prandtl numbers Pm = nu/eta = 0.1-10 (the ratio of viscous to magnetic dissipation), which had so far only been seen for Pm >= 1 in supersonic turbulence. We measure the critical magnetic Reynolds number, Rm_crit = 129 (+43, -31), showing that the compressible dynamo is almost as efficient as in incompressible gas. Considering the physical conditions of the present and early Universe, we conclude that magnetic fields need to be taken into account during structure formation from the early to the present cosmic ages, because they suppress gas fragmentation and drive powerful jets and outflows, both greatly affecting the initial mass function of stars.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2014

Low-metallicity star formation: Relative impact of metals and magnetic fields

Low-metallicity star formation poses a central problem of cosmology, as it determines the characteristic mass scale and distribution for the first and second generations of stars forming in our Universe. Here, we present a comprehensive investigation assessing the relative impact of metals and magnetic fields, which may both be present during low-metallicity star formation. We show that the presence of magnetic fields generated via the small-scale dynamo stabilises the protostellar disc and provides some degree of support against fragmentation. In the absence of magnetic fields, the fragmentation timescale in our model decreases by a factor of ~10 at the transition from Z=0 to Z>0, with subsequently only a weak dependence on metallicity. Similarly, the accretion timescale of the cluster is set by the large-scale dynamics rather than the local thermodynamics. In the presence of magnetic fields, the primordial disc can become completely stable, therefore forming only one central fragment. At Z>0, the number of fragments is somewhat reduced in the presence of magnetic fields, though the shape of the mass spectrum is not strongly affected in the limits of the statistical uncertainties. The fragmentation timescale, however, increases by roughly a factor of 3 in the presence of magnetic fields. Indeed, our results indicate comparable fragmentation timescales in primordial runs without magnetic fields and Z>0 runs with magnetic fields.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2014

X-Ray Emission from Star-Forming Galaxies - Signatures of Cosmic Rays and Magnetic Fields

The evolution of magnetic fields in galaxies is still an open problem in astrophysics. In nearby galaxies the far-infrared-radio correlation indicates the coupling between magnetic fields and star formation. The correlation arises from the synchrotron emission of cosmic ray electrons traveling through the interstellar magnetic fields. However, with an increase of the interstellar radiation field (ISRF), inverse Compton scattering becomes the dominant energy loss mechanism of cosmic ray electrons with a typical emission frequency in the X-ray regime. The ISRF depends on the one hand on the star formation rate and becomes stronger in starburst galaxies, and on the other hand increases with redshift due to the evolution of the cosmic microwave background. With a model for the star formation rate of galaxies, the ISRF, and the cosmic ray spectrum, we can calculate the expected X-ray luminosity resulting from the inverse Compton emission. Except for galaxies with an active galactic nucleus the main additional contribution to the X-ray luminosity comes from X-ray binaries. We estimate this contribution with an analytical model as well as with an observational relation, and compare it to the pure inverse Compton luminosity. Using data from the Chandra Deep Field Survey and far-infrared observations from ALMA we then determine upper limits for the cosmic ray energy. Assuming that the magnetic energy in a galaxy is in equipartition with the energy density of the cosmic rays, we obtain upper limits for the magnetic field strength. Our results suggest that the mean magnetic energy of young galaxies is similar to the one in local galaxies. This points toward an early generation of galactic magnetic fields, which is in agreement with current dynamo evolution models.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2014

Planet formation from the ejecta of common envelopes

The close binary system NN Serpentis must have gone through a common envelope phase before the formation of its white dwarf. During this phase, a substantial amount of mass was lost from the envelope. The recently detected orbits of circumbinary planets are likely inconsistent with planet formation before the mass loss.We explore whether new planets may have formed from the ejecta of the common envelope and derive the expected planetary mass as a function of radius.We employed the Kashi & Soker model to estimate the amount of mass that is retained during the ejection event and inferred the properties of the resulting disk from the conservation of mass and angular momentum. The resulting planetary masses were estimated from models with and without radiative feedback. We show that the observed planetary masses can be reproduced for appropriate model parameters. Photoheating can stabilize the disks in the interior, potentially explaining the observed planetary orbits on scales of a few AU. We compare the expected mass scale of planets for 11 additional systems with observational results and find hints of two populations, one consistent with planet formation from the ejecta of common envelopes and the other a separate population that may have formed earlier. The formation of the observed planets from the ejecta of common envelopes seems feasible. The model proposed here can be tested through refined observations of additional post-common envelope systems. While it appears observationally challenging to distinguish between the accretion on pre-existing planets and their growth from new fragments, it may be possible to further constrain the properties of the protoplanetary disk through additional observations of current planetary candidates and post-common envelope binary systems.

astro-ph.EP↗

arXiv2013

Magnetic Field Amplification in Young Galaxies

The Universe at present is highly magnetized, with fields of the order of a few 10^-5 G and coherence lengths larger than 10 kpc in typical galaxies like the Milky Way. We propose that the magnetic field was amplified to this values already during the formation and the early evolution of the galaxies. Turbulence in young galaxies is driven by accretion as well as by supernova (SN) explosions of the first generation of stars. The small-scale dynamo can convert the turbulent kinetic energy into magnetic energy and amplify very weak primordial magnetic seed fields on short timescales. The amplification takes place in two phases: in the kinematic phase the magnetic field grows exponentially, with the largest growth on the smallest non-resistive scale. In the following non-linear phase the magnetic energy is shifted towards larger scales until the dynamo saturates on the turbulent forcing scale. To describe the amplification of the magnetic field quantitatively we model the microphysics in the interstellar medium (ISM) of young galaxies and determine the growth rate of the small-scale dynamo. We estimate the resulting saturation field strengths and dynamo timescales for two turbulent forcing mechanisms: accretion-driven turbulence and SN-driven turbulence. We compare them to the field strength that is reached, when only stellar magnetic fields are distributed by SN explosions. We find that the small-scale dynamo is much more efficient in magnetizing the ISM of young galaxies. In the case of accretion-driven turbulence a magnetic field strength of the order of 10^-6 G is reached after a time of 24-270 Myr, while in SN-driven turbulence the dynamo saturates at field strengths of typically 10^-5 G after only 4-15 Myr. This is considerably shorter than the Hubble time. Our work can help to understand why present-day galaxies are highly magnetized.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2013

Star formation and accretion in the circumnuclear disks of active galaxies

We explore the evolution of supermassive black holes (SMBH) centered in a circumnuclear disk (CND) as a function of the mass supply from the host galaxy and considering different star formation laws, which may give rise to a self-regulation via the injection of supernova-driven turbulence. A system of equations describing star formation, black hole accretion and angular momentum transport was solved for an axisymmetric disk in which the gravitational potential includes contributions from the black hole, the disk and the hosting galaxy. Our model extends the framework provided by Kawakatu et al. (2008) by separately considering the inner and outer part of the disk, and by introducing a potentially non-linear dependence of the star formation rate on the gas surface density and the turbulent velocity. The star formation recipes are calibrated using observational data for NGC 1097, while the accretion model is based on turbulent viscosity as a source of angular momentum transport in a thin viscous accretion disk. We find that current data provide no strong constraint on the star formation recipe, and can in particular not distinguish between models entirely regulated by the surface density, and models including a dependence on the turbulent velocity. The evolution of the black hole mass, on the other hand, strongly depends on the applied star formation law, as well as the mass supply from the host galaxy. We suggest to explore the star formation process in local AGN with high-resolution ALMA observations to break the degeneracy between different star formation models.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2013

A new interpretation of the far-infrared - radio correlation and the expected breakdown at high redshift

(Abrigded) Observations of galaxies up to z 2 show a tight correlation between far-infrared and radio continuum emission. We explain the far-infrared - radio continuum correlation by relating star formation and magnetic field strength in terms of turbulent magnetic field amplification, where turbulence is injected by supernova explosions from massive stars. We calculate the expected amount of turbulence in galaxies based on their star formation rates, and infer the expected magnetic field strength due to turbulent dynamo amplification. We estimate the timescales for cosmic ray energy losses via synchrotron emission, inverse Compton scattering, ionization and bremsstrahlung emission, probing up to which redshift strong synchrotron emission can be maintained. We find that the correlation between star formation rate and magnetic field strength in the local Universe can be understood as a result of turbulent magnetic field amplification. If the typical gas density in the interstellar medium increases at high z, we expect an increase of the magnetic field strength and the radio emission, as indicated by current observations. Such an increase would imply a modification of the far-infrared - radio correlation. We expect a breakdown when inverse Compton losses start dominating over synchrotron emission. For a given star formation surface density, we calculate the redshift where the breakdown occurs, yielding z (Sigma_SFR/0.0045 M_solar kpc^{-2} yr^{-1})^{1/(6-alpha/2)}. In this relation, the parameter αdescribes the evolution of the characteristic ISM density in galaxies as (1+z)^α. Both the possible raise of the radio emission at high redshift and the final breakdown of the far-infrared -- radio correlation at a critical redshift will be probed by the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) and its pathfinders, while the typical ISM density in galaxies will be probed with ALMA.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2013

Massive black hole factories: Supermassive and quasi-star formation in primordial halos

Supermassive stars and quasi-stars (massive stars with a central black hole) are both considered as potential progenitors for the formation of supermassive black holes. They are expected to form from rapidly accreting protostars in massive primordial halos. We explore how long rapidly accreting protostars remain on the Hayashi track, implying large protostellar radii and weak accretion luminosity feedback. We assess the potential role of energy production in the nuclear core, and determine what regulates the evolution of such protostars into quasi-stars or supermassive stars. We follow the contraction of characteristic mass scales in rapidly accreting protostars, and infer the timescales for them to reach nuclear densities. We compare the characteristic timescales for nuclear burning with those for which the extended protostellar envelope can be maintained. We find that the extended envelope can be maintained up to protostellar masses of 3.6x10^8 \dot{m}^3 solar, where \dot{m} denotes the accretion rate in solar masses per year. We expect the nuclear core to exhaust its hydrogen content in 7x10^6 yrs. If accretion rates \dot{m}>>0.14 can still be maintained at this point, a black hole may form within the accreting envelope, leading to a quasi-star. Alternatively, the accreting object will gravitationally contract to become a main-sequence supermassive star. Due to the limited gas reservoir in dark matter halos with 10^7 solar masses, the accretion rate onto the central object may drop at late times, implying the formation of supermassive stars as the typical outcome of direct collapse. However, if high accretion rates are maintained, a quasi-star with an interior black hole may form.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2013

The small-scale dynamo: Breaking universality at high Mach numbers

(Abridged) The small-scale dynamo may play a substantial role in magnetizing the Universe under a large range of conditions, including subsonic turbulence at low Mach numbers, highly supersonic turbulence at high Mach numbers and a large range of magnetic Prandtl numbers Pm, i.e. the ratio of kinetic viscosity to magnetic resistivity. Low Mach numbers may in particular lead to the well-known, incompressible Kolmogorov turbulence, while for high Mach numbers, we are in the highly compressible regime, thus close to Burgers turbulence. In this study, we explore whether in this large range of conditions, a universal behavior can be expected. Our starting point are previous investigations in the kinematic regime. Here, analytic studies based on the Kazantsev model have shown that the behavior of the dynamo depends significantly on Pm and the type of turbulence, and numerical simulations indicate a strong dependence of the growth rate on the Mach number of the flow. Once the magnetic field saturates on the current amplification scale, backreactions occur and the growth is shifted to the next-larger scale. We employ a Fokker-Planck model to calculate the magnetic field amplification during the non-linear regime, and find a resulting power-law growth that depends on the type of turbulence invoked. For Kolmogorov turbulence, we confirm previous results suggesting a linear growth of magnetic energy. For more general turbulent spectra, where the turbulent velocity v_t scales with the characteristic length scale as u_\ell\propto \ell^{\vartheta}, we find that the magnetic energy grows as (t/T_{ed})^{2\vartheta/(1-\vartheta)}, with t the time-coordinate and T_{ed} the eddy-turnover time on the forcing scale of turbulence. For Burgers turbulence, \vartheta=1/2, a quadratic rather than linear growth may thus be expected, and a larger timescale until saturation is reached.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2012

WIMP DM and first stars: suppression of fragmentation in primordial star formation

We present the first 3D simulations to include the effects of dark matter annihilation feedback during the collapse of primordial mini-halos. We begin our simulations from cosmological initial conditions and account for dark matter annihilation in our treatment of the chemical and thermal evolution of the gas. The dark matter is modelled using an analytical density profile that responds to changes in the peak gas density. We find that the gas can collapse to high densities despite the additional energy input from the dark matter. No objects supported purely by dark matter annihilation heating are formed in our simulations. However, we find that the dark matter annihilation heating has a large effect on the evolution of the gas following the formation of the first protostar. Previous simulations without dark matter annihilation found that protostellar discs around Population III stars rapidly fragmented, forming multiple protostars that underwent mergers or ejections. When dark matter annihilation is included, however, these discs become stable to radii of 1000 AU or more. In the cases where fragmentation does occur, it is a wide binary that is formed.

astro-ph.CO↗