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Eric P. Andersson

Publications and source records attributed to Eric P. Andersson.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

Centrally concentrated star formation in young clusters II: Jet feedback

Protostellar jets are one of the earliest forms of stellar feedback, but their impact on star formation and cluster assembly in centrally concentrated molecular clouds remains poorly understood. We study how protostellar jets affect the star formation efficiency, the temporal variability of star formation, star cluster structure, and the early dynamical state of centrally concentrated, newly forming star clusters using the Torch star cluster formation framework. We adopt a centrally concentrated initial cloud model with mass M = 2.5 x 10^3 solar masses and compare six pairs of simulations with and without protostellar jets, supplemented by one additional higher resolution pair of simulations. We analyze our simulations using global star formation diagnostics together with structural and dynamical measures of the stellar population. Models with jet feedback achieve star formation efficiencies of 12-16%, while the corresponding models without jets yield higher efficiencies of 19-33%. Jets also cause star formation to occur in discrete bursts rather than continuously, to produce more extended and substructured stellar systems, and to leave behind stellar populations that are less tightly bound and have higher virial parameters. In our centrally concentrated initial conditions, runs with jets form stellar systems that better reproduce the observed range of the projected structural parameter Q_2D in young clusters than runs without jets, indicating that protostellar jets are an important early feedback channel even in centrally concentrated clouds that regulates star formation efficiencies and shapes the emerging cluster structure.

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The emerging timescale of young star clusters regulated by cluster stellar mass

Quantifying the timescales of star cluster emergence from their natal clouds remains one of the main challenges in understanding the star formation process. These timescales are fundamental measurements of the star formation cycle within galaxies, yet are difficult to constrain due to the complex interplay between stellar feedback and star formation across multiple physical scales. Here we present Hubble Space Telescope and James Webb Space Telescope observations of thousands of young star clusters in four nearby galaxies (M51, M83, NGC 628 and NGC 4449). A substantial fraction of these clusters are still embedded within their natal gas and remain invisible at optical wavelengths. We constrain their emergence process by measuring the timescales required to disperse the surrounding material. We find a strong correlation between dispersal timescale and cluster stellar mass, with massive clusters emerging faster than their lower-mass counterparts. This is a critical constraint on star formation and stellar feedback simulations, which struggle to fully reproduce star clusters formation and emergence. Our results emphasize the central role of massive clusters in driving the escape of ionizing radiation into the galactic medium. Finally, they impose time limitations for planet formation in massive cluster environments where disks get exposed to ultraviolet irradiation and further gas infall is halted.

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Stellar Feedback Effects on the Mass Distribution of Clouds and Cloud Complexes

Galaxy evolution is sensitive to how stars inject feedback into their surroundings. In particular, stellar feedback from star clusters strongly affects gas motions and the baryonic cycle, with more massive clusters having stronger effects. Our previous results show that the star cluster mass distribution in dwarf galaxies depends on feedback, as strong pre-SN feedback, particularly ionizing radiation, results in fewer high-mass clusters. We investigate the mass distribution of gas clouds in dwarf galaxies. Since clusters form from collapsing gas clouds, we expect a similar feedback dependence in both distributions, so we hypothesize that pre-SN feedback yields fewer high-mass clouds. To test this, we use an isocontour analysis at cutoff densities of $10,\ 10^{1.5},\ 10^{2}$ cm$^{-3}$ to identify clouds in dwarf galaxy simulations run with the RAMSES adaptive mesh refinement code. We calculate mass distributions for models with different combinations of SNe, stellar winds, and ionizing radiation. We find that the mass distribution for clouds with $n>100$ cm$^{-3}$ is independent of feedback, but the distribution for complexes with $n>10$ cm$^{-3}$ is more top-heavy in the presence of radiation. Winds do not affect the distribution at any scale. This contradicts our hypothesis that cloud and cluster mass distributions respond similarly to feedback. Instead, the dense cloud mass function shows no feedback dependence, suggesting its shape is set by gravity. We conclude that the cluster mass function must be shaped by intra-cloud feedback regulating star formation and, in the case of radiation, effects on parent cloud temperature. (shortened)

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Aeos: The Impact of Population III Initial Mass Function and Star-by-Star Models in Galaxy Simulations

We explore the effect of variations in the Population III (Pop III) initial mass function (IMF) and star-by-star feedback on early galaxy formation and evolution using the Aeos simulations. We compare simulations with two different Pop III IMFs: $M_\text{char} = 10 \, \mathrm{M}_\odot$ and $M_{\rm max} = 100 \, \mathrm{M}_\odot$ (Aeos10) and $M_\text{char} = 20 \, \mathrm{M}_\odot$ and $M_{\rm max} = 300 \, \mathrm{M}_\odot$ (Aeos20). Aeos20 produces significantly more ionizing photons, ionizing 30% of the simulation volume by $z \approx 14$, compared to 9% in Aeos10. This enhanced ionization suppresses galaxy formation on the smallest scales. Differences in Pop III IMF also affect chemical enrichment. Aeos20 produces Population II (Pop II) stars with higher abundances, relative to iron, of light and $α$-elements, a stronger odd-even effect, and a higher frequency of carbon-enhanced metal-poor stars. The abundance scatter between different Pop II galaxies dominates the differences due to Pop III IMF, though, implying a need for a larger sample of Pop II stars to interpret the impact of Pop III IMF on early chemical evolution. We also compare the Aeos simulations to traditional simulations that use single stellar population particles. We find that star-by-star modeling produces a steeper mass-metallicity relation due to less bursty feedback. These results highlight the strong influence of the Pop III IMF on early galaxy formation and chemical evolution, emphasizing the need to account for IMF uncertainties in simulations and the importance of metal-poor Pop II stellar chemical abundances when studying the first stars.

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EDGE-INFERNO: How chemical enrichment assumptions impact the individual stars of a simulated ultra-faint dwarf galaxy

The chemical abundances of stars in galaxies are a fossil record of the star formation and stellar evolution processes that regulate galaxy formation, including the stellar initial mass function, the fraction and timing of type Ia supernovae (SNeIa), and nucleosynthesis inside massive stars. In this paper, we systematically explore uncertainties associated with modeling chemical enrichment in dwarf galaxies. We repeatedly simulate a single EDGE-INFERNO dwarf ($M_{\star} \approx 10^5 \, M_{\odot}$), varying the chemical yields of massive stars, the timing and yields of SNeIa, and the intrinsic stochasticity that arises from sampling individual stars and galaxy formation chaoticity. All simulations are high-resolution (3.6 pc), cosmological zoom-in hydrodynamical simulations that track the stellar evolution of all individual stars with masses $>0.5\,{\rm M}_{\odot}$. We find that variations in SNIa assumptions make the largest difference in mean abundance ratios and [Fe/H], highlighting the importance of detailed SNIa modeling even in such low-mass reionization-limited galaxies. In contrast, different massive star yields, accounting (or not) for stellar rotation, result in mean abundances comparable to those arising from stochasticity. Nonetheless, they significantly affect the shape of abundance trends with [Fe/H], for example, through the existence (or not) of a bimodality in the [X/Fe] - [Fe/H] planes, particularly in [Al/Fe]. Finally, we find that the variance arising from random sampling severely limits the interpretation of single galaxies. Our analysis showcases the power of star-by-star cosmological models to unpick how both systematic uncertainties (e.g., assumptions in low-metallicity chemical enrichment) and statistical uncertainties (e.g., averaging over enough galaxies and stars within a galaxy) affect the interpretation of chemical observables in ultra-faint dwarf galaxies.

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From Primordial Stars to Early Galaxies: A Semi-Analytic Model Calibrated with Aeos and Renaissance

We present an extension of our semi-analytic model that follows the formation of Population III stars and their metal-enriched descendants, incorporating dark matter halo merger trees from cosmological $N$-body simulations and feedback from reionization. Our extended model is calibrated using two complementary cosmological hydrodynamical simulations: Aeos, which resolves individual Population III and II stars to $z\sim14.6$, and Renaissance, which is lower resolution but follows large-scale metal-enriched star formation to $z \sim 11$. With a combined calibration, we capture small-scale physics of primordial star formation over a large range in halo mass. We find good agreement between our calibrated model and Aeos, reproducing the evolution in number of star-forming halos and total stellar mass. Achieving this agreement requires increasing the normalization of, flattening the redshift dependence of, and adding scatter to the commonly used critical mass threshold $M_{\mathrm{crit}}$. Our treatment of the delay between Pop III stellar death and subsequent Pop II star formation emphasizes the need to account for halos that have yet to transition to Pop II, since incomplete sampling of this delay in simulations limits physically motivated calibrations. Finally, we apply our model to larger-volume dark matter only simulations and predict $\sim10$ active Pop III sources at $z = 10$ lie within the area strongly lensed by galaxy cluster MACS J0416 with a magnification exceeding $μ> 30$. These results demonstrate that semi-analytic approaches, when calibrated to hydrodynamical simulations, can provide accurate, computationally efficient predictions for the earliest stages of cosmic star formation.

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Protostellar Jets in Star Cluster Formation and Evolution: I. Implementation and Initial Results

Stars form in clusters from the gravitational collapse of giant molecular clouds, which is opposed by a variety of physical processes, including stellar feedback. The interplay between these processes determines the star formation rate of the clouds. To study how feedback controls star formation, we use a numerical framework that is optimized to simulate star cluster formation and evolution. This framework, called Torch, combines the magnetohydrodynamical code FLASH with N-body and stellar evolution codes in the Astrophysical Multipurpose Software Environment (AMUSE). Torch includes stellar feedback from ionizing and non-ionizing radiation, stellar winds, and supernovae, but, until now, did not include protostellar jets. We present our implementation of protostellar jet feedback within the Torch framework and describe its free parameters. We then demonstrate our new module by comparing cluster formation simulations with and without jets. We find that the inclusion of protostellar jets slows star formation, even in clouds of up to M $= 2 \times 10^4$ M$_{\odot}$. We also find that the star formation rate of our lower mass clouds (M $= 5 \times 10^3$ M$_{\odot}$) is strongly affected by both the inclusion of protostellar jets and the chosen jet parameters, including the jet lifetime and injection velocity. We follow the energy budget for each simulation and find that the inclusion of jets systematically increases the kinetic energy of the gas at early times. The implementation of protostellar jet feedback in Torch opens new areas of investigation regarding the role of feedback in star cluster formation and evolution.

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Aeos is Mixing it Up: The (In)homogeneity of Metal Mixing Following Population III Star Formation

Stellar surface abundances are records of the state of the gas from which stars formed, and thus trace how individual elements have mixed into the surrounding medium following their ejection from stars. In this work, we test the common assumption of instantaneous and homogeneous metal mixing during the formation of the first Population II stars by characterizing the chemical homogeneity of the gas in simulated star-forming environments enriched by Population III stellar feedback. Testing the homogeneity of metal mixing in this time period is necessary for understanding the spread of abundances in the most metal-poor stars, and the (in)homogeneity of individual sites of star formation. Using Aeos, a suite of star-by-star cosmological simulations, we quantify how gas abundances change over space and time relative to Population II stellar abundances using Mahalanobis distances, a measure of covariance-normalized dissimilarity. We find that the homogeneous mixing assumption holds only within $\sim100$ pc of a star-forming region and $\sim 7$ Myr following the star formation event. Beyond this regime, deviations between stellar and gas abundances increase until they become indistinguishable from assuming a homogeneous mix of metals averaged over the initial mass function. This highlights the limited applicability of assuming instantaneous and homogeneous mixing in realistic halo environments at high redshift. We identify critical mixing scales that are necessary to explore chemical evolution in the early Universe. These scales can be applied to determine the precision needed for accurate chemical tagging of observed data and to explore parameter space with analytical models.

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Massive star cluster formation III. Early mass segregation during cluster assembly

Mass segregation is seen in many star clusters, but whether massive stars form in the center of a cluster or migrate there dynamically is still debated. N-body simulations have shown that early dynamical mass segregation is possible when sub-clusters merge to form a dense core with a small crossing time. However, the effect of gas dynamics on both the formation and dynamics of the stars could inhibit the formation of the dense core. We aim to study the dynamical mass segregation of star cluster models that include gas dynamics and self-consistently form stars from the dense substructure in the gas. Our models use the Torch framework, which is based on AMUSE and includes stellar and magnetized gas dynamics, as well as stellar evolution and feedback from radiation, stellar winds, and supernovae. Our models consist of three star clusters forming from initial turbulent spherical clouds of mass $10^{4,5,6}\rm~M_\odot$ and radius $11.7\rm~pc$ that have final stellar masses of $3.6\times10^3\rm~M_\odot$, $6.5\times10^4\rm~M_\odot$, and $8.9\times10^5\rm~M_\odot$, respectively. There is no primordial mass segregation in the model by construction. All three clusters become dynamically mass segregated at early times via collapse confirming that this mechanism occurs within sub-clusters forming directly out of the dense substructure in the gas. The dynamics of the embedded gas and stellar feedback do not inhibit the collapse of the cluster. We find that each model cluster becomes mass segregated within $2~$Myr of the onset of star formation, reaching the levels observed in young clusters in the Milky Way. However, we note that the exact values are highly time-variable during these early phases of evolution. Massive stars that segregate to the center during core collapse are likely to be dynamically ejected, a process that can decrease the overall level of mass segregation again.

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The emergence of globular clusters and globular-cluster-like dwarfs

Globular clusters (GCs) are among the oldest and densest stellar systems in the Universe, yet how they form remains a mystery. Here we present a suite of cosmological simulations in which both dark-matter-free GCs and dark-matter-rich dwarf galaxies naturally emerge in the Standard Cosmology. We show that these objects inhabit distinct locations in the size-luminosity plane and that they have similar ages, age spread, metallicity and metallicity spread to globulars and dwarfs in the nearby Universe. About half of our simulated globulars form by means of regular star formation near the centres of their host dwarf, with the rest forming further out, triggered by mergers. The latter are more tidally isolated and more likely to survive to the present day. Finally, our simulations predict the existence of a new class of object that we call 'globular-cluster-like dwarfs' (GCDs). These form from a single, self-quenching, star-formation event in low-mass dark-matter halos at high redshift and have observational properties intermediate between globulars and dwarfs. We identify several dwarfs in our Galaxy, such as Reticulum II (refs. 2-4), that could be in this new class. If so, they promise unprecedented constraints on dark-matter models and new sites to search for metal-free stars.

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EDGE: The emergence of dwarf galaxy scaling relations from cosmological radiation-hydrodynamics simulations

We present a new suite of EDGE (`Engineering Dwarfs at Galaxy formation's Edge') cosmological zoom simulations. The suite includes 15 radiation-hydrodynamical dwarf galaxies covering the ultra-faint to the dwarf irregular regime ($10^4 \leq M_{\star}(z=0) \leq 10^8 \, M_{\odot}$) to enable comparisons with observed scaling relations. Each object in the suite is evolved at high resolution ($\approx 3 \, \text{pc}$) and includes stellar radiation, winds and supernova feedback channels. We compare with previous \textsc{edge} simulations without radiation, finding that radiative feedback results in significantly weaker galactic outflows. This generalizes our previous findings to a wide mass range, and reveals that the effect is most significant at low $M_{\star}$. Despite this difference, stellar masses stay within a factor of two of each other, and key scaling relations of dwarf galaxies (size-mass, neutral gas-stellar mass, gas-phase mass-metallicity) emerge correctly in both simulation suites. Only the stellar mass -- stellar metallicity relation is strongly sensitive to the change in feedback. This highlights how obtaining statistical samples of dwarf galaxy stellar abundances with next-generation spectrographs will be key to probing and constraining the baryon cycle of dwarf galaxies.

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Aeos: Transport of Metals from Minihalos following Population III Stellar Feedback

We investigate how stellar feedback from the first stars (Population III) distributes metals through the interstellar and intergalactic medium using the star-by-star cosmological hydrodynamics simulation, Aeos. We find that energy injected from the supernovae of the first stars is enough to expel a majority of gas and injected metals beyond the virial radius of halos with mass $M_* \lesssim 10^7$ M$_\odot$, regardless of the number of supernovae. This prevents self-enrichment and results in a non-monotonic increase in metallicity at early times. Most minihalos ($M \gtrsim 10^5 \, \rm M_\odot$) do not retain significant fractions of the yields produced within their virial radii until they have grown to halo masses of $M \gtrsim 10^7 \, \rm M_\odot$. The loss of metals to regions well beyond the virial radius delays the onset of enriched star formation and extends the period that Population III star formation can persist. We also explore the contributions of different nucleosynthetic channels to 10 individual elements. On the timescale of the simulation (lowest redshift $z=14.3$), enrichment is dominated by core-collapse supernovae for all elements, but with a significant contribution from asymptotic giant branch winds to the s-process elements, which are normally thought to only be important at late times. In this work, we establish important mechanisms for early chemical enrichment which allows us to apply Aeos in later epochs to trace the evolution of enrichment during the complete transition from Population III to Population II stars.

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Massive Interacting Binaries Enhance Feedback in Star-Forming Regions

We present a new framework to incorporate feedback from massive interacting binaries in simulations of star cluster formation. Our new feedback model adds binary stellar evolution to the cluster formation code Torch, and couples it in AMUSE to the pre-existing modules for collisional stellar dynamics, magnetohydrodynamics, and mechanical and radiative feedback. Our model accounts for the effects of mass transfer on the stars' mass loss rates, their radiation spectra, and the timing of core-collapse supernovae. It also injects mass lost through non-conservative mass transfer and common envelope ejection into the interstellar medium. We demonstrate the use of our feedback model through simulations of isolated binaries in a gaseous medium, and of embedded clusters of massive binaries. Feedback from interacting binaries efficiently couples with the surrounding interstellar medium. It increases the size of HII regions, increases the kinetic and thermal energy of the gas, and increases the pressure within HII regions compared to models that use single star stellar evolution. Those differences arise from the ionizing radiation, which increases by three orders of magnitude, resulting in HII regions that expand due to thermal pressure rather than radiation pressure. The effects of stellar dynamics and the gravitational potential of the background gas cause the evolution of individual binaries to deviate from the predictions made by secular evolution, impacting the subsequent feedback from the binary. We conclude that massive interacting binaries are an important source of feedback in cluster-forming regions, and must be considered when studying the emerging timescales of young star clusters.

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FEAST: JWST uncovers the emerging timescales of young star clusters in M83

We present JWST NIRCam observations of the emerging young star clusters (eYSCs) detected in the nearby spiral galaxy M83. The NIRcam mosaic encompasses the nuclear starburst, the bar, and the inner spiral arms. The eYSCs, detected in Pa$α$ and Br$α$ maps, have been largely missed in previous optical campaigns of young star clusters (YSCs). We distinguish between eYSCI, if they also have compact 3.3~$μ$m PAH emission associated to them, and eYSCII, if they only appear as compact Pa$α$ emitters. We find that the variations in the 3.3~$μ$m PAH feature are consistent with an evolutionary sequence where eYSCI evolve into eYSCII and then optical YSCs. This sequence is clear in the F300M-F335M (tracing the excess in the \PAHlambda\ feature) and the F115W-F187N (tracing the excess in Pa$α$) colors which become increasingly bluer as clusters emerge. The central starburst stands out as the region where the most massive eYSCs are currently forming in the galaxy. We estimate that only about 20~\% of the eYSCs will remain detectable as compact YSCs. Combining eYSCs and YSCs ($\leq$10 Myr) we recover an average clearing timescale of 6~Myr in which clusters transition from embedded to fully exposed. We see evidence of shorter emergence timescales ($\sim$5~Myr) for more massive ($>5\times10^3$ \msun) clusters, while star clusters of $\sim 10^3$ \msun\ about 7~Myr. We estimate that eYSCs remain associated to the \PAHlambda\ emission 3--4~Myr. Larger samples of eYSC and YSC populations will provide stronger statistics to further test environmental and cluster mass dependencies on the emergence timescale.

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Massive star cluster formation II. Runaway stars as fossils of sub-cluster mergers

Two main mechanisms have classically been proposed for the formation of runaway stars. In the binary supernova scenario (BSS), a massive star in a binary explodes as a supernova, ejecting its companion. In the dynamical ejection scenario, a star is ejected during a strong dynamical encounter between multiple stars. We propose a third mechanism for the formation of runaway stars: the subcluster ejection scenario (SCES), where a subset of stars from an infalling subcluster is ejected out of the cluster via a tidal interaction with the contracting gravitational potential of the assembling cluster. We demonstrate the SCES in a star-by-star simulation of the formation of a young massive cluster from a $10^6\rm~M_\odot$ gas cloud using the Torch framework. This star cluster forms hierarchically through a sequence of subcluster mergers determined by the initial turbulent, spherical conditions of the gas. We find that these mergers drive the formation of runaway stars in our model. Late-forming subclusters fall into the central potential, where they are tidally disrupted, forming tidal tails of runaway stars that are distributed highly anisotropically. Runaways formed in the same SCES have similar ages, velocities, and ejection directions. Surveying observations, we identify several SCES candidate groups with anisotropic ejection directions. The SCES is capable of producing runaway binaries: two wide dynamical binaries in infalling subclusters were tightened through ejection. This allows for another velocity kick via subsequent via a subsequent BSS ejection. An SCES-BSS ejection is a possible avenue for the creation of hypervelocity stars unbound to the Galaxy. We expect nonspherical initial gas distributions to increase the number of calculated runaway stars. The observation of groups of runaway stars formed via the SCES can thus reveal the assembly history of their natal clusters.

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Massive star cluster formation I. High star formation efficiency while resolving feedback of individual stars

The mode of star formation that results in the formation of globular clusters and young massive clusters is difficult to constrain through observations. We present models of massive star cluster formation using the Torch framework, which uses AMUSE to couple distinct multi-physics codes that handle star formation, stellar evolution and dynamics, radiative transfer, and magnetohydrodynamics. We upgrade Torch by implementing the N-body code PeTar, thereby enabling Torch to handle massive clusters forming from $10^6\rm\, M_\odot$ clouds with $\ge10^5$ individual stars. We present results from Torch simulations of star clusters forming from $10^4, 10^5$, and $10^6\rm M_\odot$ turbulent, spherical gas clouds (named M4, M5, M6) of radius $R=11.7$ pc. We find that star formation is highly efficient and becomes more so at higher cloud mass and surface density. For M4, M5, and M6 with initial surface densities $2.325\times 10^{1,2,3}\rm\, M_\odot\, pc^{-2}$, after a free-fall time of $t_{ff}=6.7,2.1,0.67$ Myr, we find that $\sim$30%, 40%, and 60% of the cloud mass has formed into stars, respectively. The final integrated star formation efficiency is 32%, 65%, and 85% for M4, M5, and M6. Observations of nearby clusters similar to M4 have similar integrated star formation efficiencies of $\leq$30%. The M5 and M6 models represent a different regime of cluster formation that is more appropriate for the conditions in starburst galaxies and gas-rich galaxies at high redshift, and that leads to a significantly higher efficiency of star formation. We argue that young massive clusters build up through short efficient bursts of star formation in regions that are sufficiently dense ($\ge 10^2 \rm\,M_\odot\,pc^{-2}$) and massive ($\ge10^5\rm\, M_\odot$). In such environments, the dynamical time of the cloud becomes short enough that stellar feedback cannot act quickly enough to slow star formation.

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EDGE-INFERNO: Simulating every observable star in faint dwarf galaxies and their consequences for resolved-star photometric surveys

Interpretation of data from faint dwarf galaxies is made challenging by observations limited to only the brightest stars. We present a major improvement to tackle this challenge by undertaking zoomed cosmological simulations that resolve the evolution of all individual stars more massive than $0.5\,{\rm M}_{\odot}$, thereby explicitly tracking all observable stars for the Hubble time. For the first time, we predict observable color-magnitude diagrams and the spatial distribution of $\approx 100,000$ stars within four faint ($M_{\star} \approx 10^5 \, \,{\rm M}_{\odot}$) dwarf galaxies directly from their cosmological initial conditions. In all cases, simulations predict complex light profiles with multiple components, implying that typical observational measures of structural parameters can make total V-band magnitudes appear up to 0.5 mag dimmer compared to estimates from simulations. Furthermore, when only small ($\lessapprox100$) numbers of stars are observable, shot noise from realizations of the color-magnitude diagram introduces uncertainties comparable to the population scatter in, e.g., total magnitude, half-light radius, and mean iron abundance measurements. Estimating these uncertainties with fully self-consistent mass growth, star formation and chemical enrichment histories paves the way for more robust interpretation of dwarf galaxy data.

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AEOS: Star-by-Star Cosmological Simulations of Early Chemical Enrichment and Galaxy Formation

The AEOS project introduces a series of high-resolution cosmological simulations that model star-by-star chemical enrichment and galaxy formation in the early Universe, achieving 1 pc resolution. These simulations capture the complexities of galaxy evolution within the first ~300 Myr by modeling individual stars and their feedback processes. By incorporating chemical yields from individual stars, AEOS generates galaxies with diverse stellar chemical abundances, linking them to hierarchical galaxy formation and early nucleosynthetic events. These simulations underscore the importance of chemical abundance patterns in ancient stars as vital probes of early nucleosynthesis, star formation histories, and galaxy formation. We examine the metallicity floors of various elements resulting from Pop III enrichment, providing best-fit values for eight different metals (e.g., [O/H] = -4.0) to guide simulations without Pop III models. Additionally, we identify galaxies that begin star formation with Pop II after external enrichment and investigate the frequency of CEMP stars at varying metallicities. The AEOS simulations offer detailed insights into the relationship between star formation, feedback, and chemical enrichment. Future work will extend these simulations to later epochs to interpret the diverse stellar populations of the Milky Way and its satellites.

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