arXiv subjects

Prachi Khatri

Publications and source records attributed to Prachi Khatri.

5 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Same galaxy, different CGM: how the metal loading of galactic winds regulates the baryon cycle in Milky Way-mass galaxies

The circumgalactic medium (CGM) is both the reservoir of gas that fuels star formation and galaxy growth, and the repository for the mass, energy, and metals expelled through stellar evolution and feedback. We present a controlled experiment using a suite of five cosmological magnetohydrodynamical simulations of a Milky Way-mass halo from the Auriga suite, where we vary the metal content and energy loading of galactic winds driven by stellar feedback. We chose these parameters in combination such that all five runs obtain very similar (within $\approx$10\%) $z=0$ stellar masses and morphologies and thus produce similar amounts of metals throughout their lifetimes. Our simulations differ substantially in where these metals end up, spatially within the halo and across the different baryonic components (stars, gas disc, CGM, and the intergalactic medium). The metal content affects the cooling efficiency of the halo gas, regulating the CGM cool gas fraction and the accretion rates onto the galaxy. Between our two extreme models, we report an order of magnitude difference in the median gas metallicity at vertical heights $|z| \gtrsim 30$ kpc above the disc plane. Current constraints on the metallicity of the Milky Way halo gas from absorption-line measurements of intermediate- and high-velocity clouds at $|z| \lesssim 15$ kpc are broadly consistent with our simulations, though a direct comparison is limited by differences in the adopted methods. Our findings show that galaxies with nearly identical stellar content and morphology can differ substantially in their CGM, which offers a promising avenue for constraining feedback physics within galaxy formation models.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2025

Probing the warm dark matter mass with [C II] intensity mapping

The nature of dark matter (DM) is still debated. While cold DM (CDM) is the standard paradigm, warm DM (WDM) may ease some small-scale tensions in the $\Lambda$CDM framework. Line-intensity mapping (LIM) offers a novel probe of DM properties. To explore the potential of LIM surveys in constraining the WDM particle mass ($m_\mathrm{WDM}$) by means of the [C II] power spectrum (PS), we provide forecasts for the Deep Spectroscopic Survey (DSS) at $z\simeq3.6$ and extend the analysis to larger sky coverage, higher sensitivity, and/or increased spectral resolution. We developed a formulation for the [C II] PS based on the halo-model approach, incorporating the uncertainty in the luminosity function (LF) through two alternative parameterisations. We performed a Bayesian analysis on mock data to derive constraints on $m_\mathrm{WDM}$. In a CDM universe, the DSS yields lower limits on $m_\mathrm{WDM}$, at a $95\%$ credibility level, of $1.10$ keV and $0.58$ keV when considering the optimistic and pessimistic LF ($\alpha = -1.1$), respectively. Ambitious surveys can improve these figures to $5.82$ keV and $1.90$ keV, and assuming a steeper faint-end slope ($\alpha = -1.9$) further boosts these limits. A fivefold increase in spectral resolution enhances sensitivity to the damping scale associated with redshift-space distortions, tightening the constraints on $m_\mathrm{WDM}$ by a factor of up to $\sim1.8$. Finally, Bayesian inference on mock data with $m_\mathrm{WDM}=3$ keV results in a well-constrained and unbiased posterior only in futuristic survey setups. Upcoming LIM surveys can provide meaningful limits on $m_\mathrm{WDM}$, although the negligible contribution from small haloes reduces the constraining power of the [C II] PS. Future progress will benefit from combining multiple redshifts and emission lines, opening the way to competitive constraints on the nature of DM.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2025

Constraining the [CII] luminosity function from the power spectrum of line-intensity maps at redshift 3.6

Forthcoming measurements of the line-intensity mapping (LIM) power spectrum (PS) are expected to provide valuable constraints on astrophysical and cosmological quantities. We focus on the [CII] luminosity function (LF) at high redshift, which remains poorly constrained, especially at the faint end. We present forecasts for the Deep Spectroscopic Survey (DSS) that is to be conducted with the Fred Young Submillimeter Telescope (FYST) at $z\simeq3.6$. We also make predictions for surveys with a ten times larger sky coverage and/or a $\sqrt{10}$ times higher sensitivity, accounting for the Lorentzian spectral profile of Fabry-P\'erot interferometers and the impact of their resolving power $R$. Motivated by the halo-occupation properties of [CII] emitters in the MARIGOLD simulations, we derived a luminosity-mass relation by abundance matching two ALPINE LFs to the halo mass function. This relation was then used in a halo-model framework to predict the PS and its uncertainty. Bayesian inference on mock PS data provided forecasts for the first two LF moments and Schechter parameters. Depending on the true LF, the DSS is expected to be able to detect clustering and shot-noise components with signal-to-noise ratios of $\gtrsim2$. At $R=100$, spectral smoothing masks redshift-space distortions, rendering the damping scale $\sigma$ unmeasurable. For $R\gtrsim500$, $\sigma$ is distinguishable from instrumental effects, though degeneracies with amplitude parameters increase. Joint fits to the PS and LF yield precise constraints on the Schechter normalisation and cutoff luminosity, while the faint-end slope remains uncertain (unless the true value approaches $-2$). An increased survey sensitivity offers greater gains than a wider area. A higher spectral resolution improves the access to physical parameters, but intensifies degeneracies. This highlights key design trade-offs in LIM surveys.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2024

The [C II] line emission as an interstellar medium probe in the MARIGOLD galaxies

The [C II] fine-structure line at 157.74 $\mu$m is one of the brightest far-infrared emission lines and an important probe of galaxy properties like the star formation rate (SFR) and the molecular gas mass ($M_{\mathrm{mol}}$). Using high-resolution numerical simulations, we test the reliability of the [C II] line as a tracer of $M_{\mathrm{mol}}$ in high-redshift galaxies and investigate secondary dependences of the [C II]-$M_{\mathrm{mol}}$ relation on the SFR and metallicity. We investigate the time evolution of the [C II] luminosity function (LF) and the relative spatial extent of [C II] emission and star formation. We post-process galaxies from the MARIGOLD simulations at redshifts $3 \le z \leq 7$ to obtain their [C II] emission. These simulations were performed with the sub-grid chemistry model, HYACINTH, to track the non-equilibrium abundances of $\mathrm{H_2}$, $\mathrm{CO}$, $\rm C$ and $\mathrm{C^+}$ on the fly. Based on a statistical sample of galaxies at these redshifts, we investigate correlations between the [C II] line luminosity, L([C II]), and the SFR, the $M_{\mathrm{mol}}$, the total gas mass and the metal mass in gas phase ($M_{\mathrm{metal}}$). We find that accounting for secondary dependencies in the L([C II])-$M_{\mathrm{mol}}$ relation improves the $M_{\mathrm{mol}}$ prediction by a factor of 2.3. The [C II] emission in our simulated galaxies shows the tightest correlation with $M_{\mathrm{metal}}$. About 20% (10%) of our simulated galaxies at $z=5$ ($z=4$) have [C II] emission extending $\geq 2$ times farther than the star formation activity. The [C II] LF evolves rapidly and is always well approximated by a double power law that does not show an exponential cutoff at the bright end. We record a 600-fold increase in the number density of L([C II]) $\sim 10^9 \, \mathrm{L_{\odot}}$ emitters in 1.4 Gyr.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2024

HYACINTH: HYdrogen And Carbon chemistry in the INTerstellar medium in Hydro simulations

Aims. We present a new sub-grid model, HYACINTH -- HYdrogen And Carbon chemistry in the INTerstellar medium in Hydro simulations -- for computing the non-equilibrium abundances of ${\rm H_2}$ and its carbon-based tracers, namely ${\rm CO}$, ${\rm C}$, and ${\rm C^+}$, in cosmological simulations of galaxy formation. Methods. The model accounts for the unresolved density structure in simulations using a variable probability distribution function of sub-grid densities and a temperature-density relation. Included is a simplified chemical network that has been tailored for hydrogen and carbon chemistry within molecular clouds and easily integrated into large-scale simulations with minimal computational overhead. As an example, we applied HYACINTH to a simulated galaxy at redshift $z \sim 2.5$ in post-processing and compared the resulting abundances with observations. Results. The chemical predictions from HYACINTH are in reasonable agreement with high-resolution molecular-cloud simulations at different metallicities. By post-processing a galaxy simulation with HYACINTH, we reproduced the $\rm H\,I-{\rm H_2}$ transition as a function of the hydrogen column density $N_{\rm H}$ for both Milky-Way-like and Large-Magellanic-Cloud-like conditions. Column density maps reveal that ${\rm CO}$ is concentrated in the peaks of the ${\rm H_2}$ distribution, while atomic carbon more broadly traces the bulk of ${\rm H_2}$ in our post-processed galaxy. Based on both the column density maps and the surface density profiles of the different gas species in the post-processed galaxy, we find that ${\rm C^+}$ maintains a substantially high surface density out to $\sim 10 \, \rm kpc$ as opposed to other components that exhibit a higher central concentration. This is similar to the extended $[\rm C\,II]$ emission found in some recent observations at high redshifts.

astro-ph.GA↗