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Umberto Maio

Publications and source records attributed to Umberto Maio.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
arXiv2024

ColdSIM predictions of [C II] emission in primordial galaxies

A powerful tool to probe the gas content at high redshift is the [C II] 158 $μ$m sub-millimeter emission line, which, due to its low excitation potential and luminous emission, is considered a possible direct tracer of star forming gas. In this work we investigate the origin, evolution and environmental dependencies of [C II] 158 $μ$m emission line, as well as its expected correlation with stellar mass and star formation activity of the high-redshift galaxies observed by JWST. We use a set of state-of-the-art cold-gas hydrodynamic simulations (ColdSIM) with fully coupled time-dependent atomic and molecular non-equilibrium chemistry and self-consistent [C II] emission from metal enriched gas. We accurately track the evolution of H I, H II and $H_2$ in a cosmological context and predict both global and galaxy-based [C II] properties. For the first time, we predict the cosmic mass density evolution of [C II] and find that it is in good agreement with new measurements at redshift z = 6 from high-resolution optical quasar spectroscopy. We find a correlation between [C II] luminosity, $L_{[C II]}$, and stellar mass, consistent with results from ALMA high-redshift large programs. We predict a redshift evolution in the relation between $L_{[C II]}$ and the star formation rate, SFR, and provide a fit to relate $L_{[C II]}$ to SFR which can be adopted as a more accurate alternative to the currently used linear relation. Our findings provide physical grounds to interpret high-redshift detections in contemporary and future observations, such as the ones performed by ALMA and JWST, and to advance our knowledge on structure formation at early times.

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arXiv2023

A needle in a haystack? Catching Pop III stars in the Epoch of Reionization: I. Pop III star forming environments

Despite extensive search efforts, direct observations of the first (Pop III) stars have not yet succeeded. Theoretical studies have suggested that late Pop III star formation is still possible in pristine clouds of high-mass galaxies, coexisting with Pop II stars, down to the Epoch of Reionization (EoR). Here we reassess this finding by exploring Pop III star formation in six $50h^{-1} ~$cMpc simulations performed with the hydrodynamical code dustyGadget. We find that Pop III star formation ($\sim 10^{-3.4} - 10^{-3.2} ~ \mathrm{M_\odot yr^{-1} cMpc^{-3}}$) is still occurring down to $z \sim 6 - 8$, i.e. well within the reach of deep JWST surveys. At these epochs, $\gtrsim 10 \%$ of the rare massive galaxies with $M_\star \gtrsim 3 \times 10^9 ~ \mathrm{M_\odot}$ are found to host Pop III stars, although with a Pop III/Pop II mass fraction $\lesssim 0.1 \%$. Regardless of their mass, Pop III hosting galaxies are mainly found on the main sequence, at high star formation rates, probably induced by accretion of pristine gas. This scenario is also supported by their increasing star formation histories and their preferential location in high-density regions of the cosmic web. Pop III stars are found both in the outskirts of metal-enriched regions and in isolated, pristine clouds. In the latter case, their signal may be less contaminated by Pop IIs, although its detectability will strongly depend on the specific line-of-sight to the source, due to the complex morphology of the host galaxy and its highly inhomogeneous dust distribution.

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arXiv2023

First constraints of dense molecular gas at z~7.5 from the quasar Pōniuā'ena

We report the detection of CO(6-5) and CO(7-6) and their underlying continua from the host galaxy of quasar J100758.264+211529.207 (Pōniuā'ena) at z=7.5419, obtained with the NOrthern Extended Millimeter Array (NOEMA). Pōniuā'ena belongs to the HYPerluminous quasars at the Epoch of ReionizatION (HYPERION) sample of 17 $z>6$ quasars selected to be powered by supermassive black holes (SMBH) which experienced the fastest mass growth in the first Gyr of the Universe. The one reported here is the highest-redshift measurement of the cold and dense molecular gas to date. The host galaxy is unresolved and the line luminosity implies a molecular reservoir of $\rm M(H_2)=(2.2\pm0.2)\times 10^{10}$ $\rm M_\odot$, assuming a CO spectral line energy distribution typical of high-redshift quasars and a conversion factor $α=0.8$ $\rm M_{\odot} (K\,km \, s^{-1} \,pc^{2})^{-1} $. We model the cold dust spectral energy distribution (SED) to derive a dust mass of M$_{\rm dust} =(2.1\pm 0.7)\times 10^8$ $\rm M_\odot$, and thus a gas to dust ratio $\sim100$. Both the gas and dust mass are not dissimilar from the reservoir found for luminous quasars at $z\sim6$. We use the CO detection to derive an estimate of the cosmic mass density of $\rm H_2$, $Ω_{H_2} \simeq 1.31 \times 10^{-5}$. This value is in line with the general trend suggested by literature estimates at $ z < 7 $ and agrees fairly well with the latest theoretical expectations of non-equilibrium molecular-chemistry cosmological simulations of cold gas at early times.

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arXiv2023

JWST high-z galaxy constraints on warm and cold dark matter models

We compare properties of high-redshift galaxies observed by JWST with hydrodynamical simulations, in the standard cold dark matter model and in warm dark matter models with a suppressed linear matter power spectrum. We find that current data are not in tension with cold dark matter nor with warm dark matter models with mWDM > 2 keV, since they probe bright and rare objects whose physical properties are similar in the different scenarios. We also show how two observables, the galaxy luminosity functions and the galaxy correlation function at small scales of faint objects, can be promising tools for discriminating between the different dark matter models. Further hints may come from early stellar-mass statistics and galaxy CO emission.

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arXiv2022

Impact of H$_{\rm 2}$-driven star formation and stellar feedback from low-enrichment environments on the formation of spiral galaxies

The reservoir of molecular gas (H$_{\rm 2}$) represents the fuel for the star formation (SF) of a galaxy. Connecting the star formation rate (SFR) to the available H$_{\rm 2}$ is key to accurately model SF in cosmological simulations of galaxy formation. We investigate how modifying the underlying modelling of H$_{\rm 2}$ and the description of stellar feedback in low-metallicity environments (LMF, i.e. low-metallicity stellar feedback) in cosmological, zoomed-in simulations of a Milky Way-size halo influences the formation history of the forming, spiral galaxy and its final properties. We exploit two different models to compute the molecular fraction of cold gas (f$_{\rm H_{\rm 2}}$): $i)$ the theoretical model by Krumholz et al. (2009b) and $ii)$ the phenomenological prescription by Blitz & Rosolowsky (2006). We find that the model adopted to estimate f$_{\rm H_{\rm 2}}$ plays a key role in determining final properties and in shaping the morphology of the galaxy. The clumpier interstellar medium (ISM) and the more complex H$_{\rm 2}$ distribution that the Krumholz et al. (2009b) model predicts result in better agreement with observations of nearby disc galaxies. This shows how crucial it is to link the SFR to the physical properties of the star-forming, molecular ISM. The additional source of energy that LMF supplies in a metal-poor ISM is key in controlling SF at high redshift and in regulating the reservoir of SF across cosmic time. Not only is LMF able to regulate cooling properties of the ISM, but it also reduces the stellar mass of the galaxy bulge. These findings can foster the improvement of the numerical modelling of SF in cosmological simulations.

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arXiv2021

Atomic and molecular gas from the epoch of reionization down to redshift 2

Cosmic gas makes up about 90% of baryonic matter in the Universe and H$_2$ is the closest molecule to star formation. In this work we study cold neutral gas and its H$_2$ component at different epochs, exploiting state-of-the-art hydrodynamic simulations that include time-dependent atomic and molecular non-equilibrium chemistry coupled to star formation, feedback effects, different UV backgrounds presented in the recent literature and a number of additional processes - such as gas self-shielding, H$_2$ dust grain catalysis, photoelectric and cosmic-ray heating - occurring during structure formation (ColdSIM). We find neutral-gas mass density parameters $ Ω_{\rm neutral} \simeq $10$^{-3}$ and increasing from lower to higher redshift, in agreement with available HI data. Resulting H$_2$ fractions can be as high as $\sim $50% at $z\sim $4-8, in line with the latest high-$z$ measurements. Albeit dependent on the adopted UV background, derived $ Ω_{\rm H_2} $ values agree with observations up to $z\sim$7 and both HI and H$_2$ trends are better reproduced by our non-equilibrium H$_2$-based star formation modelling. The predicted gas depletion timescales decrease towards lower $z$, with H$_2$ depletion times remaining below the Hubble time and comparable to the dynamical time at all considered redshifts. This implies that non-equilibrium molecular cooling is efficient at driving cold-gas collapse in a broad variety of environments and since the very early cosmic epochs. In appendix, we show detailed analyses of individual processes, as well as simple numerical parameterizations and fits to account for them. Our findings suggest that, in addition to HI, non-equilibrium H$_2$ observations are pivotal probes for assessing cold-gas abundances and the role of UV background radiation - Abridged

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arXiv2021

The EMU view of the Large Magellanic Cloud: Troubles for sub-TeV WIMPs

We present a radio search for WIMP dark matter in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC). We make use of a recent deep image of the LMC obtained from observations of the Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder (ASKAP), and processed as part of the Evolutionary Map of the Universe (EMU) survey. LMC is an extremely promising target for WIMP searches at radio frequencies because of the large J-factor and the presence of a substantial magnetic field. We detect no evidence for emission arising from WIMP annihilations and derive stringent bounds on the annihilation rate as a function of the WIMP mass, for different annihilation channels. This work excludes the thermal cross section for masses below 480 GeV and annihilation into quarks.

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arXiv2021

The Evolutionary Map of the Universe Pilot Survey

We present the data and initial results from the first Pilot Survey of the Evolutionary Map of the Universe (EMU), observed at 944 MHz with the Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder (ASKAP) telescope. The survey covers 270 \sqdeg of an area covered by the Dark Energy Survey, reaching a depth of 25--30 \ujybm\ rms at a spatial resolution of $\sim$ 11--18 arcsec, resulting in a catalogue of $\sim$ 220,000 sources, of which $\sim$ 180,000 are single-component sources. Here we present the catalogue of single-component sources, together with (where available) optical and infrared cross-identifications, classifications, and redshifts. This survey explores a new region of parameter space compared to previous surveys. Specifically, the EMU Pilot Survey has a high density of sources, and also a high sensitivity to low surface-brightness emission. These properties result in the detection of types of sources that were rarely seen in or absent from previous surveys. We present some of these new results here.

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arXiv2020

Early black-hole seeds in the first billion years

Supermassive black holes with billion solar masses are in place already within the first Gyr, however, their origin and growth in such a short lapse of time is extremely challenging to understand. Here, we discuss the formation paths of early black-hole seeds, showing the limits of light black-hole seeds from stellar origin and the expected characteristics of heavy/massive black-hole seeds originated by gas direct collapse in peculiar primordial conditions. To draw conclusions on the possible candidates and the role of the ambient medium, we use results from N-body hydrodynamic simulations including atomic and molecular non-equilibrium abundance calculations, cooling, star formation, feedback mechanisms, stellar evolution, metal spreading of several heavy elements from SNII, AGB and SNIa, and multifrequency radiative transfer over 150 frequencies coupled to chemistry and SED emission for popII-I and popIII stellar sources. Standard stellar-origin light black holes are unlikely to be reliable seeds of early supermassive black holes, because, under realistic assumptions, they cannot grow significantly in less than a billion years. Alternatively, massive black-hole seeds might originate from direct collapse of pristine gas in primordial quiescent mini-haloes that are exposed to stellar radiation from nearby star forming regions. The necessary conditions required to form these heavy seeds must be complemented with information on the complex features of local environments and the fine balance between chemistry evolution and radiative transfer.

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arXiv2020

Bubble mapping with the Square Kilometer Array -- I. Detecting galaxies with Euclid, JWST, WFIRST and ELT within ionized bubbles in the intergalactic medium at z>6

The Square Kilometer Array is expected to provide the first tomographic observations of the neutral intergalactic medium at redshifts z>6 and pinpoint the locations of individual ionized bubbles during early stages of cosmic reionization. In scenarios where star-forming galaxies provide most of the ionizing photons required for cosmic reionization, one expects the first ionized bubbles to be centered on overdensities of such galaxies. Here, we model the properties of galaxy populations within isolated, ionized bubbles that SKA-1 should be able to resolve at z=7-10, and explore the prospects for galaxy counts within such structures with various upcoming near-infrared telescopes. We find that, for the bubbles that are within reach of SKA-1 tomography, the bubble volume is closely tied to the number of ionizing photons that have escaped from the galaxies within. In the case of galaxy-dominated reionization, galaxies are expected to turn up above the spectroscopic detection threshold of JWST and ELT in even the smallest resolvable bubbles at redshifts z=10 or below. The prospects of detecting galaxies within these structures in purely photometric surveys with Euclid, WFIRST, JWST or ELT are also discussed. While spectroscopy is preferable towards the end of reionization to provide a robust sample of bubble members, multiband imaging may be a competitive option for bubbles at z~10, due to the very small number of line-of-sight interlopers expected at similar redshifts.

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arXiv2017

Distortions of the Cosmic Microwave Background through cooling lines during the epoch of Reionization

By using N-body hydrodynamical cosmological simulations in which the chemistry of major metals and molecules is consistently solved for, we study the interaction of metallic fine-structure lines with the CMB. Our analysis shows that the collisional induced emissions in the OI 145 $μ$m and CII 158 $μ$m lines during reionization introduce a distortion of the CMB spectrum at low frequencies ($ν< 300$ GHz) with amplitudes up to $ΔI_ν/B_ν(T_{\rm CMB})\sim 10^{-8}$-$10^{-7}$, i.e., at the $\sim 0.1$ percent level of FIRAS upper limits. Shorter wavelength fine-structure transitions (OI 63 $μ$m, FeII 26 $μ$m, and SiII 35 $μ$m) typically sample the reionization epoch at higher observing frequencies ($ν> 400$ GHz). This corresponds to the Wien tail of the CMB spectrum and the distortion level induced by those lines may be as high as $ΔI_ν/B_ν(T_{\rm CMB})\sim 10^{-4}$. The angular anisotropy produced by these lines should be more relevant at higher frequencies: while practically negligible at $ν=145 $GHz, signatures from CII 158 $μ$m and OI 145 $μ$m should amount to 1%-5% of the anisotropy power measured at $l \sim 5000$ and $ν=220 $GHz by the ACT and SPT collaborations (after assuming $Δν_{\rm obs}/ν_{\rm obs}\simeq 0.005$ for the line observations). Our simulations show that anisotropy maps from different lines (e.g., OI 145 $μ$m and CII 158 $μ$m) at the same redshift show a very high degree ($>0.8$) of spatial correlation, allowing for the use of observations at different frequencies to unveil the same snapshot of the reionization epoch. Finally, our simulations demonstrate that line-emission anisotropies extracted in narrow frequency/redshift shells are practically uncorrelated in frequency space, thus enabling standard methods for removal of foregrounds that vary smoothly in frequency, just as in HI 21 cm studies.

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arXiv2016

Interpreting the evolution of galaxy colours from $z = 8$ to $z = 5$

We attempt to interpret existing data on the evolution of the UV luminosity function and UV colours, $β$, of galaxies at $5 \leq z \leq 8$, to improve our understanding of their dust content and ISM properties. To this aim, we post-process the results of a cosmological hydrodynamical simulation with a chemical evolution model, which includes dust formation by supernovae and intermediate mass stars, dust destruction in supernova shocks, and grain growth by accretion of gas-phase elements in dense gas. We find that observations require a steep, Small Magellanic Cloud-like extinction curve and a clumpy dust distribution, where stellar populations younger than 15 Myr are still embedded in their dusty natal clouds. Investigating the scatter in the colour distribution and stellar mass, we find that the observed trends can be explained by the presence of two populations: younger, less massive galaxies where dust enrichment is mainly due to stellar sources, and massive, more chemically evolved ones, where efficient grain growth provides the dominant contribution to the total dust mass. Computing the IR-excess - UV color relation we find that all but the dustiest model galaxies follow a relation shallower than the Meurer et al. (1999) one, usually adopted to correct the observed UV luminosities of high-$z$ galaxies for the effects of dust extinction. As a result, their total star formation rates might have been over-estimated. Our study illustrates the importance to incorporate a proper treatment of dust in simulations of high-$z$ galaxies, and that massive, dusty, UV-faint galaxies might have already appeared at $z \lesssim 7$.

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arXiv2015

Origin of Cosmic Chemical Abundances

Cosmological N-body hydrodynamic computations following atomic and molecular chemistry (e$^-$, H, H$^+$, H$^-$, He, He$^+$, He$^{++}$, D, D$^+$, H$_2$, H$_2^+$, HD, HeH$^+$), gas cooling, star formation and production of heavy elements (C, N, O, Ne, Mg, Si, S, Ca, Fe, etc.) from stars covering a range of mass and metallicity are used to explore the origin of several chemical abundance patterns and to study both the metal and molecular content during simulated galaxy assembly. The resulting trends show a remarkable similarity to up-to-date observations of the most metal-poor damped Lyman-$α$ absorbers at redshift $z\gtrsim 2$. These exhibit a transient nature and represent collapsing gaseous structures captured while cooling is becoming effective in lowering the temperature below $\sim 10^4\,\rm K$, before they are disrupted by episodes of star formation or tidal effects. Our theoretical results agree with the available data for typical elemental ratios, such as [C/O], [Si/Fe], [O/Fe], [Si/O], [Fe/H], [O/H] at redshifts $z\sim 2-7$. Correlations between HI and H$_2$ abundances show temporal and local variations and large spreads as a result of the increasing cosmic star formation activity from $z\sim 6$ to $z\sim 3$. The scatter we find in the abundance ratios is compatible with the observational data and is explained by simultaneous enrichment by sources from different stellar phases or belonging to different stellar populations. Simulated synthetic spectra support the existence of metal-poor cold clumps with large optical depth at $z\sim 6$ that could be potential population~III sites at low or intermediate redshift. The expected dust content is in line with recent determinations.

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arXiv2015

The dust mass in z > 6 normal star forming galaxies

We interpret recent ALMA observations of z > 6 normal star forming galaxies by means of a semi-numerical method, which couples the output of a cosmological hydrodynamical simulation with a chemical evolution model which accounts for the contribution to dust enrichment from supernovae, asymptotic giant branch stars and grain growth in the interstellar medium. We find that while stellar sources dominate the dust mass of small galaxies, the higher level of metal enrichment experienced by galaxies with Mstar > 10^9 Msun allows efficient grain growth, which provides the dominant contribution to the dust mass. Even assuming maximally efficient supernova dust production, the observed dust mass of the z = 7.5 galaxy A1689-zD1 requires very efficient grain growth. This, in turn, implies that in this galaxy the average density of the cold and dense gas, where grain growth occurs, is comparable to that inferred from observations of QSO host galaxies at similar redshifts. Although plausible, the upper limits on the dust continuum emission of galaxies at 6.5 < z < 7.5 show that these conditions must not apply to the bulk of the high redshift galaxy population

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arXiv2015

Bulk Flows and End of the Dark Ages with the SKA

The early Universe is a precious probe of the birth of primordial objects, first star formation events and consequent production of photons and heavy elements. Higher-order corrections to the cosmological linear perturbation theory predicts the formation of coherent supersonic gaseous streaming motions at decoupling time. These bulk flows impact the gas cooling process and determine a cascade effect on the whole baryon evolution. By analytical estimates and N-body hydrodynamical chemistry numerical simulations including atomic and molecular evolution, gas cooling, star formation, feedback effects and metal spreading for individual species from different stellar populations according to the proper yields and lifetimes, we discuss the role of these primordial bulk flows at the end of the dark ages and their detectable impacts during the first Gyr in view of the upcoming SKA mission. Early bulk flows can inhibit molecular gas cooling capabilities, suppressing star formation, metal spreading and the abundance of small primordial galaxies in the infant Universe. This can determine a delay in the re-ionization process and in the heating of neutral hydrogen making the observable HI signal during cosmic evolution patchier and noisier. The planned SKA mission will represent a major advance over existing instruments, since it will be able to probe the effects on HI 21cm at z ~ 6-20 and on molecular line emissions from first collapsing sites at z ~ 20-40. Therefore, it will be optimal to address the effects of primordial streaming motions on early baryon evolution and to give constraints on structure formation in the first Gyr.

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arXiv2014

The First Billion Years of a Warm Dark Matter Universe

We present results of cosmological N-body hydrodynamic chemistry simulations of primordial structure growth and evolution in a scenario with warm dark matter (WDM) having a mass of 3 keV (thermal relic) and compare with a model consisting of standard cold dark matter (CDM). We focus on the high-redshift universe ($z>6$), where the structure formation process should better reflect the primordial (linear) differences in terms of matter power spectrum. We find that early epochs can be exceptional probes of the dark-matter nature. Non-linear WDM power spectra and mass functions are up to 2 dex lower than in CDM and show spreads of factor of a few persisting in the whole first Gyr. Runaway molecular cooling in WDM haloes results severely inhibited because of the damping of power at large $k$ modes and hence cosmic (population III and II-I) star formation rate (SFR) is usually suppressed with respect to CDM predictions. Luminous objects formed in a WDM background are very rare at $z>10$, due to the sparser and retarded evolution of early WDM mini-haloes during the dark ages and their lack can be fitted with a simple analytical formula depending only on magnitude and redshift. Future high-$z$ observations of faint galaxies have the potential to discriminate between CDM and WDM scenarios by means of cosmic stellar mass density (SMD) and specific SFR, as well. When compared to the effects of alternative cosmologies (e.g. non-Gaussian or dark-energy models) or of high-order corrections at large $z$ (e.g. primordial streaming motions or changes in the pristine IMF) the ones caused by WDM are definitely more dramatic.

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arXiv2014

Signatures of very massive stars: supercollapsars and their cosmological rate

We compute the rate of supercollapsars by using cosmological, N-body, hydro, chemistry simulations of structure formation, following detailed stellar evolution according to proper yields (for He, C, N, O, Si, S, Fe, Mg, Ca, Ne, etc.) and lifetimes for stars having different masses and metallicities, and for different stellar populations (population III and population II-I). We find that supercollapsars are usually associated to dense, collapsing gas with little metal pollution and with abundances dominated by oxygen. The resulting supercollapsar rate is about $10^{-2}\,\rm yr^{-1} sr^{-1}$ at redshift $z=0$, and their contribution to the total rate is $ < 0.1 $ per cent, which explains why they have never been detected so far. Expected rates at redshift $z\simeq 6$ are of the order of $\sim 10^{-3}\,\rm yr^{-1} sr^{-1}$ and decrease further at higher $z$. Because of the strong metal enrichment by massive, short-lived stars, only $\sim 1$ supercollapsar generation is possible in the same star forming region. Given their sensitivity to the high-mass end of the primordial stellar mass function, they are suitable candidates to probe pristine population III star formation and stellar evolution at low metallicities.

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