A Framework for Modeling Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon Emission in Galaxy Evolution Simulations
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- Narayanan_2023_ApJ_951_100
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We present a new methodology for simulating mid-infrared emission from polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in galaxy evolution simulations. To do this, we combine theoretical models of PAH emission features as they respond to varying interstellar radiation fields, grain-size distributions, and ionization states with a new model for dust evolution in galaxy simulations. We apply these models to three idealized arepo galaxy evolution simulations within the smuggle physics framework. We use these simulations to develop numerical experiments investigating the buildup of PAH masses and luminosities in galaxies in idealized analogs of the Milky Way, a dwarf galaxy, and a starburst disk. Our main results are as follows. Galaxies with high specific star formation rates have increased feedback energy per unit mass, and are able to shatter grains efficiently, driving up the fraction of ultrasmall grains. At the same time, in our model large radiation fields per unit gas density convert aliphatic grains into aromatics. The fraction of dust grains in the form of PAHs (q PAH) can be understood as a consequence of these processes, and in our model PAHs form primarily from interstellar processing (shattering) of larger grains rather than from the growth of smaller grains. We find that the hardness of the radiation field plays a larger role than variations in the grain-size distribution in setting the total integrated PAH luminosities, though cosmological simulations are necessary to investigate fully the complex interplay of processes that drive PAH band luminosities in galaxies.
| Originalsprog | Engelsk |
|---|---|
| Artikelnummer | 100 |
| Tidsskrift | Astrophysical Journal |
| Vol/bind | 951 |
| Udgave nummer | 2 |
| Antal sider | 17 |
| ISSN | 0004-637X |
| DOI | |
| Status | Udgivet - 10 jul. 2023 |
Bibliografisk note
Funding Information:
The authors thank the anonymous referee for a careful read, and constructive comments. D.N. and J.D.S. express gratitude toward the Aspen Center for Physics, which is supported by National Science Foundation grant PHY-1607611, as well as the organizers of the 2020 February meeting “Quenching and Transformation throughout Cosmic Time,” where the idea for this project was borne out of a discussion on a chair lift during a wonderful day on Ajax mountain. D.N. thanks Aaron Evans, Adam Ginsburg, Christopher Lovell, Sidney Lower, Prerak Garg, Casey Papovich, George Privon, Jia Qi, Julia Roman-Duval, Heath Shipley, and Tom Robitaille for helpful conversations. D.N. additionally thanks Bruce Draine for providing early access to the Draine et al. () models. The authors thank Hiroyuki Hirashita both for helpful conversations during the development of this study, as well as for commenting on an advance draft of this paper. J.D.S. gratefully acknowledges support for this project from the Research Corporation for Science Advancement through Cottrell SEED Award No. 27852. It is a rare agency for which “Risky, interdisciplinary, and exploratory projects are strongly encouraged.” The authors thank T. J. Cox, Phil Hopkins, Brant Robertson, and Volker Springel for their early work on the initial conditions generator for idealized simulations, employed in this study. D.N. and P.T. acknowledge support from NASA ATP grants 80NSSC22K0716 and HST-AR-16145.001 from the Space Telescope Science Institution for funding this work. P.T. acknowledges support from NSF grant AST-2008490. The Cosmic Dawn Center is funded by the Danish National Research Foundation under grant No. 140. K.S. acknowledges support from NASA ADAP grant 80NSSC21K0851.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2023. The Author(s). Published by the American Astronomical Society.
ID: 360817563