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At least 703 records · Page 39
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DOE OSTI2012

IMPACT OF TYPE Ia SUPERNOVA EJECTA ON BINARY COMPANIONS IN THE SINGLE-DEGENERATE SCENARIO

Type Ia supernovae are thought to be caused by thermonuclear explosions of a carbon-oxygen white dwarf in close binary systems. In the single-degenerate scenario (SDS), the companion star is non-degenerate and can be significantly affected by the explosion. We explore this interaction by means of multi-dimensional adaptive mesh refinement simulations using the FLASH code. We consider several different companion types, including main-sequence-like stars (MS), red giants (RG), and helium stars (He). In addition, we include the symmetry-breaking effects of orbital motion, rotation of the non-degenerate star, and Roche-lobe overflow. A detailed study of a sub-grid model for Type Ia supernovae is also presented. We find that the dependence of the unbound stellar mass and kick velocity on the initial binary separation can be fitted by power-law relations. By using the tracer particles in FLASH, the process leading to the unbinding of matter is dominated by ablation, which has usually been neglected in past analytical studies. The level of Ni/Fe contamination of the companion that results from the passage of the supernova ejecta is found to be {approx}10{sup -5} M{sub Sun} for the MS star, {approx}10{sup -4} M{sub Sun} for the He star, and {approx}10{sup -8} M{sub Sun} for the RG. The spinning MS companion star loses about half of its initial angular momentum during the impact, causing the rotational velocity to drop to a quarter of the original rotational velocity, suggesting that the Tycho G star is a promising progenitor candidate in the SDS.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2012

SIMULATIONS OF ACCRETION POWERED SUPERNOVAE IN THE PROGENITORS OF GAMMA-RAY BURSTS

Observational evidence suggests a link between long-duration gamma-ray bursts (LGRBs) and Type Ic supernovae. Here, we propose a potential mechanism for Type Ic supernovae in LGRB progenitors powered solely by accretion energy. We present spherically symmetric hydrodynamic simulations of the long-term accretion of a rotating gamma-ray burst progenitor star, a 'collapsar', onto the central compact object, which we take to be a black hole. The simulations were carried out with the adaptive mesh refinement code FLASH in one spatial dimension and with rotation, an explicit shear viscosity, and convection in the mixing length theory approximation. Once the accretion flow becomes rotationally supported outside of the black hole, an accretion shock forms and traverses the stellar envelope. Energy is carried from the central geometrically thick accretion disk to the stellar envelope by convection. Energy losses through neutrino emission and nuclear photodisintegration are calculated but do not seem important following the rapid early drop of the accretion rate following circularization. We find that the shock velocity, energy, and unbound mass are sensitive to convective efficiency, effective viscosity, and initial stellar angular momentum. Our simulations show that given the appropriate combinations of stellar and physical parameters, explosions with energies {approx}5 Multiplication-Sign 10{sup 50} erg, velocities {approx}3000 km s{sup -1}, and unbound material masses {approx}> 6 M{sub Sun} are possible in a rapidly rotating 16 M{sub Sun} main-sequence progenitor star. Further work is needed to constrain the values of these parameters, to identify the likely outcomes in more plausible and massive LRGB progenitors, and to explore nucleosynthetic implications.

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DOE OSTI2012

PROFILES OF DARK MATTER VELOCITY ANISOTROPY IN SIMULATED CLUSTERS

We report statistical results for dark matter (DM) velocity anisotropy, {beta}, from a sample of some 6000 cluster-size halos (at redshift zero) identified in a {Lambda}CDM hydrodynamical adaptive mesh refinement simulation performed with the ENZO code. These include profiles of {beta} in clusters with different masses, relaxation states, and at several redshifts, modeled both as spherical and triaxial DM configurations. Specifically, although we find a large scatter in the DM velocity anisotropy profiles of different halos (across elliptical shells extending to at least {approx}1.5r{sub vir}), universal patterns are found when these are averaged over halo mass, redshift, and relaxation stage. These are characterized by a very small velocity anisotropy at the halo center, increasing outward to {approx}0.27 and leveling off at {approx}0.2r{sub vir}. Indirect measurements of the DM velocity anisotropy fall on the upper end of the theoretically expected range. Though measured indirectly, the estimations are derived by using two different surrogate measurements-X-ray and galaxy dynamics. Current estimates of the DM velocity anisotropy are based on a very small cluster sample. Increasing this sample will allow theoretical predictions to be tested, including the speculation that the decay of DM particles results in a large velocity boost. We also find, in accord with previous works, that halos are triaxial and likely to be more prolate when unrelaxed, whereas relaxed halos are more likely to be oblate. Our analysis does not indicate that there is significant correlation (found in some previous studies) between the radial density slope, {gamma}, and {beta} at large radii, 0.3 r{sub vir} < r < r{sub vir}.

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DOE OSTI2012

A NEW CODE FOR NONLINEAR FORCE-FREE FIELD EXTRAPOLATION OF THE GLOBAL CORONA

Reliable measurements of the solar magnetic field are still restricted to the photosphere, and our present knowledge of the three-dimensional coronal magnetic field is largely based on extrapolations from photospheric magnetograms using physical models, e.g., the nonlinear force-free field (NLFFF) model that is usually adopted. Most of the currently available NLFFF codes have been developed with computational volume such as a Cartesian box or a spherical wedge, while a global full-sphere extrapolation is still under development. A high-performance global extrapolation code is in particular urgently needed considering that the Solar Dynamics Observatory can provide a full-disk magnetogram with resolution up to 4096 Multiplication-Sign 4096. In this work, we present a new parallelized code for global NLFFF extrapolation with the photosphere magnetogram as input. The method is based on the magnetohydrodynamics relaxation approach, the CESE-MHD numerical scheme, and a Yin-Yang spherical grid that is used to overcome the polar problems of the standard spherical grid. The code is validated by two full-sphere force-free solutions from Low and Lou's semi-analytic force-free field model. The code shows high accuracy and fast convergence, and can be ready for future practical application if combined with an adaptive mesh refinement technique.

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DOE OSTI2012

COMPARISONS OF COSMOLOGICAL MAGNETOHYDRODYNAMIC GALAXY CLUSTER SIMULATIONS TO RADIO OBSERVATIONS

Radio observations of galaxy clusters show that there are {mu}G magnetic fields permeating the intracluster medium (ICM), but it is hard to accurately constrain the strength and structure of the magnetic fields without the help of advanced computer simulations. We present qualitative comparisons of synthetic Very Large Array observations of simulated galaxy clusters to radio observations of Faraday rotation measure (RM) and radio halos. The cluster formation is modeled using adaptive mesh refinement magnetohydrodynamic simulations with the assumption that the initial magnetic fields are injected into the ICM by active galactic nuclei (AGNs) at high redshift. In addition to simulated clusters in Xu et al., we present a new simulation with magnetic field injections from multiple AGNs. We find that the cluster with multiple injection sources is magnetized to a similar level as in previous simulations with a single AGN. The RM profiles from simulated clusters, both |RM| and the dispersion of RM ({sigma}{sub RM}), are consistent at a first order with the radial distribution from observations. The correlations between the {sigma}{sub RM} and X-ray surface brightness from simulations are in a broad agreement with the observations, although there is an indication that the simulated clusters could be slightly overdense and less magnetized with respect to those in the observed sample. In addition, the simulated radio halos agree with the observed correlations between the radio power versus the cluster X-ray luminosity and between the radio power versus the radio halo size. These studies show that the cluster-wide magnetic fields that originate from AGNs and are then amplified by the ICM turbulence match observations of magnetic fields in galaxy clusters.

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DOE OSTI2012

GAS ACCRETION IS DOMINATED BY WARM IONIZED GAS IN MILKY WAY MASS GALAXIES AT z {approx} 0

We perform high-resolution hydrodynamic simulations of a Milky Way mass galaxy in a fully cosmological setting using the adaptive mesh refinement code, Enzo, and study the kinematics of gas in the simulated galactic halo. We find that the gas inflow occurs mostly along filamentary structures in the halo. The warm-hot (10{sup 5} K 10{sup 6} K) ionized gases are found to dominate the overall mass accretion in the system (with M-dot = 3-5 M {sub Sun} yr{sup -1}) over a large range of distances, extending from the virial radius to the vicinity of the disk. Most of the inflowing gas (by mass) does not cool, and the small fraction that manages to cool does so primarily close to the galaxy (R {approx}< 100 kpc, with more pronounced cooling at smaller R), perhaps comprising the neutral gas that may be detectable as, e.g., high-velocity clouds. The neutral clouds are embedded within larger, accreting filamentary flows, and represent only a small fraction of the total mass inflow rate. The inflowing gas has relatively low metallicity (Z/Z {sub Sun} < 0.2). The outer layers of the filamentary inflows are heated due to compression as they approach the disk. In addition to the inflow, we find high-velocity, metal-enriched outflows of hot gas driven by supernova feedback. Our results are consistent with observations of halo gas at low z.

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DOE OSTI2012

THE MECHANISMS FOR THE ONSET AND EXPLOSIVE ERUPTION OF CORONAL MASS EJECTIONS AND ERUPTIVE FLARES

We have investigated the onset and acceleration of coronal mass ejections (CMEs) and eruptive flares. To isolate the eruption physics, our study uses the breakout model, which is insensitive to the energy buildup process leading to the eruption. We performed 2.5D simulations with adaptive mesh refinement that achieved the highest overall spatial resolution to date in a CME/eruptive flare simulation. The ultra-high resolution allows us to separate clearly the timing of the various phases of the eruption. Using new computational tools, we have determined the number and evolution of all X- and O-type nulls in the system, thereby tracking both the progress and the products of reconnection throughout the computational domain. Our results show definitively that CME onset is due to the start of fast reconnection at the breakout current sheet. Once this reconnection begins, eruption is inevitable; if this is the only reconnection in the system, however, the eruption will be slow. The explosive CME acceleration is triggered by fast reconnection at the flare current sheet. Our results indicate that the explosive eruption is caused by a resistive instability, not an ideal process. Moreover, both breakout and flare reconnections begin first as a form of weak tearing characterized by slowly evolving plasmoids, but eventually transition to a fast form with well-defined Alfvenic reconnection jets and rapid flux transfer. This transition to fast reconnection is required for both CME onset and explosive acceleration. We discuss the key implications of our results for CME/flare observations and for theories of magnetic reconnection.

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DOE OSTI2012

CONFINED POPULATION III ENRICHMENT AND THE PROSPECTS FOR PROMPT SECOND-GENERATION STAR FORMATION

It is widely recognized that nucleosynthetic output of the first Population III supernovae was a catalyst defining the character of subsequent stellar generations. Most of the work on the earliest enrichment was carried out assuming that the first stars were extremely massive and that the associated supernovae were unusually energetic, enough to completely unbind the baryons in the host cosmic minihalo and disperse the synthesized metals into the intergalactic medium. Recent work, however, suggests that the first stars may in fact have been somewhat less massive, with a characteristic mass scale of a few tens of solar masses. We present a cosmological simulation following the transport of the metals synthesized in a Population III supernova assuming that it had an energy of 10{sup 51} erg, compatible with standard Type II supernovae. A young supernova remnant is inserted in the first star's relic H II region in the free expansion phase and is followed for 40 Myr employing adaptive mesh refinement and Lagrangian tracer particle techniques. The supernova remnant remains partially trapped within the minihalo, and the thin snowplow shell develops pronounced instability and fingering. Roughly half of the ejecta turn around and fall back toward the center of the halo, with 1% of the ejecta reaching the center in {approx}30 kyr and 10% in {approx}10 Myr. The average metallicity of the combined returning ejecta and the pristine filaments feeding into the halo center from the cosmic web is {approx}0.001-0.01 Z{sub Sun }, but the two remain unmixed until accreting onto the central hydrostatic core that is unresolved at the end of the simulation. We conclude that if Population III stars had less extreme masses, they promptly enriched the host minihalos with metals and triggered Population II star formation.

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DOE OSTI2013

COLLAPSE AND FRAGMENTATION OF MAGNETIC MOLECULAR CLOUD CORES WITH THE ENZO AMR MHD CODE. I. UNIFORM DENSITY SPHERES

Magnetic fields are important contributors to the dynamics of collapsing molecular cloud cores, and can have a major effect on whether collapse results in a single protostar or fragmentation into a binary or multiple protostar system. New models are presented of the collapse of magnetic cloud cores using the adaptive mesh refinement code Enzo2.0. The code was used to calculate the ideal magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) of initially spherical, uniform density, and rotation clouds with density perturbations, i.e., the Boss and Bodenheimer standard isothermal test case for three-dimensional (3D) hydrodynamics codes. After first verifying that Enzo reproduces the binary fragmentation expected for the non-magnetic test case, a large set of models was computed with varied initial magnetic field strengths and directions with respect to the cloud core axis of rotation (parallel or perpendicular), density perturbation amplitudes, and equations of state. Three significantly different outcomes resulted: (1) contraction without sustained collapse, forming a denser cloud core; (2) collapse to form a single protostar with significant spiral arms; and (3) collapse and fragmentation into binary or multiple protostar systems, with multiple spiral arms. Comparisons are also made with previous MHD calculations of similar clouds with a barotropic equations of state. These results for the collapse of initially uniform density spheres illustrate the central importance of both magnetic field direction and field strength for determining the outcome of dynamic protostellar collapse.

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DOE OSTI2013

COSMOLOGICAL MAGNETOHYDRODYNAMIC SIMULATIONS OF GALAXY CLUSTER RADIO RELICS: INSIGHTS AND WARNINGS FOR OBSERVATIONS

Non-thermal radio emission from cosmic-ray electrons in the vicinity of merging galaxy clusters is an important tracer of cluster merger activity, and is the result of complex physical processes that involve magnetic fields, particle acceleration, gas dynamics, and radiation. In particular, objects known as radio relics are thought to be the result of shock-accelerated electrons that, when embedded in a magnetic field, emit synchrotron radiation in the radio wavelengths. In order to properly model this emission, we utilize the adaptive mesh refinement simulation of the magnetohydrodynamic evolution of a galaxy cluster from cosmological initial conditions. We locate shock fronts and apply models of cosmic-ray electron acceleration that are then input into radio emission models. We have determined the thermodynamic properties of this radio-emitting plasma and constructed synthetic radio observations to compare observed galaxy clusters. We find a significant dependence of the observed morphology and radio relic properties on the viewing angle of the cluster, raising concerns regarding the interpretation of observed radio features in clusters. We also find that a given shock should not be characterized by a single Mach number. We find that the bulk of the radio emission comes from gas with T > 5 Multiplication-Sign 10{sup 7} K, {rho} {approx} 10{sup -28}-10{sup -27} g cm{sup -3}, with magnetic field strengths of 0.1-1.0 {mu}G, and shock Mach numbers of M {approx} 3-6. We present an analysis of the radio spectral index which suggests that the spatial variation of the spectral index can mimic synchrotron aging. Finally, we examine the polarization fraction and position angle of the simulated radio features, and compare to observations.

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DOE OSTI2013

DYNAMICAL FRAGMENTATION OF THE T PYXIDIS NOVA SHELL DURING RECURRENT ERUPTIONS

Hubble Space Telescope images of the ejecta surrounding the nova T Pyxidis resolve the emission into more than 2000 bright knots. We simulate the dynamical evolution of the ejecta from T Pyxidis during its multiple eruptions over the last 150 years using the adaptive mesh refinement code Ramses. We demonstrate that the observed knots are the result of Richtmyer-Meshkov gas dynamical instabilities (the equivalent of Rayleigh-Taylor instabilities in an accelerated medium). These instabilities are caused by the overrunning of the ejecta from the classical nova of 1866 by fast-moving ejecta from the six subsequent recurrent nova outbursts. Magnetic fields may play a role in determining knot scale and preventing their conductive evaporation. The model correctly predicts the observed expansion and dimming of the T Pyx ejecta as well as the knotty morphology. The model also predicts that deeper, high-resolution imagery will show filamentary structure connecting the knots. We show reprocessed Hubble Space Telescope imagery that shows the first hints of such a structure.

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DOE OSTI2013

TRIGGERING COLLAPSE OF THE PRESOLAR DENSE CLOUD CORE AND INJECTING SHORT-LIVED RADIOISOTOPES WITH A SHOCK WAVE. II. VARIED SHOCK WAVE AND CLOUD CORE PARAMETERS

A variety of stellar sources have been proposed for the origin of the short-lived radioisotopes that existed at the time of the formation of the earliest solar system solids, including Type II supernovae (SNe), asymptotic giant branch (AGB) and super-AGB stars, and Wolf-Rayet star winds. Our previous adaptive mesh hydrodynamics models with the FLASH2.5 code have shown which combinations of shock wave parameters are able to simultaneously trigger the gravitational collapse of a target dense cloud core and inject significant amounts of shock wave gas and dust, showing that thin SN shocks may be uniquely suited for the task. However, recent meteoritical studies have weakened the case for a direct SN injection to the presolar cloud, motivating us to re-examine a wider range of shock wave and cloud core parameters, including rotation, in order to better estimate the injection efficiencies for a variety of stellar sources. We find that SN shocks remain as the most promising stellar source, though planetary nebulae resulting from AGB star evolution cannot be conclusively ruled out. Wolf-Rayet (WR) star winds, however, are likely to lead to cloud core shredding, rather than to collapse. Injection efficiencies can be increased when the cloud is rotating about an axis aligned with the direction of the shock wave, by as much as a factor of {approx}10. The amount of gas and dust accreted from the post-shock wind can exceed that injected from the shock wave, with implications for the isotopic abundances expected for a SN source.

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DOE OSTI2013

HYBRID COSMOLOGICAL SIMULATIONS WITH STREAM VELOCITIES

In the early universe, substantial relative ''stream'' velocities between the gas and dark matter arise due to radiation pressure and persist after recombination. To assess the impact of these velocities on high-redshift structure formation, we carry out a suite of high-resolution adaptive mesh refinement (AMR) cosmological simulations, which use smoothed particle hydrodynamic data sets as initial conditions, converted using a new tool developed for this work. These simulations resolve structures with masses as small as a few 100 M{sub Sun }, and we focus on the 10{sup 6} M{sub Sun} ''mini-halos'' in which the first stars formed. At z Almost-Equal-To 17, the presence of stream velocities has only a minor effect on the number density of halos below 10{sup 6} M{sub Sun }, but it greatly suppresses gas accretion onto all halos and the dark matter structures around them. Stream velocities lead to significantly lower halo gas fractions, especially for Almost-Equal-To 10{sup 5} M{sub Sun} objects, an effect that is likely to depend on the orientation of a halo's accretion lanes. This reduction in gas density leads to colder, more compact radial profiles, and it substantially delays the redshift of collapse of the largest halos, leading to delayed star formation and possibly delayed reionization. These many differences suggest that future simulations of early cosmological structure formation should include stream velocities to properly predict gas evolution, star formation, and the epoch of reionization.

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DOE OSTI2013

NO FLARES FROM GAMMA-RAY BURST AFTERGLOW BLAST WAVES ENCOUNTERING SUDDEN CIRCUMBURST DENSITY CHANGE

Afterglows of gamma-ray bursts are observed to produce light curves with the flux following power-law evolution in time. However, recent observations reveal bright flares at times on the order of minutes to days. One proposed explanation for these flares is the interaction of a relativistic blast wave with a circumburst density transition. In this paper, we model this type of interaction computationally in one and two dimensions, using a relativistic hydrodynamics code with adaptive mesh refinement called RAM, and analytically in one dimension. We simulate a blast wave traveling in a stellar wind environment that encounters a sudden change in density, followed by a homogeneous medium, and compute the observed radiation using a synchrotron model. We show that flares are not observable for an encounter with a sudden density increase, such as a wind termination shock, nor for an encounter with a sudden density decrease. Furthermore, by extending our analysis to two dimensions, we are able to resolve the spreading, collimation, and edge effects of the blast wave as it encounters the change in circumburst medium. In all cases considered in this paper, we find that a flare will not be observed for any of the density changes studied.

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DOE OSTI2013

POPULATION III STARS AND REMNANTS IN HIGH-REDSHIFT GALAXIES

Recent simulations of Population III star formation have suggested that some fraction form in binary systems, in addition to having a characteristic mass of tens of solar masses. The deaths of metal-free stars result in the initial chemical enrichment of the universe and the production of the first stellar-mass black holes. Here we present a cosmological adaptive mesh refinement simulation of an overdense region that forms a few 10{sup 9} M{sub Sun} dark matter halos and over 13,000 Population III stars by redshift 15. We find that most halos do not form Population III stars until they reach M{sub vir} {approx} 10{sup 7} M{sub Sun} because this biased region is quickly enriched from both Population III and galaxies, which also produce high levels of ultraviolet radiation that suppress H{sub 2} formation. Nevertheless, Population III stars continue to form, albeit in more massive halos, at a rate of {approx}10{sup -4} M{sub Sun} yr{sup -1} Mpc{sup -3} at redshift 15. The most massive starless halo has a mass of 7 Multiplication-Sign 10{sup 7} M{sub Sun }, which could host massive black hole formation through the direct gaseous collapse scenario. We show that the multiplicity of the Population III remnants grows with halo mass above 10{sup 8} M{sub Sun }, culminating in 50 remnants located in 10{sup 9} M{sub Sun} halos on average. This has implications that high-mass X-ray binaries and intermediate-mass black holes that originate from metal-free stars may be abundant in high-redshift galaxies.

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DOE OSTI2013

MAGNETOHYDRODYNAMIC SHOCK-CLUMP EVOLUTION WITH SELF-CONTAINED MAGNETIC FIELDS

We study the interaction of strong shock waves with magnetized clumps. Previous numerical work focused on a simplified scenario in which shocked clumps are immersed in a globally uniform magnetic field that extends through both the clump and the ambient medium. Here, we consider the complementary circumstance in which the field is completely self-contained within the clumps. This situation could arise naturally during clump formation via dynamical or thermal instabilities, for example, as a magnetic field pinches off from the ambient medium. Using our adaptive mesh refinement magnetohydrodynamics code AstroBEAR, we carry out a series of simulations with magnetized clumps that have different self-contained magnetic field configurations. We find that the clump and magnetic evolution are sensitive to the fraction of the magnetic field aligned with, or perpendicular to, the shock normal. The relative strength of magnetic pressure and tension in the different field configurations allows us to analytically understand the different cases of post-shock evolution. We also show how turbulence and the mixing it implies depends of the initial field configuration and suggest ways in which the observed shock-clump morphology may be used as a proxy for identifying internal field topologies a posteriori.

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DOE OSTI2013

SUPERMASSIVE BLACK HOLE FORMATION AT HIGH REDSHIFTS VIA DIRECT COLLAPSE: PHYSICAL PROCESSES IN THE EARLY STAGE

We use numerical simulations to explore whether direct collapse can lead to the formation of supermassive black hole (SMBH) seeds at high redshifts. Using the adaptive mesh refinement code ENZO, we follow the evolution of gas within slowly tumbling dark matter (DM) halos of M{sub vir} {approx} 2 Multiplication-Sign 10{sup 8} M{sub Sun} and R{sub vir} {approx} 1 kpc. For our idealized simulations, we adopt cosmologically motivated DM and baryon density profiles and angular momentum distributions. Our principal goal is to understand how the collapsing flow overcomes the centrifugal barrier and whether it is subject to fragmentation which can potentially lead to star formation, decreasing the seed SMBH mass. We find that the collapse proceeds from inside out and leads either to a central runaway or to off-center fragmentation. A disk-like configuration is formed inside the centrifugal barrier, growing via accretion. For models with a more cuspy DM distribution, the gas collapses more and experiences a bar-like perturbation and a central runaway on scales of {approx}< 1-10 pc. We have followed this inflow down to {approx}10{sup -4} pc ({approx}10 AU), where it is estimated to become optically thick. The flow remains isothermal and the specific angular momentum, j, is efficiently transferred by gravitational torques in a cascade of nested bars. This cascade is triggered by finite perturbations from the large-scale mass distribution and by gas self-gravity, and supports a self-similar, disk-like collapse where the axial ratios remain constant. The mass accretion rate shows a global minimum on scales of {approx}1-10 pc at the time of the central runaway. In the collapsing phase, virial supersonic turbulence develops and fragmentation is damped. Models with progressively larger initial DM cores evolve similarly, but the timescales become longer. In models with more organized initial rotation-when the rotation of spherical shells is constrained to be coplanar-a torus forms on scales {approx}20-50 pc outside the disk, and appears to be supported by turbulent motions driven by accretion from the outside. The overall evolution of the models depends on the competition between two timescales, corresponding to the onset of the central runaway and of off-center fragmentation. In models with less organized rotation-when the rotation of spherical shells is randomized (but the total angular momentum remains unchanged)-the torus is greatly weakened, the central accretion timescale is shortened, and off-center fragmentation is suppressed-triggering the central runaway even in previously ''stable'' models. The resulting seed SMBH masses is found in the range M{sub .} {approx} 2 Multiplication-Sign 10{sup 4} M{sub Sun }-2 Multiplication-Sign 10{sup 6} M{sub Sun }, substantially higher than the mass range of Population III remnants. We argue that the above upper limit on M{sub .} appears to be more realistic, and lies close to the cutoff mass of detected SMBHs. Corollaries of this model include a possible correlation between SMBH and DM halo masses, and similarity between the SMBH and halo mass functions, at time of formation.

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DOE OSTI2013

THE NATURE OF Lyα BLOBS: POWERED BY EXTREME STARBURSTS

We present a new model for the observed Lyα blobs (LABs) within the context of the standard cold dark matter model. In this model, LABs are the most massive halos with the strongest clustering (protoclusters) undergoing extreme starbursts in the high-z universe. Aided by calculations of detailed radiative transfer of Lyα photons through ultrahigh resolution (159 pc), large-scale (≥30 Mpc) adaptive mesh refinement cosmological hydrodynamic simulations with galaxy formation, this model is shown to be able to, for the first time, reproduce simultaneously the global Lyα luminosity function and the luminosity-size relation of the observed LABs. Physically, a combination of dust attenuation of Lyα photons within galaxies, clustering of galaxies, and the complex propagation of Lyα photons through the circumgalactic and intergalactic medium gives rise to the large sizes and the irregular isophotal shapes of LABs that are frequently observed. A generic and unique prediction of this model is that there should be strong far-infrared (FIR) sources within each LAB with the most luminous FIR source likely representing the gravitational center of the protocluster, not necessarily the apparent center of the Lyα emission of the LAB or the most luminous optical source. Upcoming ALMA observations should unambiguously test this prediction. If verified, LABs will provide very valuable laboratories for studying the formation of galaxies in the most overdense regions of the universe at a time when the global star formation was the most vigorous.

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