The Argo Simulation: I. Quenching of Massive Galaxies at High Redshift as a Result of Cosmological Starvation

Observations show a prevalence of high redshift galaxies with large stellar masses and predominantly passive stellar populations. A variety of processes have been suggested that could reduce the star formation in such galaxies to observed levels, including quasar mode feedback, virial shock heating, or galactic winds driven by stellar feedback. However, the main quenching mechanisms have yet to be identified. Here we study the origin of star formation quenching using Argo, a cosmological, hydrodynamical zoom-in simulation that follows the evolution of a massive galaxy at $z\geq{}2$. This simulation adopts the same sub-grid recipes of the Eris simulations, which have been shown to form realistic disk galaxies, and, in one version, adopts also a mass and spatial resolution identical to Eris. The resulting galaxy has properties consistent with those of observed, massive (M_* ~ 1e11 M_sun) galaxies at z~2 and with abundance matching predictions. Our models do not include AGN feedback indicating that supermassive black holes likely play a subordinate role in determining masses and sizes of massive galaxies at high z. The specific star formation rate (sSFR) of the simulated galaxy matches the observed M_* - sSFR relation at early times. This period of smooth stellar mass growth comes to a sudden halt at z=3.5 when the sSFR drops by almost an order of magnitude within a few hundred Myr. The suppression is initiated by a leveling off and a subsequent reduction of the cool gas accretion rate onto the galaxy, and not by feedback processes. This "cosmological starvation" occurs as the parent dark matter halo switches from a fast collapsing mode to a slow accretion mode. Additional mechanisms, such as perhaps radio mode feedback from an AGN, are needed to quench any residual star formation of the galaxy and to maintain a low sSFR until the present time.Comment: 20 pages, 12 figures, 2 tables, accepted for publication in MNRA

Are star formation rates of galaxies bimodal?

Star formation rate (SFR) distributions of galaxies are often assumed to be bimodal with modes corresponding to star-forming and quiescent galaxies, respectively. Both classes of galaxies are typically studied separately and SFR distributions of star-forming galaxies are commonly modelled as lognormals. Using both observational data and results from numerical simulations, I argue that this division into star-forming and quiescent galaxies is unnecessary from a theoretical point of view and that the SFR distributions of the whole population can be well fit by zero-inflated negative binomial distributions. This family of distributions has 3 parameters that determine the average SFR of the galaxies in the sample, the scatter relative to the star-forming sequence, and the fraction of galaxies with zero SFRs, respectively. The proposed distributions naturally account for (i) the discrete nature of star formation, (ii) the presence of 'dead' galaxies with zero SFRs, and (iii) asymmetric scatter. Excluding 'dead' galaxies, the distribution of log SFR is unimodal with a peak at the star forming sequence and an extended tail towards low SFRs. However, uncertainties and biases in the SFR measurements can create the appearance of a bimodal distribution.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures, accepted for publication in MNRAS Letters, proof correcte

Real-time three-dimensional ultrasound : a valuable new tool in preoperative assessment of complex congenital cardiac disease

Evaluating complex cardiac defects in small children preoperatively requires multiple diagnostic procedures including echocardiography, and also invasive methods such as cardiac catheterisation, computer-tomography and magnetic resonance imaging. This article assesses the complex anatomy of the atrioventricular valves in atrioventricular septal defect using bedside real-time three-dimensional echocardiography and comparing these results to the anatomic findings at the time of operative intervention.peer-reviewe

Testing the Recovery of Intrinsic Galaxy Sizes and Masses of z~2 Massive Galaxies Using Cosmological Simulations

Accurate measurements of galaxy masses and sizes are key to tracing galaxy evolution over time. Cosmological zoom-in simulations provide an ideal test bed for assessing the recovery of galaxy properties from observations. Here, we utilize galaxies with $M_*\sim10^{10}-10^{11.5}M_{\odot}$ at z~1.7-2 from the MassiveFIRE cosmological simulation suite, part of the Feedback in Realistic Environments (FIRE) project. Using mock multi-band images, we compare intrinsic galaxy masses and sizes to observational estimates. We find that observations accurately recover stellar masses, with a slight average underestimate of ~0.06 dex and a ~0.15 dex scatter. Recovered half-light radii agree well with intrinsic half-mass radii when averaged over all viewing angles, with a systematic offset of ~0.1 dex (with the half-light radii being larger) and a scatter of ~0.2 dex. When using color gradients to account for mass-to-light variations, recovered half-mass radii also exceed the intrinsic half-mass radii by ~0.1 dex. However, if not properly accounted for, aperture effects can bias size estimates by ~0.1 dex. No differences are found between the mass and size offsets for star-forming and quiescent galaxies. Variations in viewing angle are responsible for ~25% of the scatter in the recovered masses and sizes. Our results thus suggest that the intrinsic scatter in the mass-size relation may have previously been overestimated by ~25%. Moreover, orientation-driven scatter causes the number density of very massive galaxies to be overestimated by ~0.5 dex at $M_*\sim10^{11.5}M_{\odot}$.Comment: Published in the Astrophysical Journal Letters (7 pages, 5 figures; updated to match published version

The formation of massive, quiescent galaxies at cosmic noon

The cosmic noon (z~1.5-3) marked a period of vigorous star formation for most galaxies. However, about a third of the more massive galaxies at those times were quiescent in the sense that their observed stellar populations are inconsistent with rapid star formation. The reduced star formation activity is often attributed to gaseous outflows driven by feedback from supermassive black holes, but the impact of black hole feedback on galaxies in the young Universe is not yet definitively established. We analyze the origin of quiescent galaxies with the help of ultra-high resolution, cosmological simulations that include feedback from stars but do not model the uncertain consequences of black hole feedback. We show that dark matter halos with specific accretion rates below ~0.25-0.4 per Gyr preferentially host galaxies with reduced star formation rates and red broad-band colors. The fraction of such halos in large dark matter only simulations matches the observed fraction of massive quiescent galaxies (~10^10-10^11 Msun). This strongly suggests that halo accretion rate is the key parameter determining which massive galaxies at z~1.5-3 become quiescent. Empirical models that connect galaxy and halo evolution, such as halo occupation distribution or abundance matching models, assume a tight link between galaxy properties and the masses of their parent halos. These models will benefit from adding the specific accretion rate of halos as a second model parameter.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figures, to appear in MNRAS Letter

Submillimeter flux as a probe of molecular ISM mass in high-zz galaxies

Recent long wavelength observations on the thermal dust continuum suggest that the Rayleigh-Jeans (RJ) tail can be used as a time-efficient quantitative probe of the dust and ISM mass in high-$z$ galaxies. We use high-resolution cosmological simulations from the Feedback in Realistic Environment (FIRE) project to analyze the dust emission of $M_*>10^{10}\;M_{\odot}$ galaxies at $z=2-4$. Our simulations (MassiveFIRE) explicitly include various forms of stellar feedback, and they produce the stellar masses and star formation rates of high-$z$ galaxies in agreement with observations. Using radiative transfer modelling, we show that sub-millimeter (sub-mm) luminosity and molecular ISM mass are tightly correlated and that the overall normalization is in quantitative agreement with observations. Notably, sub-mm luminosity traces molecular ISM mass even during starburst episodes as dust mass and mass-weighted temperature evolve only moderately between $z=4$ and $z=2$, including during starbursts. Our finding supports the empirical approach of using broadband sub-mm flux as a proxy for molecular gas content in high-$z$ galaxies. We thus expect single-band sub-mm observations with ALMA to dramatically increase the sample size of high-$z$ galaxies with reliable ISM masses in the near future.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures, accepted by MNRA

On the deuterium abundance and the importance of stellar mass loss in the interstellar and intergalactic medium

We quantify the gas-phase abundance of deuterium and fractional contribution of stellar mass loss to the gas in cosmological zoom-in simulations from the Feedback In Realistic Environments project. At low metallicity, our simulations confirm that the deuterium abundance is very close to the primordial value. The chemical evolution of the deuterium abundance that we derive here agrees quantitatively with analytical chemical evolution models. We furthermore find that the relation between the deuterium and oxygen abundance exhibits very little scatter. We compare our simulations to existing high-redshift observations in order to determine a primordial deuterium fraction of 2.549 +/- 0.033 x 10^-5 and stress that future observations at higher metallicity can also be used to constrain this value. At fixed metallicity, the deuterium fraction decreases slightly with decreasing redshift, due to the increased importance of mass loss from intermediate-mass stars. We find that the evolution of the average deuterium fraction in a galaxy correlates with its star formation history. Our simulations are consistent with observations of the Milky Way's interstellar medium: the deuterium fraction at the solar circle is 85-92 per cent of the primordial deuterium fraction. We use our simulations to make predictions for future observations. In particular, the deuterium abundance is lower at smaller galactocentric radii and in higher mass galaxies, showing that stellar mass loss is more important for fuelling star formation in these regimes (and can even dominate). Gas accreting onto galaxies has a deuterium fraction above that of the galaxies' interstellar medium, but below the primordial fraction, because it is a mix of gas accreting from the intergalactic medium and gas previously ejected or stripped from galaxies.Comment: Accepted for publication in MNRAS. Revised version: expanded discussion and added Figure 2 (residual dependence on iron abundance