%0 Generic %1 bird2014damped %A Bird, Simeon %A Vogelsberger, Mark %A Haehnelt, Martin %A Sijacki, Debora %A Genel, Shy %A Torrey, Paul %A Springel, Volker %A Hernquist, Lars %D 2014 %K arepo dla feedback simulation %T Damped Lyman-alpha absorbers as a probe of stellar feedback %U http://arxiv.org/abs/1405.3994 %X We examine the abundance, clustering and metallicity of Damped Lyman-$\alpha$ Absorbers (DLAs) in hydrodynamic cosmological simulations using the moving mesh code AREPO. We incorporate models of supernova and AGN feedback, and molecular hydrogen formation. We compare our simulations to the column density distribution function at $z=3$, the total DLA abundance at $z=2-4$, the measured DLA bias at $z=2$ and DLA metallicities at $z=2-4$. Our preferred models produce populations of DLAs in good agreement with most of these observations, except the DLA abundance at $z < 3$, which we show requires stronger feedback in $10^11-12 h^-1 M_ødot$ mass halos. While the DLA population probes a range of halo masses, we find the cross-section is dominated by halos of mass $10^10.5 h^-1 M_ødot$ at $z=3$ and $10^11 h^-1 M_ødot$ at $z=2$. Simulations without feedback are in strong tension with all these observables, indicating a need for strong stellar feedback at $z=2-4$ independently of the star formation threshold. We demonstrate that DLAs are a powerful probe of the physical processes that shape galaxy formation, in particular supernova feedback processes. As DLAs arise from gas at a lower density than the star formation threshold, the information they provide is complementary to that contained in the stellar component of galaxies.

@misc{bird2014damped, abstract = {We examine the abundance, clustering and metallicity of Damped Lyman-$\alpha$ Absorbers (DLAs) in hydrodynamic cosmological simulations using the moving mesh code AREPO. We incorporate models of supernova and AGN feedback, and molecular hydrogen formation. We compare our simulations to the column density distribution function at $z=3$, the total DLA abundance at $z=2-4$, the measured DLA bias at $z=2$ and DLA metallicities at $z=2-4$. Our preferred models produce populations of DLAs in good agreement with most of these observations, except the DLA abundance at $z < 3$, which we show requires stronger feedback in $10^{11-12} h^{-1} M_\odot$ mass halos. While the DLA population probes a range of halo masses, we find the cross-section is dominated by halos of mass $10^{10.5} h^{-1} M_\odot$ at $z=3$ and $10^{11} h^{-1} M_\odot$ at $z=2$. Simulations without feedback are in strong tension with all these observables, indicating a need for strong stellar feedback at $z=2-4$ independently of the star formation threshold. We demonstrate that DLAs are a powerful probe of the physical processes that shape galaxy formation, in particular supernova feedback processes. As DLAs arise from gas at a lower density than the star formation threshold, the information they provide is complementary to that contained in the stellar component of galaxies.}, added-at = {2014-05-19T09:46:32.000+0200}, author = {Bird, Simeon and Vogelsberger, Mark and Haehnelt, Martin and Sijacki, Debora and Genel, Shy and Torrey, Paul and Springel, Volker and Hernquist, Lars}, biburl = {https://www.bibsonomy.org/bibtex/25ccdebfb1614d9cf632c61e3cb071754/miki}, description = {[1405.3994] Damped Lyman-alpha absorbers as a probe of stellar feedback}, interhash = {2742a80815cc0fed323ec2ee6fbe6632}, intrahash = {5ccdebfb1614d9cf632c61e3cb071754}, keywords = {arepo dla feedback simulation}, note = {cite arxiv:1405.3994Comment: Submitted to MNRAS. 13 pages, 11 figures}, timestamp = {2014-05-19T09:46:32.000+0200}, title = {Damped Lyman-alpha absorbers as a probe of stellar feedback}, url = {http://arxiv.org/abs/1405.3994}, year = 2014 }