Early galaxy formation in warm dark matter cosmologies

Abstract

We present a framework for high-redshift ($z\ge 7$) galaxy formation that traces their dark matter (DM) and baryonic assembly in four cosmologies: Cold Dark Matter (CDM) and Warm Dark Matter (WDM) with particle masses of $m_x=$ 1.5, 3 and 5 $\mathrm{keV}$. We use the same astrophysical parameters regulating star formation and feedback, chosen to match current observations of the evolving ultra violet luminosity function (UV LF). We find that the assembly of observable (with current and upcoming instruments) galaxies in CDM and $m_x\ge 3\mathrm{keV}$ WDM results in similar halo mass to light ratios (M/L), stellar mass densities (SMDs) and UV LFs. However the suppression of small-scale structure leads to a notably delayed and subsequently more rapid stellar assembly in the $1.5\mathrm{keV}$ WDM model. Thus galaxy assembly in $m_x\le 2\mathrm{keV}$ WDM cosmologies is characterized by: (i) a dearth of small-mass halos hosting faint galaxies; and (ii) a younger, more UV bright stellar population, for a given stellar mass. The higher M/L ratio (effect ii) partially compensates for the dearth of small-mass halos (effect i), making the resulting UV LFs closer to CDM than expected from simple estimates of halo abundances. We find that the redshift evolution of the SMD is a powerful probe of the nature of DM. Integrating down to a limit of $M_{UV}=-16.5$ for the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), the SMD evolves as $\log$(SMD)$\propto -0.63(1+z)$ in $m_x=1.5\mathrm{keV}$ WDM, as compared to $\log$(SMD)$\propto -0.44(1+z)$ in CDM. Thus high-redshift stellar assembly provides a powerful testbed for WDM models, accessible with the upcoming JWST.

Accepted for publication in ApJ

References in corpus (6)

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• Generating Dark Matter Halo Merger Trees
• The galaxy stellar mass function at 3.5<z<7.5 in the CANDELS/UDS, GOODS-South, and HUDF fields
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• Dwarf spheroidal galaxies as degenerate gas of free fermions
• Ruling out 3 keV warm dark matter using 21 cm-EDGES data
• Constraining Warm Dark Matter and Pop III stars with the Global 21-cm Signal
• Constraining warm dark matter mass with cosmic reionization and gravitational wave
• Clues to the nature of dark matter from first galaxies
• The Epoch of Reionization in Warm Dark Matter Scenarios