The Role of Dust in the Early Universe I : Protogalaxy Evolution

TL;DR

This paper develops a galaxy formation model considering dust evolution and destruction, revealing how dust impacts molecular hydrogen formation and star formation in early galaxies.

Contribution

It introduces a comprehensive one-zone model that accounts for dust size distribution, destruction by supernova shocks, and their effects on H$_{2}$ formation and star formation in the early Universe.

Findings

Dust destruction suppresses H$_{2}$ formation significantly.

Higher ISM density enhances dust destruction, reducing star formation.

Dust size distribution critically influences galaxy evolution in the early Universe.

Abstract

We develop one-zone galaxy formation models in the early Universe, taking into account dust formation and evolution by supernova (SN) explosions. Especially we focus on the time evolution of dust size distribution, because ${\rm H}_{2}$ formation on the dust surface plays a critical role in the star formation process in the early Universe. In the model we assume that star formation rate (SFR) is proportional to the total amount of ${\rm H}_{2}$. We consistently treat (i) the formation and size evolution of dust, (ii) the chemical reaction networks including ${\rm H}_{2}$ formation both on the surface of dust and in gas phase, and (iii) the SFR in the model. First, we find that, because of dust destruction due to both reverse and forward shocks driven by SNe, H$_{2}$ formation is more suppressed than that without dust destruction. At the galaxy age of $sim0.8 {\rm Gyr}$, for galaxy models with virial mass $M_{\rm vir}=10^{9} M_{\odot}$ and formation redshift $z_{\rm vir}=10$, the molecular fraction is 2.5 orders of magnitude less in the model with dust destruction by both shocks than that in the model without dust destruction. Second, we show that the H$_{2}$ formation rate strongly depends on the ISM density around SN progenitors. The SFR in higher ISM density is lower, since dust destruction by reverse shocks is more effective in higher ISM density. We conclude that not only the amount but also the size distribution of dust being related with the star formation activity strongly affects the evolution of galaxies in the early Universe.