Semi-Numerical Simulation of Reionization with Semi-Analytical Modeling of Galaxy Formation

TL;DR

This paper integrates a semi-analytical galaxy formation model with semi-numerical reionization simulations, enabling detailed connection between galaxy observations and reionization history, and explores the impact of different initial mass functions on reionization timing.

Contribution

It introduces a novel approach combining semi-analytical galaxy formation models with semi-numerical reionization simulations, improving the modeling of reionization topology and history.

Findings

The model underpredicts stellar ionizing photon production, delaying reionization completion.

Top-heavy initial mass functions can accelerate reionization to earlier epochs.

Reionization topology is less porous with semi-analytical models compared to simple halo-based models.

Abstract

In a semi-numerical model of reionization, the evolution of ionization fraction is simulated approximately by the ionizing photon to baryon ratio criterion. In this paper we incorporate a semi-analytical model of galaxy formation based on the Millennium II N-body simulation into the semi-numerical modeling of reionization. The semi-analytical model is used to predict the production of ionizing photons, then we use the semi-numerical method to model the reionization process. Such an approach allows more detailed modeling of the reionization, and also connects observations of galaxies at low and high redshifts to the reionization history. The galaxy formation model we use was designed to match the low-$z$ observations, and it also fits the high redshift luminosity function reasonably well, but its prediction on the star formation falls below the observed value, and we find that it also underpredicts the stellar ionizing photon production rate, hence the reionization can not be completed at $z \sim 6$ without taking into account some other potential sources of ionization photons. We also considered simple modifications of the model with more top heavy initial mass functions (IMF), with which the reionization can occur at earlier epochs. The incorporation of the semi-analytical model may also affect the topology of the HI regions during the EoR, and the neutral regions produced by our simulations with the semi-analytical model appeared less poriferous than the simple halo-based models.