Upcoming SKA precursor surveys and sensitivity to HI mass function

TL;DR

This paper presents a detailed simulation predicting galaxy detection rates in upcoming SKA precursor surveys, emphasizing the importance of comprehensive modeling of galaxy properties and survey sensitivities.

Contribution

It introduces an advanced simulation that incorporates multiple galaxy characteristics and survey parameters, providing more accurate predictions for HI galaxy detections.

Findings

Detection predictions vary significantly when all factors are included.

The simulation shows differences from earlier estimates, highlighting the importance of detailed modeling.

Predictions for MIGHTEE-HI and WALLABY surveys are provided.

Abstract

We describe a simulation for the distribution of galaxies focusing on the atomic Hydrogen content. We aim to make predictions for surveys of galaxies using the redshifted 21 cm line emission. We take the expected distribution of HI masses, circular velocities, sizes of galaxies and orientations into account for this simulation. We use the sensitivity of ASKAP and MeeKAT radio telescopes to estimate the number of detections of HI galaxies in upcoming surveys. We validate our simulation with earlier estimates carried out by using some of these considerations. We show that unlike earlier simulations that take some of the factors into account, the predicted number of galaxies and their distribution across masses changes significantly when all of these are accounted for. We describe our predictions for the MIGHTEE-HI and WALLABY surveys for blind detection of galaxies using the redshifted 21 cm radiation. We study the dependence of the predicted number of detections on the HI mass function. We also describe our future plans for improving the simulation.