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arxiv 2409.19288 v2 pith:OR3JFUVD submitted 2024-09-28 astro-ph.GA astro-ph.COphysics.atom-ph

Lyman-α feedback prevails at Cosmic Dawn: Implications for the first galaxies, stars, and star clusters

classification astro-ph.GA astro-ph.COphysics.atom-ph
keywords alphafeedbackformationcosmicdawngalaxypressureradiation
verification ladder T0 review T1 audit T2 compute T3 formal T4 reserved
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Radiation pressure from Lyman-$\alpha$ (Ly$\alpha$) scattering is a potentially dominant form of early stellar feedback, capable of injecting up to $\sim 100 \, \times$ more momentum into the interstellar medium (ISM) than UV continuum radiation pressure and stellar winds. Ly$\alpha$ feedback is particularly strong in dust-poor environments and is thus especially important during the formation of the first stars and galaxies. As upcoming galaxy formation simulations incorporate Ly$\alpha$ feedback, it is crucial to consider processes that can limit it to avoid placing $\Lambda$CDM in apparent tension with recent \textit{JWST} observations indicating efficient star formation at Cosmic Dawn. We study Ly$\alpha$ feedback using a novel analytical Ly$\alpha$ radiative transfer solution that includes the effects of continuum absorption, gas velocity gradients, Ly$\alpha$ destruction (e.g. by $2p \rightarrow 2s$ transitions), ISM turbulence, and atomic recoil. We verify our solution for uniform clouds using extensive Monte Carlo radiative transfer (MCRT) tests, and resolve a previous discrepancy between analytical and MCRT predictions. We then study the sensitivity of Ly$\alpha$ feedback to the aforementioned effects. While these can dampen Ly$\alpha$ feedback by a factor $\lesssim \textrm{few} \times 10$, we find it remains $\gtrsim 5 - 100 \, \times$ stronger than direct radiation pressure and therefore cannot be neglected. We provide an accurate fit for the Ly$\alpha$ force multiplier $M_{\rm F}$, suitable for implementation in subgrid models for galaxy formation simulations. Our findings highlight the critical role of Ly$\alpha$ feedback in regulating star formation at Cosmic Dawn, and underscore the necessity of incorporating it into simulations to accurately model early galaxy evolution.

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  1. Force convergence in Monte Carlo Lyman-alpha radiative transfer

    astro-ph.GA 2026-07 accept novelty 6.0

    A moment-based hierarchy (zeroth, first, second order) diagnoses convergence of Lyman-alpha MCRT momentum-transfer estimators, showing that core-skipping biases internal forces and that statistical precision, cost, an...