MEGATRON: Reproducing the Diversity of High-Redshift Galaxy Spectra with Cosmological Radiation Hydrodynamics Simulations

Abstract

We present the MEGATRON suite of cosmological radiation hydrodynamics simulations following the formation of Milky Way-mass galaxies from the earliest cosmic epochs when Population III stars form to Cosmic Noon. The suite represents the first set of cosmological simulations that couples a vast non-equilibrium thermochemistry network of primordial species, metals, and molecules to multifrequency, on-the-fly radiation transport, allowing us to directly predict the spectral properties of early galaxies. By initializing the simulations at zero metallicity, resolving haloes well below the atomic cooling threshold, reaching parsec-scale resolution, and modeling a Milky Way-mass environment, we aim to address four key science themes: 1) Star formation at cosmic dawn, 2) Galaxy formation and the interstellar medium in the epoch of reionization, 3) The circumgalactic medium towards cosmic noon, and 4) Reionization in a local volume environment and near-field cosmology. In this introductory work, we present an overview of the physical characteristics of high-redshift MEGATRON galaxies and their environment at z > 8 . We present a library of > 175 , 000 simulated galaxy spectra and demonstrate how much of the diversity of galaxy spectra seen by JWST is naturally reproduced in the context of a Λ CDM cosmology. Caveats are discussed, such as the lack of AGN in our simulations and the limitations of our adopted stellar population and chemical yield models. This project represents a step towards making more direct comparisons between simulations and observations and \textcolor{magenta}{is particularly applicable for optimizing methods to infer galaxy properties from existing high-redshift JWST spectra and imaging data.

The authors' abstract, as published at the source. The Open Journal of Astrophysics, 2026 · DOI ↗