HIGH-RESOLUTION SIMULATIONS OF THE REIONIZATION OF AN ISOLATED MILKY WAY-M31 GALAXY PAIR

We present the results of a set of numerical simulations aimed at studying reionization at the galactic scale. We use a high-resolution realization of the formation of the Milky Way (MW)-M31 system to simulate the reionization of the Local Group. The reionization calculation was performed with the post-processing radiative transfer code ATON and the underlying cosmological simulation was performed as part of the CLUES project (http://www.clues-project.org). We vary the source models to bracket the range of source properties used in the literature. We investigate the structure and propagation of the galactic ionization fronts by a visual examination of our reionization maps. Within the progenitors, we find that reionization is patchy and proceeds locally inside-out. The process becomes patchier with decreasing source photon output. It is generally dominated by one major H II region and one to four additional isolated smaller bubbles, which eventually overlap. Higher emissivity results in faster and earlier local reionization. In all models, the reionization of the MW and M31 are similar in duration, i.e., between 203 Myr and 22 Myr depending on the source model, placing their z(reion) between 8.4 and 13.7. In all models except the most extreme, the MW and M31 progenitors reionize internally, ignoring each other despite being relatively close to each other, even during the epoch of reionization. Only in the case of strong supernova feedback suppressing star formation in halos less massive than 10(9) M-circle dot, and using our highest emissivity, do we find that the MW is reionized by M31.