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The prescribed photon budget requires a collapsed mass fraction $f_{\mathrm{coll}}=3/3000=10^{-3}$, assuming baryons trace the collapsed mass fraction and using the supplied effective photon yield. No extra photon-escape or recombination correction should be counted on top of this stipulated budget.

For spectral slope $n=-2$, $q=1/6$. The mass-scale measurement givesBoth relevant epochs are matter-dominated, so the linear growth factor ratio is $D(z)/D(3)=4/(1+z)$, independent of any present-day normalization convention. Thus $\sigma (M_{\min },z)=4/(1+z)$. The Press-Schechter formalism givesUsing the supplied inverse value,This is the photon-budget reionization threshold in the specified toy model, not a measurement of the full astrophysical reionization history.

To estimate the characteristic mass, use the non-dissipative spherical-collapse model result ${\Delta }_{\mathrm{vir}}=18{\pi }^2$. At this high redshift the background matter density is practically the critical density. Circular virial velocity then obeysConsequentlyFor $v_{\mathrm{vir}}=9\mathrm{km}{\mathrm{s}}^{-1}$, this gives $H\simeq 7.87\times 10^2\mathrm{km}{\mathrm{s}}^{-1}\mathrm{Mp}{\mathrm{c}}^{-1}$ and $M_{\min }\simeq 2.3\times 10^7{M}_{\odot }$, with physical virial radius about $1.21\mathrm{kpc}$.

At the threshold mass the halo peak height is $\nu =\sqrt{2}(2.33)\simeq 3.30$, soThe present mean matter density is ${\bar{\rho }}_{m,0}=2.775\times 10^{11}{\Omega }_{\mathrm{mat}}{h}^2{M}_{\odot }{\mathrm{Mpc}}^{-3}\simeq 3.60\times 10^{10}{M}_{\odot }{\mathrm{Mpc}}^{-3}$. Hence the differential abundance per logarithmic mass interval is about $3.0{\mathrm{Mpc}}^{-3}$ andRounded inputs and the supplied approximate factor justify quoting about $0.7\mathrm{Mpc}$. The corresponding physical separation is about $0.088\mathrm{Mpc}$ at this epoch. The requested halo spacing from a differential mass function uses a logarithmic mass bin of order unity; it is not obtained by identifying $f_{\mathrm{coll}}\bar{\rho }/M$ with that differential abundance. A cumulative number density above the threshold requires a separate mass integral.

At fixed mass, decreasing redshift increases the linear growth factor and reduces the halo peak height $\nu$. During matter domination $\dot{D}/D=H$ also falls as the universe expands. As long as $\nu >1$, both effects reduce the positive abundance-growth rate, so $t_d$ grows towards lower redshift. In the very rare-tail limit $t_d\propto D^2/H\propto (1+z{)}^{-7/2}$ provides the approximate trend.

There is a limit to calling this an increase time. At $\nu =1$, the fixed-mass Press-Schechter halo mass function reaches its maximum as a function of time; its logarithmic growth rate vanishes and $t_d$ diverges. For $\nu <1$, the derivative becomes negative, corresponding to net transfer of small objects into more massive systems, so the signed inverse is no longer a positive doubling or increase time. At still later epochs the cosmological constant further suppresses the linear growth factor. These qualifications prevent extrapolating the positive high-redshift growth trend indefinitely.

For fixed epoch and the increasing branch $\nu >1$, increasing mass lowers the smoothed matter density variance, hence raises the halo peak height $\nu$. The rate $({\nu }^2-1)\dot{D}/D$ therefore increases and its inverse decreases. Rarer, more massive haloes have a shorter fractional abundance-growth time, even though their actual number density is much smaller. They lie farther into the exponential tail of the Press-Schechter halo mass function, so a small change in the linear growth factor causes a large fractional change. This statement compares fixed-mass bins in the same cosmology and concerns relative growth, not the time for one halo to assemble all its mass.

Normalize the linear growth factor to $D(0)=1$. The collapse overdensity at the collapse epoch is ${\delta }_{\mathrm{sc}}\simeq 1.686$ for the matter-dominated spherical-collapse model. The present-extrapolated spherical-collapse barrier isIt is the initial linear overdensity, extrapolated to today, required to collapse by $t$; it is not the nonlinear density contrast of a virialized halo. The smoothed matter density variance ${\sigma }^2(M,z)$ is the variance of the linear density contrast smoothed on a Lagrangian comoving scale containing mass $M$. For a spherical top-hat filter,Consequently $\sigma (M,z)=D(z)\sigma (M,0)$ for scale-independent linear growth. The equivalent halo peak height conventions are $\nu ={\delta }_c(t)/\sigma (M,0)={\delta }_{\mathrm{sc}}/\sigma (M,z)$; using both an evolved barrier and an evolved variance would count growth twice.

To calculate a number-density growth time, use a narrow fixed-mass bin, not the collapsed mass fraction itself. Differentiate the Press-Schechter formalism mass fraction and divide the mass density in the resulting interval by $M$. This gives the Press-Schechter halo mass functionAt fixed $M$, the mass factor and logarithmic slope do not depend on time. Since $\dot{\nu }/\nu =-\dot{D}/D$, the Press-Schechter abundance growth at fixed mass isThe prefactor $\nu$ matters here: the exponential-only rare-peak approximation drops the minus one and is accurate only for $\nu \gg 1$.

Read the supplied variance relation as a mass-scale calibration using the numerical velocity label given for the selected population. It gives $\sigma (M,3)=0.85\sqrt{250/10}=4.25$. Matter domination between the two high-redshift epochs gives $D(19)/D(3)\simeq 4/20$, so $\sigma (M,19)\simeq 0.85$ and $\nu \simeq 1.984$. At the epoch in question,Thus the requested fixed-mass-bin growth estimate with that calibration isAn exponential-only approximation gives about $8.1\times 10^7\mathrm{yr}$, which is somewhat shorter because this is only a roughly two-sigma population.

The wording leaves two sample conventions worth distinguishing. First, an actual virial velocity of a spherical-overdensity halo is epoch-dependent at fixed mass. If the variance fit is instead calibrated using physical virial velocities at redshift three, the same mass whose velocity is $10\mathrm{km}{\mathrm{s}}^{-1}$ at redshift nineteen has $v(3)\simeq 10\sqrt{4/20}=4.47\mathrm{km}{\mathrm{s}}^{-1}$. The halo virial-velocity conversion between epochs then gives $\sigma (M,19)\simeq 1.271$, $\nu \simeq 1.327$ and $t_d\simeq 4.2\times 10^8\mathrm{yr}$ for a fixed-mass bin. The two numerical answers reflect the velocity-label convention in the supplied fit, not two ways of differentiating one fixed fit.

Second, a cumulative number density is $n(>M)={\int }_M^{\infty }(dn/d{M}^{\prime })d{M}^{\prime }$, not simply ${\bar{\rho }}_{m,0}f(>M)/M$: the latter is a mass fraction divided by a threshold mass, not the number of objects. The cumulative derivative is an abundance-weighted average of $(\nu (M^{\prime }{)}^2-1)\dot{D}/D$ over that integral. If the supplied power-law variance fit is extended over all larger masses, with the same velocity-label convention, direct integration gives a cumulative-number growth time of about $8.4\times 10^7\mathrm{yr}$ instead. A sample maintained at fixed physical velocity at successive epochs additionally moves its mass boundary and needs a selection convention. The numerical estimate above explicitly uses the ordinary fixed-mass differential interpretation. These distinctions are important when an exact growth time rather than a rare-tail estimate is intended.

Interpret $P(k)$ in the variance integral as the unsmoothed cosmological density power spectrum of $\delta$. A linear smoothing window gives $P_R(k)=P(k)|\tilde{W}(kR){|}^2$ for the smoothed field; the PDF's description of $P(k)$ as already belonging to ${\delta }_R$ would otherwise count the window twice.

For a scale-free matter power spectrum $P(k)=A{k}^{n_{\mathrm{eff}}}$, substitute $q=kR$ to obtainWhenever the dimensionless integral is finite and nonzero, this proves the scale-free smoothed density varianceThe printed condition $n_{\mathrm{eff}}<3$ is insufficient by itself. For a normalized window with $\tilde{W}(0)=1$, infrared convergence requires $n_{\mathrm{eff}}>-3$. Ultraviolet convergence depends on the filter: a spherical top-hat window function requires $n_{\mathrm{eff}}<1$, a Gaussian filter suppresses every ultraviolet power, and a sharp-k smoothing filter has finite Fourier support. In particular, the monotone relation $R\to \infty \Rightarrow S={\sigma }_R^2\to 0$ requires $n_{\mathrm{eff}}>-3$ in the scale-free model.

At a single variance $S_{\ast }$, the Gaussian random field has ${\delta }_{S_{\ast }}\sim N(0,S_{\ast })$. Thus its endpoint tail isHere $\mathrm{erfc}$ is the complementary error function.

For the crossing probability, the key assumption is independent, symmetric increments as the smoothing scale changes. A sharp-k smoothing filter, $\tilde{W}(kR)=1_{k<1/R}$, supplies this property: decreasing $R$ adds independent Fourier shells of the underlying Gaussian field. Parameterizing their accumulated variance by $S$ gives a Brownian motion with covariance $\min (S,S^{\prime })$. An arbitrary real-space window gives correlated increments and does not justify this argument.

Reflect a trajectory after its first hit of ${\delta }_c$. The Strong Markov property and symmetric future increments preserve its probability, and reflection maps an endpoint below the barrier to one above it. Every endpoint above the barrier has already crossed; the reflected paths give an equally probable set that crossed but ended below. The Brownian reflection principle therefore yields the excursion-set description of halo formation:Its derivative is the Brownian first-passage time densityThe factor of two resolves trajectories that crossed a larger-scale barrier but finish below it on the chosen smaller scale.

Define the halo peak height $\nu ={\delta }_c/{\sigma }_R$. The cumulative probability $\mathcal{P}(>M)$ is a dimensionless mass fraction. With $V_M=M/\bar{\rho }$, its conversion to halo number density givesConsequently the Press-Schechter halo mass function isIt is positive when ${\sigma }_R$ decreases with mass. A chosen mass-radius convention $M\propto R^3$ gives $d\log {\sigma }_R/d\log M=-(n_{\mathrm{eff}}+3)/6$. For a sharp Fourier filter that mass assignment needs a convention, since its real-space kernel is not a localized top-hat volume.

For warm dark matter, the cutoff introduces a new length and invalidates the pure power-law variance scaling near that length. With the same sharp-k filter and $n_{\mathrm{eff}}>-3$, the variance is exactlyThe Brownian walk runs only up to $S_{\max }$ and then stops. The cutoff does not destroy independence of the Fourier shells that are still present. Thus the first-crossing density and derivative mass-function formula remain valid on the invertible part of $S(M)$, using the actual cutoff variance. For $R<k_{\mathrm{WDM}}^{-1}$, $d{\sigma }_R/dM=0$ and this idealized sharp-filter model has no new crossings or new low-mass haloes. Its total collapsed fraction isThis is halo first crossing with a finite variance cutoff: some trajectories never cross, so one must not force the collapsed fraction to one. The uncut power-law abundance cannot be extrapolated to small masses. For other windows, a variance plateau still occurs but the Markov/reflection derivation is not exact; the same mass function is then a modelling approximation, rather than a result established by this calculation.

Evaluate all derivatives at zero long perturbation, where $\nu ={\delta }_c/{\sigma }_{G,s}$, and write $\bar{n}(\nu )$ for the unperturbed abundance. The peak-background split changes the halo peak height toThe chain rule in the specified bias expansion therefore givesNo explicit abundance law is specified, so these derivatives are the general answer. For example, if $\bar{n}$ has the Press-Schechter halo mass function dependence $\nu e^{-{\nu }^2/2}$, then $b_{10}=({\nu }^2-1)/{\delta }_c$ and $b_{01}=2f_{\mathrm{NL}}({\nu }^2-1)$.

For the linear long mode, the cosmological Poisson equation gives ${\phi }_{G,L}(\mathbf{k})={\delta }_{G,L}(\mathbf{k})/\alpha (k)$. Consequently the deterministic galaxy bias and power spectrum areHere $P_m$ is the linear cosmological density power spectrum; stochastic tracer noise has been omitted. This scale-dependent halo bias from local non-Gaussianity is proportional to $k^{-2}$ in the specified $\alpha (k)=2k^2/(3H^2{\Omega }_m)$ convention.

For $b_{10}\ne 0$, plot the ratio $P_g/(b_{10}^2{P}_m)$ to separate the effect from the shape of $P_m$. Positive $f_{\mathrm{NL}}$ increases the ratio as $k$ decreases. Negative $f_{\mathrm{NL}}$ first suppresses it, gives a zero when $\alpha (k)=2|f_{\mathrm{NL}}|{\delta }_c$, and then makes it rise again after the effective galaxy bias changes sign. The auto-power spectrum never becomes negative. A truncation $P_g\simeq b_{10}^2[1+4f_{\mathrm{NL}}{\delta }_c/\alpha (k)]P_m$ is valid only when $|2f_{\mathrm{NL}}{\delta }_c/\alpha (k)|\ll 1$ and must not be extrapolated through the zero. Within the deterministic expression, both signs give $P_g\propto k^{-4}{P}_m$ at sufficiently small $k$. For a nearly scale-invariant primordial spectrum, $P_m\propto k^{n_s}$ in the large-scale transfer limit, so this formal asymptote is $k^{n_s-4}$.

There is a convention issue in calling the specified abundance response an observed galaxy overdensity. The threshold response is naturally a linear Lagrangian halo bias. If $b_{10}$ instead denotes the physical linear Eulerian halo bias, the Lagrangian-to-Eulerian linear bias relation adds one to the density coefficient: $b_{01}=2f_{\mathrm{NL}}{\delta }_c(b_{10}-1)$, and $P_g=[b_{10}+b_{01}/\alpha {]}^2{P}_m$. The boxed formulas follow the abundance expansion explicitly supplied in the paper. The Newtonian treatment also cannot be extrapolated beyond its physical large-scale domain without relativistic projection effects.

For a fixed narrow mass bin with time-independent smoothing slope, the Press-Schechter halo mass function has time dependence $n\propto \nu e^{-{\nu }^2/2}$, with halo peak height $\nu \propto D^{-1}$. Differentiating gives the displayed rate. It is positive only for $\nu >1$; the bin can lose objects to higher masses later. Cumulative counts require integrating the differential abundance, and a moving mass boundary adds a selection term.

For a universal abundance depending on halo peak height, the peak-background split gives a potential-response coefficient $b_{\phi }=2f_{\mathrm{NL}}{\delta }_c{b}_L$, with $b_L$ the linear Lagrangian halo bias. If $\delta =\alpha (k)\phi$, the corresponding deterministic galaxy bias correction is $\Delta b=b_{\phi }/\alpha (k)$, proportional to $k^{-2}$ on sufficiently large scales. For a physical Eulerian tracer, $b_E=1+b_L$, so $b_{\phi }=2f_{\mathrm{NL}}{\delta }_c(b_E-1)$. The deterministic tracer power spectrum is $(b_E+\Delta b{)}^2{P}_m$; it remains nonnegative even if a negative correction changes the sign of the tracer-matter correlation.