We introduce a new suite of radiation-hydrodynamical simulations of galaxy formation and reionization called Aurora .
The Aurora simulations make use of a spatially adaptive radiative transfer technique that lets us accurately capture the small-scale structure in the gas at the resolution of the hydrodynamics , in cosmological volumes .
In addition to ionizing radiation , Aurora includes galactic winds driven by star formation and the enrichment of the universe with metals synthesized in the stars .
Our reference simulation uses 2 \times 512 ^ { 3 } dark matter and gas particles in a box of size 25 ~ { } h ^ { -1 } ~ { } \mbox { comoving Mpc } with a force softening scale of at most 0.28 ~ { } h ^ { -1 } ~ { } \mbox { kpc } .
It is accompanied by simulations in larger and smaller boxes and at higher and lower resolution , employing up to 2 \times 1024 ^ { 3 } particles , to investigate numerical convergence .
All simulations are calibrated to yield simulated star formation rate ( SFR ) functions in close agreement with observational constraints at redshift z = 7 and to achieve reionization at z \approx 8.3 , which is consistent with the observed optical depth to reionization .
We focus on the design and calibration of the simulations and present some first results .
The median stellar metallicities of low-mass galaxies at z = 6 are consistent with the metallicities of dwarf galaxies in the Local Group , which are believed to have formed most of their stars at high redshifts .
After reionization , the mean photoionization rate decreases systematically with increasing resolution .
This coincides with a systematic increase in the abundance of neutral hydrogen absorbers in the IGM .