Seeking Self-regulating Simulations of Idealized Milky Way–like Galaxies
Precipitation is potentially a mechanism through which the circumgalactic medium (CGM) can regulate a galaxy’s star formation. Here, we present idealized simulations of isolated Milky Way–like galaxies intended to examine the ability of galaxies to self-regulate their star formation, in particular v...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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IOP Publishing
2023-01-01
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| Series: | The Astrophysical Journal |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/accbb7 |
| _version_ | 1827826324872364032 |
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| author | Claire Kopenhafer Brian W. O’Shea G. Mark Voit |
| author_facet | Claire Kopenhafer Brian W. O’Shea G. Mark Voit |
| author_sort | Claire Kopenhafer |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Precipitation is potentially a mechanism through which the circumgalactic medium (CGM) can regulate a galaxy’s star formation. Here, we present idealized simulations of isolated Milky Way–like galaxies intended to examine the ability of galaxies to self-regulate their star formation, in particular via precipitation. We also examine the impact of rotation in the CGM. Using six simulations, we explore variations in the initial CGM t _cool / t _ff ratio and rotation profile. Those variations affect the amount of gas accretion and star formation within the galactic disk. To encourage this accretion and better study its dependence on CGM structure, we gradually increase the efficiency of stellar feedback during the first half of our simulations. Yet despite this gradual increase, the resulting outflows quickly evacuate large, hot cavities within the CGM and even beyond r _200 . Some of the CGM gas avoids interacting with the cavities and is able to feed the disk along its midplane, but the cooling of feedback-heated gas far from the midplane is too slow to supply the disk with additional gas. Our simulations illustrate the importance of physical mechanisms in the outer CGM and IGM for star formation regulation in Milky Way–scale halos. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-12T03:07:25Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-9f309ea5398f4e16999daaa69292d9c9 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1538-4357 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-12T03:07:25Z |
| publishDate | 2023-01-01 |
| publisher | IOP Publishing |
| record_format | Article |
| series | The Astrophysical Journal |
| spelling | doaj.art-9f309ea5398f4e16999daaa69292d9c92023-09-03T14:31:56ZengIOP PublishingThe Astrophysical Journal1538-43572023-01-01951210710.3847/1538-4357/accbb7Seeking Self-regulating Simulations of Idealized Milky Way–like GalaxiesClaire Kopenhafer0https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5158-1966Brian W. O’Shea1https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2786-0348G. Mark Voit2https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3514-0383Department of Physics & Astronomy, Michigan State University , USA ; kopenhaf@msu.edu; Department of Computational Mathematics, Science, & Engineering, Michigan State University , USADepartment of Physics & Astronomy, Michigan State University , USA ; kopenhaf@msu.edu; Department of Computational Mathematics, Science, & Engineering, Michigan State University , USA; Facility for Rare Isotope Beams, Michigan State University , USADepartment of Physics & Astronomy, Michigan State University , USA ; kopenhaf@msu.eduPrecipitation is potentially a mechanism through which the circumgalactic medium (CGM) can regulate a galaxy’s star formation. Here, we present idealized simulations of isolated Milky Way–like galaxies intended to examine the ability of galaxies to self-regulate their star formation, in particular via precipitation. We also examine the impact of rotation in the CGM. Using six simulations, we explore variations in the initial CGM t _cool / t _ff ratio and rotation profile. Those variations affect the amount of gas accretion and star formation within the galactic disk. To encourage this accretion and better study its dependence on CGM structure, we gradually increase the efficiency of stellar feedback during the first half of our simulations. Yet despite this gradual increase, the resulting outflows quickly evacuate large, hot cavities within the CGM and even beyond r _200 . Some of the CGM gas avoids interacting with the cavities and is able to feed the disk along its midplane, but the cooling of feedback-heated gas far from the midplane is too slow to supply the disk with additional gas. Our simulations illustrate the importance of physical mechanisms in the outer CGM and IGM for star formation regulation in Milky Way–scale halos.https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/accbb7Stellar feedbackGalaxy processesGalaxy evolutionCircumgalactic mediumHydrodynamical simulations |
| spellingShingle | Claire Kopenhafer Brian W. O’Shea G. Mark Voit Seeking Self-regulating Simulations of Idealized Milky Way–like Galaxies The Astrophysical Journal Stellar feedback Galaxy processes Galaxy evolution Circumgalactic medium Hydrodynamical simulations |
| title | Seeking Self-regulating Simulations of Idealized Milky Way–like Galaxies |
| title_full | Seeking Self-regulating Simulations of Idealized Milky Way–like Galaxies |
| title_fullStr | Seeking Self-regulating Simulations of Idealized Milky Way–like Galaxies |
| title_full_unstemmed | Seeking Self-regulating Simulations of Idealized Milky Way–like Galaxies |
| title_short | Seeking Self-regulating Simulations of Idealized Milky Way–like Galaxies |
| title_sort | seeking self regulating simulations of idealized milky way like galaxies |
| topic | Stellar feedback Galaxy processes Galaxy evolution Circumgalactic medium Hydrodynamical simulations |
| url | https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/accbb7 |
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