No Arabic abstract
We have updated the Munich galaxy formation model, L-Galaxies, to follow the radial distributions of stars and atomic and molecular gas in galaxy discs. We include an H2-based star-formation law, as well as a detailed chemical-enrichment model with explicit mass-dependent delay times for SN-II, SN-Ia and AGB stars. Information about the star formation, feedback and chemical-enrichment histories of discs is stored in 12 concentric rings. The new model retains the success of its predecessor in reproducing the observed evolution of the galaxy population, in particular, stellar mass functions and passive fractions over the redshift range 0<=z<=3 and mass range 8<=log(M_*/Msun)<=12, the black hole-bulge mass relation at z=0, galaxy morphology as a function of stellar mass and the mass-metallicity relations of both stellar and gas components. In addition, its detailed modelling of the radial structure of discs allows qualitatively new comparisons with observation, most notably with the relative sizes and masses of the stellar, atomic and molecular components in discs. Good agreement is found with recent data. Comparison of results obtained for simulations differing in mass resolution by more than two orders of magnitude shows that all important distributions are numerically well converged even for this more detailed model. An examination of metallicity and surface-density gradients in the stars and gas indicates that our new model, with star formation, chemical enrichment and feedback calculated self-consistently on local disc scales, reproduces some but not all of the trends seen in recent many-galaxy IFU surveys.
We investigate the spatially-resolved star formation relation using a galactic disk formed in a comprehensive high-resolution (3.8 pc) simulation. Our new implementation of stellar feedback includes ionizing radiation as well as supernova explosions, and we handle ionizing radiation by solving the radiative transfer equation rather than by a subgrid model. Photoheating by stellar radiation stabilizes gas against Jeans fragmentation, reducing the star formation rate. Because we have self-consistently calculated the location of ionized gas, we are able to make spatially-resolved mock observations of star formation tracers, such as H-alpha emission. We can also observe how stellar feedback manifests itself in the correlation between ionized and molecular gas. Applying our techniques to the disk in a galactic halo of 2.3e11 Msun, we find that the correlation between star formation rate density (estimated from mock H-alpha emission) and molecular hydrogen density shows large scatter, especially at high resolutions of <~ 75 pc that are comparable to the size of giant molecular clouds (GMCs). This is because an aperture of GMC size captures only particular stages of GMC evolution, and because H-alpha traces hot gas around star-forming regions and is displaced from the molecular hydrogen peaks themselves. By examining the evolving environment around star clusters, we speculate that the breakdown of the traditional star formation laws of the Kennicutt-Schmidt type at small scales is further aided by a combination of stars drifting from their birthplaces, and molecular clouds being dispersed via stellar feedback.
We present new CO(2-1) observations of 3 low-z (~350 Mpc) ULIRG systems (6 nuclei) observed with ALMA at high-spatial resolution (~500 pc). We detect massive cold molecular gas outflows in 5 out of 6 nuclei (0.3-5)x10^8 Msun. These outflows are spatially resolved with deprojected radii of 0.25-1 kpc although high-velocity molecular gas is detected up to ~0.5-1.8 kpc (1-6 kpc deprojected). The mass outflow rates are 12-400 Msun/yr and the inclination corrected average velocity of the outflowing gas 350-550 km/s (v_max = 500-900 km/s). The origin of these outflows can be explained by the nuclear starbursts although the contribution of an obscured AGN can not be completely ruled out. The position angle (PA) of the outflowing gas along the kinematic minor axis of the nuclear molecular disk suggests that the outflow axis is perpendicular to the disk for three of these outflows. Only in one case, the outflow PA is clearly not along the kinematic minor axis. The outflow depletion times are 15-80 Myr which are slightly shorter than the star-formation (SF) depletion times (30-80 Myr). However, we estimate that only 15-30% of the outflowing gas will escape the gravitational potential of the nucleus. The majority of the outflowing gas will return to the disk after 5-10 Myr and become available to form new stars. Therefore, these outflows will not likely quench the nuclear starbursts. These outflows would be consistent with being driven by radiation pressure (momentum-driven) only if the coupling between radiation and dust increases with increasing SF rates. This can be achieved if the dust optical depth is higher in objects with higher SF. The relatively small sizes (<1 kpc) and dynamical times (<3 Myr) of the cold molecular outflows suggests that molecular gas cannot survive longer in the outflow environment or that it cannot form efficiently beyond these distances or times. (Abridged)
Bars inhabit the majority of local-Universe disk galaxies and may be important drivers of galaxy evolution through the redistribution of gas and angular momentum within disks. We investigate the star formation and gas properties of bars in galaxies spanning a wide range of masses, environments, and star formation rates using the MaNGA galaxy survey. Using a robustly-defined sample of 684 barred galaxies, we find that fractional (or scaled) bar length correlates with the hosts offset from the star-formation main sequence. Considering the morphology of the H$alpha$ emission we separate barred galaxies into different categories, including barred, ringed, and central configurations, together with H$alpha$ detected at the ends of a bar. We find that only low-mass galaxies host star formation along their bars, and that this is located predominantly at the leading edge of the bar itself. Our results are supported by recent simulations of massive galaxies, which show that the position of star formation within a bar is regulated by a combination of shear forces, turbulence and gas flows. We conclude that the physical properties of a bar are mostly governed by the existing stellar mass of the host galaxy, but that they also play an important role in the galaxys ongoing star formation.
We investigated the impact of supernova feedback in gas-rich dwarf galaxies experiencing a low-to-moderate star formation rate, typical of relatively quiescent phases between starbursts. We calculated the long term evolution of the ISM and the metal-rich SN ejecta using 3D hydrodynamic simulations, in which the feedback energy is deposited by SNeII exploding in distinct OB associations. We found that a circulation flow similar to galactic fountains is generally established, with some ISM lifted at heights of one to few kpc above the galactic plane. This gas forms an extra-planar layer, which falls back to the plane in about $10^8$ yr, once the star formation stops. Very little or no ISM is expelled outside the galaxy system for the considered SFRs, even though in the most powerful model the SN energy is comparable to the gas binding energy. The metal-rich SN ejecta is instead more vulnerable to the feedback and we found that a significant fraction (25-80%) is vented in the intergalactic medium, even for low SN rate ($7times 10^{-5}$ - $7times 10^{-4}$ yr$^{-1}$). About half of the metals retained by the galaxy are located far ($z >$ 500 pc) from the galactic plane. Moreover, our models indicate that the circulation of the metal-rich gas out from and back to the galactic disk is not able to erase the chemical gradients imprinted by the (centrally concentrated) SN explosions.
We investigate the relation between gas and star formation in sub-galactic regions, ~360 pc to ~1.5 kpc in size, within the nearby starburst dwarf NGC4449, in order to separate the underlying relation from the effects of sampling at varying spatial scales. Dust and gas mass surface densities are derived by combining new observations at 1.1 mm, obtained with the AzTEC instrument on the Large Millimeter Telescope, with archival infrared images in the range 8-500 micron from the Spitzer Space Telescope and the Herschel Space Observatory. We extend the dynamic range of our mm (and dust) maps at the faint end, using a correlation between the far-infrared/millimeter colors F(70)/F(1100) [and F(160)/F(1100)] and the mid-infrared color F(8)/F(24) that we establish for the first time for this and other galaxies. Supplementing our data with maps of the extinction-corrected star formation rate (SFR) surface density, we measure both the SFR-molecular gas and the SFR-total gas relations in NGC4449. We find that the SFR-molecular gas relation is described by a power law with exponent that decreases from ~1.5 to ~1.2 for increasing region size, while the exponent of the SFR-total gas relation remains constant with value ~1.5 independent of region size. We attribute the molecular law behavior to the increasingly better sampling of the molecular cloud mass function at larger region sizes; conversely, the total gas law behavior likely results from the balance between the atomic and molecular gas phases achieved in regions of active star formation. Our results indicate a non-linear relation between SFR and gas surface density in NGC4449, similar to what is observed for galaxy samples.