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A systematic look at the effects of radiative feedback on disc galaxy formation

Roškar, Rok ; Teyssier, Romain ; Agertz, Oscar LU ; Wetzstein, Markus and Moore, Ben (2014) In Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society 444(3). p.2837-2853
Abstract

Galaxy formation models and simulations rely on various feedback mechanisms to reproduce the observed baryonic scaling relations and galaxy morphologies. Although dwarf galaxy and giant elliptical properties can be explained using feedback from supernova and active galactic nuclei, Milky Way-sized galaxies still represent a challenge to current theories of galaxy formation. In this paper, we explore the possible role of feedback from stellar radiation in regulating the main properties of disc galaxies such as our own Milky Way. We have performed a suite of cosmological simulations of the same ~1012M{N-ary circled dot operator} halo selected based on its rather typical mass accretion history. We have implemented radiative... (More)

Galaxy formation models and simulations rely on various feedback mechanisms to reproduce the observed baryonic scaling relations and galaxy morphologies. Although dwarf galaxy and giant elliptical properties can be explained using feedback from supernova and active galactic nuclei, Milky Way-sized galaxies still represent a challenge to current theories of galaxy formation. In this paper, we explore the possible role of feedback from stellar radiation in regulating the main properties of disc galaxies such as our own Milky Way. We have performed a suite of cosmological simulations of the same ~1012M{N-ary circled dot operator} halo selected based on its rather typical mass accretion history. We have implemented radiative feedback from young stars using a crude model of radiative transfer for ultraviolet and infrared radiation. However, the model is realistic enough such that the dust opacity plays a direct role in regulating the efficiency of our feedback mechanism. We have explored various models for the dust opacity, assuming different constant dust temperatures, as well as a varying dust temperature model. We find that while strong radiative feedback appears as a viable mechanism to regulate the stellarmass fraction inmassive galaxies, it also prevents the formation of discs with reasonable morphologies. In models with strong stellar radiation feedback, stellar discs are systematically too thick while the gas disc morphology is completely destroyed due to the efficient mixing between the feedback-affected gas and its surroundings. At the resolution of our simulation suite, we find it impossible to preserve spiral discmorphology while at the same time expelling enough baryons to satisfy the abundance matching constraints.

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author
; ; ; and
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
keywords
Galaxies: Evolution, Galaxies: Formation, Galaxies: Spiral, Galaxies: Structure
in
Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
volume
444
issue
3
pages
17 pages
publisher
Oxford University Press
external identifiers
  • scopus:84922562915
ISSN
0035-8711
DOI
10.1093/mnras/stu1548
language
English
LU publication?
no
id
d3660221-2f24-4830-add6-0a2449bf192b
date added to LUP
2019-02-07 11:20:46
date last changed
2022-01-31 17:27:16
@article{d3660221-2f24-4830-add6-0a2449bf192b,
  abstract     = {{<p>Galaxy formation models and simulations rely on various feedback mechanisms to reproduce the observed baryonic scaling relations and galaxy morphologies. Although dwarf galaxy and giant elliptical properties can be explained using feedback from supernova and active galactic nuclei, Milky Way-sized galaxies still represent a challenge to current theories of galaxy formation. In this paper, we explore the possible role of feedback from stellar radiation in regulating the main properties of disc galaxies such as our own Milky Way. We have performed a suite of cosmological simulations of the same ~10<sup>12</sup>M{N-ary circled dot operator} halo selected based on its rather typical mass accretion history. We have implemented radiative feedback from young stars using a crude model of radiative transfer for ultraviolet and infrared radiation. However, the model is realistic enough such that the dust opacity plays a direct role in regulating the efficiency of our feedback mechanism. We have explored various models for the dust opacity, assuming different constant dust temperatures, as well as a varying dust temperature model. We find that while strong radiative feedback appears as a viable mechanism to regulate the stellarmass fraction inmassive galaxies, it also prevents the formation of discs with reasonable morphologies. In models with strong stellar radiation feedback, stellar discs are systematically too thick while the gas disc morphology is completely destroyed due to the efficient mixing between the feedback-affected gas and its surroundings. At the resolution of our simulation suite, we find it impossible to preserve spiral discmorphology while at the same time expelling enough baryons to satisfy the abundance matching constraints.</p>}},
  author       = {{Roškar, Rok and Teyssier, Romain and Agertz, Oscar and Wetzstein, Markus and Moore, Ben}},
  issn         = {{0035-8711}},
  keywords     = {{Galaxies: Evolution; Galaxies: Formation; Galaxies: Spiral; Galaxies: Structure}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{01}},
  number       = {{3}},
  pages        = {{2837--2853}},
  publisher    = {{Oxford University Press}},
  series       = {{Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society}},
  title        = {{A systematic look at the effects of radiative feedback on disc galaxy formation}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stu1548}},
  doi          = {{10.1093/mnras/stu1548}},
  volume       = {{444}},
  year         = {{2014}},
}