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ABSTRACT We introduce the Stars and MUltiphase Gas in GaLaxiEs – SMUGGLE model, an explicit and comprehensive stellar feedback model for the moving-mesh code arepo. This novel sub-resolution model resolves the multiphase gas structure of the interstellar medium and self-consistently generates gaseous outflows. The model implements crucial aspects of stellar feedback including photoionization, radiation pressure, energy, and momentum injection from stellar winds and from supernovae. We explore this model in high-resolution isolated simulations of Milky Way like disc galaxies. Stellar feedback regulates star formation to the observed level and naturally captures the establishment of a Kennicutt–Schmidt relation. This result is achieved independent of the numerical mass and spatial resolution of the simulations. Gaseous outflows are generated with average mass loading factors of the order of unity. Strong outflow activity is correlated with peaks in the star formation history of the galaxy with evidence that most of the ejected gas eventually rains down on to the disc in a galactic fountain flow that sustains late-time star formation. Finally, the interstellar gas in the galaxy shows a distinct multiphase distribution with a coexistence of cold, warm, and hot phases.
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Galactic coronae in Milky Way-like galaxies: the role of stellar feedback in gas accretion
ABSTRACT Star-forming galaxies like the Milky Way are surrounded by a hot gaseous halo at the virial temperature – the so-called galactic corona – that plays a fundamental role in their evolution. The interaction between the disc and the corona has been shown to have a direct impact on accretion of coronal gas onto the disc with major implications for galaxy evolution. In this work, we study the gas circulation between the disc and the corona of star-forming galaxies like the Milky Way. We use high-resolution hydrodynamical N-body simulations of a Milky Way-like galaxy with the inclusion of an observationally motivated galactic corona. In doing so, we use SMUGGLE, an explicit interstellar medium (ISM), and stellar feedback model coupled with the moving-mesh code arepo. We find that the reservoir of gas in the galactic corona is sustaining star formation: the gas accreted from the corona is the primary fuel for the formation of new stars, helping in maintaining a nearly constant level of cold gas mass in the galactic disc. Stellar feedback generates a gas circulation between the disc and the corona (the so-called galactic fountain) by ejecting different gas phases that are eventually re-accreted onto the disc. The accretion of coronal gas is promoted by its mixing with the galactic fountains at the disc–corona interface, causing the formation of intermediate temperature gas that enhances the cooling of the hot corona. We find that this process acts as a positive feedback mechanism, increasing the accretion rate of coronal gas onto the galaxy.
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- PAR ID:
- 10435192
- Publisher / Repository:
- Oxford University Press
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
- Volume:
- 524
- Issue:
- 3
- ISSN:
- 0035-8711
- Format(s):
- Medium: X Size: p. 4091-4108
- Size(s):
- p. 4091-4108
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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