scholarly journals The maximum stellar surface density due to the failure of stellar feedback

2018 ◽  
Vol 483 (4) ◽  
pp. 5548-5553 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Y Grudić ◽  
Philip F Hopkins ◽  
Eliot Quataert ◽  
Norman Murray
Keyword(s):  
Surface Density ◽  
Stellar Surface ◽  
Stellar Feedback

scholarly journals What determines the maximum stellar surface density of galaxies?

2020 ◽  
Vol 496 (1) ◽  
pp. 864-869
Author(s):  
Chih-Teng Ling ◽  
Tetsuya Hashimoto ◽  
Tomotsugu Goto ◽  
Ting-Yi Lu ◽  
Alvina Y L On ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Star Formation ◽  
Galaxy Evolution ◽  
Surface Density ◽  
Stellar System ◽  
Theoretical Models ◽  
Stellar Mass ◽  
Stellar Surface ◽  
Stellar Feedback ◽  
Physical Scale ◽  
Stellar Density

ABSTRACT Observationally, it has been reported that the densest stellar system in the Universe does not exceed a maximum stellar surface density, $\Sigma ^{\max }_{*}$ = $3\times 10^5\, {\rm M}_{\odot }\,{\rm pc}^{-2}$, throughout a wide physical scale ranging from star cluster to galaxy. This suggests that there exists a fundamental physics that regulates the star formation and stellar density. However, factors that determine this maximum limit are not clear. In this study, we show that $\Sigma ^{\max }_{*}$ of galaxies is not a constant as previous work reported, but actually it depends on the stellar mass. We select galaxy sample from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Data Release 12 at z = 0.01–0.5. In contrast to a constant maximum predicted by theoretical models, $\Sigma ^{\max }_{*}$ strongly depends on stellar mass, especially for less massive galaxies with $\text{$\sim$}10^{10}\, {\rm M}_{\odot }$. We also found that a majority of high-Σ* galaxies show red colours and low star formation rates. These galaxies probably reach the $\Sigma ^{\max }_{*}$ as a consequence of the galaxy evolution from blue star forming to red quiescent by quenching star formation. One possible explanation of the stellar-mass dependence of $\Sigma ^{\max }_{*}$ is a mass-dependent efficiency of stellar feedback. The stellar feedback could be relatively more efficient in a shallower gravitational potential, which terminates star formation quickly before the stellar system reaches a high stellar density.

scholarly journals Realistic mock observations of the sizes and stellar mass surface densities of massive galaxies in FIRE-2 zoom-in simulations

2020 ◽  
Vol 501 (2) ◽  
pp. 1591-1602
Author(s):  
T Parsotan ◽  
R K Cochrane ◽  
C C Hayward ◽  
D Anglés-Alcázar ◽  
R Feldmann ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Galaxy Formation ◽  
Surface Density ◽  
Stellar Mass ◽  
Massive Galaxies ◽  
Star Forming ◽  
Stellar Feedback ◽  
Central Surface ◽  
Stellar Ages ◽  
The Galaxy ◽  
Zoom In

ABSTRACT The galaxy size–stellar mass and central surface density–stellar mass relationships are fundamental observational constraints on galaxy formation models. However, inferring the physical size of a galaxy from observed stellar emission is non-trivial due to various observational effects, such as the mass-to-light ratio variations that can be caused by non-uniform stellar ages, metallicities, and dust attenuation. Consequently, forward-modelling light-based sizes from simulations is desirable. In this work, we use the skirt  dust radiative transfer code to generate synthetic observations of massive galaxies ($M_{*}\sim 10^{11}\, \rm {M_{\odot }}$ at z = 2, hosted by haloes of mass $M_{\rm {halo}}\sim 10^{12.5}\, \rm {M_{\odot }}$) from high-resolution cosmological zoom-in simulations that form part of the Feedback In Realistic Environments project. The simulations used in this paper include explicit stellar feedback but no active galactic nucleus (AGN) feedback. From each mock observation, we infer the effective radius (Re), as well as the stellar mass surface density within this radius and within $1\, \rm {kpc}$ (Σe and Σ1, respectively). We first investigate how well the intrinsic half-mass radius and stellar mass surface density can be inferred from observables. The majority of predicted sizes and surface densities are within a factor of 2 of the intrinsic values. We then compare our predictions to the observed size–mass relationship and the Σ1−M⋆ and Σe−M⋆ relationships. At z ≳ 2, the simulated massive galaxies are in general agreement with observational scaling relations. At z ≲ 2, they evolve to become too compact but still star forming, in the stellar mass and redshift regime where many of them should be quenched. Our results suggest that some additional source of feedback, such as AGN-driven outflows, is necessary in order to decrease the central densities of the simulated massive galaxies to bring them into agreement with observations at z ≲ 2.

scholarly journals Efficacy of early stellar feedback in low gas surface density environments

2019 ◽  
Vol 491 (2) ◽  
pp. 2088-2103 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rahul Kannan ◽  
Federico Marinacci ◽  
Christine M Simpson ◽  
Simon C O Glover ◽  
Lars Hernquist
Keyword(s):  
Star Formation ◽  
Radiation Pressure ◽  
Surface Density ◽  
Star Formation Rate ◽  
Formation Rate ◽  
Medium Density ◽  
Hydrodynamic Simulations ◽  
Radiative Feedback ◽  
Stellar Feedback ◽  
Radiation Feedback

ABSTRACT We present a suite of high-resolution radiation hydrodynamic simulations of a small patch (1 kpc2) of the interstellar medium (ISM) performed with arepo-rt, with the aim to quantify the efficacy of various feedback processes like supernova (SN) explosions, photoheating, and radiation pressure in low gas surface density galaxies (Σgas ≃ 10 M⊙ pc−2). We show that radiative feedback decrease the star formation rate and therefore the total stellar mass formed by a factor of approximately two. This increases the gas depletion time-scale and brings the simulated Kennicutt–Schmidt relation closer to the observational estimates. Radiation feedback coupled with SN is more efficient at driving outflows with the mass and energy loading increasing by a factor of ∼10. This increase is mainly driven by the additional entrainment of medium-density (10−2  cm−3 ≤ n < 1 cm−3) warm (300 K ≤ T < 8000 K) material. Therefore, including radiative feedback tends to launch colder, denser, and more mass- and energy-loaded outflows. This is because photoheating of the high-density gas around a newly formed star overpressurizes the region, causing it to expand. This reduces the ambient density in which the SN explode by a factor of 10–100 which in turn increases their momentum output by a factor of ∼1.5–2.5. Finally, we note that in these low gas surface density environments, radiative feedback primarily impact the ISM via photoheating and radiation pressure has only a minimal role in regulating star formation.

scholarly journals The Molecular Gas Component of Galaxy Disks

2008 ◽  
Vol 4 (S254) ◽  
pp. 307-312
Author(s):  
Leo Blitz
Keyword(s):  
Hydrostatic Pressure ◽  
Surface Density ◽  
Stellar Surface ◽  
Molecular Gas ◽  
Atomic Gas ◽  
Gas Component

AbstractThe molecular gas in galaxy disks shows much more galaxy to galaxy variation than does the atomic gas. Detailed studies show that this variation can be attributed to differences in hydrostatic pressure in the disks due largely to variations in the stellar surface density and the total gas surface density. One prediction of pressure modulated H2 formation is that the location where HI and H2 have equal surface densities occurs at a constant value of the stellar surface density in the disk. Observations confirm this constancy to 40%.

scholarly journals A local leaky-box model for the local stellar surface density–gas surface density–gas phase metallicity relation

2017 ◽  
Vol 468 (4) ◽  
pp. 4494-4501 ◽  
Author(s):  
Guangtun Ben Zhu ◽  
Jorge K. Barrera-Ballesteros ◽  
Timothy M. Heckman ◽  
Nadia L. Zakamska ◽  
Sebastian F. Sánchez ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Gas Phase ◽  
Surface Density ◽  
Stellar Surface ◽  
Box Model

scholarly journals A quantitative demonstration that stellar feedback locally regulates galaxy growth

2020 ◽  
Vol 499 (1) ◽  
pp. 1172-1187
Author(s):  
Javier Zaragoza-Cardiel ◽  
Jacopo Fritz ◽  
Itziar Aretxaga ◽  
Yalia D Mayya ◽  
Daniel Rosa-González ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Star Formation ◽  
Surface Density ◽  
Stellar Mass ◽  
Stellar Structure ◽  
Star Formation History ◽  
Mass Loading ◽  
Density Profiles ◽  
Stellar Feedback ◽  
Formation History ◽  
Hydrodynamical Simulations

ABSTRACT We have applied stellar population synthesis to 500-pc-sized regions in a sample of 102 galaxy discs observed with the MUSE spectrograph. We derived the star formation history and analyse specifically the ‘recent’ ($20\,\rm {Myr}$) and ‘past’ ($570\,\rm {Myr}$) age bins. Using a star formation self-regulator model, we can derive local mass-loading factors, η for specific regions, and find that this factor depends on the local stellar mass surface density, Σ*, in agreement with the predictions form hydrodynamical simulations including supernova feedback. We integrate the local η–Σ* relation using the stellar mass surface density profiles from the Spitzer Survey of Stellar Structure in Galaxies (S4G) to derive global mass-loading factors, ηG, as a function of stellar mass, M*. The ηG–M* relation found is in very good agreement with hydrodynamical cosmological zoom-in galaxy simulations. The method developed here offers a powerful way of testing different implementations of stellar feedback, to check on how realistic are their predictions.

scholarly journals A maximum stellar surface density in dense stellar systems

2010 ◽  
Vol 401 (1) ◽  
pp. L19-L23 ◽  
Author(s):  
Philip F. Hopkins ◽  
Norman Murray ◽  
Eliot Quataert ◽  
Todd A. Thompson
Keyword(s):  
Surface Density ◽  
Stellar Surface ◽  
Stellar Systems

scholarly journals Pressure balance in the multiphase ISM of cosmologically simulated disc galaxies

2020 ◽  
Vol 498 (3) ◽  
pp. 3664-3683 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexander B Gurvich ◽  
Claude-André Faucher-Giguère ◽  
Alexander J Richings ◽  
Philip F Hopkins ◽  
Michael Y Grudić ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Total Pressure ◽  
Surface Density ◽  
Formation Rate ◽  
Pressure Profile ◽  
Pressure Balance ◽  
Thermal Pressure ◽  
Vertical Pressure ◽  
Stellar Feedback ◽  
Pressure Equilibrium ◽  
Disc Galaxies

ABSTRACT Pressure balance plays a central role in models of the interstellar medium (ISM), but whether and how pressure balance is realized in a realistic multiphase ISM is not yet well understood. We address this question by using a set of FIRE-2 cosmological zoom-in simulations of Milky Way-mass disc galaxies, in which a multiphase ISM is self-consistently shaped by gravity, cooling, and stellar feedback. We analyse how gravity determines the vertical pressure profile as well as how the total ISM pressure is partitioned between different phases and components (thermal, dispersion/turbulence, and bulk flows). We show that, on average and consistent with previous more idealized simulations, the total ISM pressure balances the weight of the overlying gas. Deviations from vertical pressure balance increase with increasing galactocentric radius and with decreasing averaging scale. The different phases are in rough total pressure equilibrium with one another, but with large deviations from thermal pressure equilibrium owing to kinetic support in the cold and warm phases, which dominate the total pressure near the mid-plane. Bulk flows (e.g. inflows and fountains) are important at a few disc scale heights, while thermal pressure from hot gas dominates at larger heights. Overall, the total mid-plane pressure is well-predicted by the weight of the disc gas and we show that it also scales linearly with the star formation rate surface density (ΣSFR). These results support the notion that the Kennicutt–Schmidt relation arises because ΣSFR and the gas surface density (Σg) are connected via the ISM mid-plane pressure.

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