2005/11/28 by Stefan Harfst, Christian Theis, Ch. Theis +2 · 38 citations
Physics and Astronomy · #Astronomy and Astrophysical Research #Astrophysics #Astrophysics and Star Formation Studies #Galaxies: Formation, Evolution, Phenomena #Galaxy #Halo #Interstellar medium #Milky Way #Molecular cloud #Physics #Star formation #Stars #Supernova #astro-ph
paper · pdf · doi:10.1051/0004-6361:20042190
published in Astronomy and Astrophysics 449(2), 509-518 (EDP Sciences) · 10 pages, 10 figures, accepted for publication in A&A, hi-res PDF can be found at http://www.astrophysik.uni-kiel.de/~harfst/harfst.pdf
arxiv created 2005/11/28 · openalex publication_date 2006/03/21 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
We present a new particle code for modelling the evolution of galaxies. The code is based on a multi-phase description for the interstellar medium (ISM). We include star formation (SF), stellar feedback by massive stars and planetary nebulae, phase transitions, and interactions between gas clouds and ambient diffuse gas, namely condensation, evaporation, drag, and energy dissipation. The last is realised by radiative cooling and inelastic cloud-cloud collisions. We present new schemes for SF and stellar feedback that include a consistent calculation of the star-formation efficiency (SFE) based on ISM properties, as well as a detailed redistribution of the feedback energy into the different ISM phases. As a first test we show a model of the evolution of a present day Milky-Way-type galaxy. Though the model exhibits a quasi-stationary behaviour in global properties like mass fractions or surface densities, the evolution of the ISM is strongly variable locally depending on the local SF and stellar feedback. We start only with two distinct phases, but a three-phase ISM is formed soon and consists of cold molecular clouds, a warm gas disk, and a hot gaseous halo. Hot gas is also found in bubbles in the disk accompanied by type II supernovae explosions. The volume-filling factor of the hot gas in the disk is ~. The mass spectrum of the clouds follows a power-law with an index of . The star-formation rate (SFR) is ~ on average, decreasing slowly with time due to gas consumption. In order to maintain a constant SFR, gas replenishment, e.g. by infall, of the order is required. Our model is in fair agreement with Kennicutt's (1998, ApJ, 498, 541) SF law including the cut-off at ~. Models with a constant SFE, i.e. no feedback on the SF, fail to reproduce Kennicutt's law. We performed a parameter study varying the particle resolution, feedback energy, cloud radius, SF time scale, and metallicity. In most these cases the evolution of the model galaxy was not significantly different to our reference model. Increasing the feedback energy by a factor of lowers the SF rate by ~, while decreasing the metallicity by a factor of ~100 increases the mass fraction of the hot gas from about 10% to 30%.