Survival of star-forming giant clumps in high-redshift galaxies

2010/01/31 by Mark R. Krumholz, Avishai Dekel · 2 citations
Physics and Astronomy · #Astronomy #Astrophysics #Astrophysics and Star Formation Studies #Bulge #Galaxies: Formation, Evolution, Phenomena #Galaxy #Physics #RADIUS #Redshift #Star formation #Stars #Stellar mass #Stellar, planetary, and galactic studies #astro-ph.CO #astro-ph.GA

paper · pdf · doi:10.1111/j.1365-2966.2010.16675.x

11 pages, 1 figure, accepted to MNRAS

openalex publication_date 2010/04/27 · arxiv created 2010/05/05 · arxiv updated 2015/05/14 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05

Abstract

We investigate the effects of radiation pressure from stars on the survival of the star-forming
\ngiant clumps in high-redshift massive disc galaxies, during the most active phase of galaxy
\nformation. The clumps, typically of mass ∼108–109 M and radius ∼0.5–1 kpc, are formed in
\nthe turbulent gas-rich discs by violent gravitational instability and then migrate into a central
\nbulge in ∼10 dynamical times. We show that the survival or disruption of these clumps under
\nthe influence of stellar feedback depends critically on the rate at which they form stars. If they
\nconvert a few per cent of their gas mass to stars per free-fall time, as observed for all local
\nstar-forming systems and implied by the Kennicutt–Schmidt law, they cannot be disrupted.
\nOnly if clumps convert most of their mass to stars in a few free-fall times can feedback
\nproduce significant gas expulsion. We consider whether such rapid star formation is likely in
\nhigh-redshift giant clumps.

Citations

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Cited by

• The population of giant clumps in simulated high-z galaxies: in situ and ex situ migration and survival
• On the puzzling plateau in the specific star formation rate at z= 2-7