Butler, MJ, Tan, JC, Teyssier, R et al. (3 more authors) (2017) Kiloparsec-scale Simulations of Star Formation in Disk Galaxies. IV. Regulation of Galactic Star Formation Rates by Stellar Feedback. Astrophysical Journal, 841 (2). 82. ISSN 0004-637X
Abstract
Star formation from the interstellar medium of galactic disks is a basic process controlling the evolution of galaxies. Understanding the star formation rate in a local patch of a disk with a given gas mass is thus an important challenge for theoretical models. Here we simulate a kiloparsec region of a disk, following the evolution of self-gravitating molecular clouds down to subparsec scales, as they form stars that then inject feedback energy by dissociating and ionizing UV photons and supernova explosions. We assess the relative importance of each feedback mechanism. We find that H2-dissociating feedback results in the largest absolute reduction in star formation compared to the run with no feedback. Subsequently adding photoionization feedback produces a more modest reduction. Our fiducial models that combine all three feedback mechanisms yield, without fine-tuning, star formation rates that are in excellent agreement with observations, with H2-dissociating photons playing a crucial role. Models that only include supernova feedback—a common method in galaxy evolution simulations—settle to similar star formation rates, but with very different temperature and chemical states of the gas, and with very different spatial distributions of young stars.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2017. The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserved. Reproduced in accordance with the publisher's self-archiving policy. |
Keywords: | evolution; galaxies: ISM; galaxies: star formation; ISM: clouds; radiative transfer; stars: formation |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Leeds |
Academic Units: | The University of Leeds > Faculty of Engineering & Physical Sciences (Leeds) > School of Physics and Astronomy (Leeds) > Astrophysics (Leeds) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Publications |
Date Deposited: | 03 May 2017 14:25 |
Last Modified: | 17 Feb 2020 15:12 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | American Astronomical Society |
Identification Number: | 10.3847/1538-4357/aa7054 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:115923 |