History of the gas fuelling star formation in EAGLE galaxies

Scholz-Díaz, Laura; Sánchez Almeida, Jorge; Dalla Vecchia, Claudio
Bibliographical reference

Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

Advertised on:
8
2021
Number of authors
3
IAC number of authors
3
Citations
9
Refereed citations
7
Description
Theory predicts that cosmological gas accretion plays a fundamental role fuelling star formation in galaxies. However, a detailed description of the accretion process to be used when interpreting observations is still lacking. Using the state-of-the-art cosmological hydrodynamical simulation EAGLE, we work out the chemical inhomogeneities arising in the disc of galaxies due to the randomness of the accretion process. In low-mass systems and outskirts of massive galaxies, low metallicity regions are associated with enhanced star-formation, a trend that reverses in the centres of massive galaxies. These predictions agree with the relation between surface density of star formation rate and metallicity observed in the local spiral galaxies from the MaNGA survey. Then, we analyse the origin of the gas that produce stars at two key epochs, z ≃ 0 and z ≃ 2. The main contribution comes from gas already in the galaxy about 1 Gyr before stars are formed, with a share from external gas that is larger at high redshift. The accreted gas may come from major and minor mergers, but also as gravitationally unbound gas and from mergers with dark galaxies (i.e. haloes where more than 95 per cent of the baryon mass is in gas). We give the relative contribution of these sources of gas as a function of stellar mass (8 ≤ log [M⋆/M⊙] ≤ 11). Even at z = 0, some low-mass galaxies form a significant fraction of their total stellar mass during the last Gyr from mergers with dark galaxies.
Related projects
Project Image
Starbursts in Galaxies GEFE
Starsbursts play a key role in the cosmic evolution of galaxies, and thus in the star formation (SF) history of the universe, the production of metals, and the feedback coupling galaxies with the cosmic web. Extreme SF conditions prevail early on during the formation of the first stars and galaxies, therefore, the starburst phenomenon constitutes a
Casiana
Muñoz Tuñón
Project Image
Numerical Astrophysics: Galaxy Formation and Evolution
How galaxies formed and evolved through cosmic time is one of the key questions of modern astronomy and astrophysics. Cosmological time- and length-scales are so large that the evolution of individual galaxies cannot be directly observed. Only through numerical simulations can one follow the emergence of cosmic structures within the current
Claudio
Dalla Vecchia
Group members
Traces of Galaxy Formation: Stellar populations, Dynamics and Morphology
We are a large, diverse, and very active research group aiming to provide a comprehensive picture for the formation of galaxies in the Universe. Rooted in detailed stellar population analysis, we are constantly exploring and developing new tools and ideas to understand how galaxies came to be what we now observe.
Ignacio
Martín Navarro