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arXiv · 1604.01418

MUFASA: Galaxy Formation Simulations With Meshless Hydrodynamics

Romeel Davé·Robert J. Thompson·Philip F. Hopkins
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Abstract

We present the MUFASA suite of cosmological hydrodynamic simulations, which employs the GIZMO meshless finite mass (MFM) code including H2-based star formation, nine-element chemical evolution, two-phase kinetic outflows following scalings from the Feedback in Realistic Environments zoom simulations, and evolving halo mass-based quenching. Our fiducial (50 Mpc/h)^3 volume is evolved to z=0 with a quarter billion particles, The predicted galaxy stellar mass functions (GSMF) reproduce observations from z=4-0 to <1.2sigma in cosmic variance, providing an unprecedented match to this key diagnostic. The cosmic star formation history and stellar mass growth show general agreement with data, with a strong archaeological downsizing trend such that dwarf galaxies form the majority of their stars after z~1. We run 25 Mpc/h and 12.5 Mpc/h volumes to z=2 with identical feedback prescriptions, the latter resolving all hydrogen-cooling halos, and the three runs display fair resolution convergence. The specific star formation rates broadly agree with data at z=0, but are underpredicted at z~2 by a factor of three, re-emphasizing a longstanding puzzle in galaxy evolution models. We compare runs using MFM and two flavours of Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics, and show that the GSMF is sensitive to hydrodynamics methodology at the ~x2 level, which is sub-dominant to choices for parameterising feedback.

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Romeel Davé, Robert J. Thompson, Philip F. Hopkins. 2016-08-04. MUFASA: Galaxy Formation Simulations With Meshless Hydrodynamics. https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras%2Fstw1862

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