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Benjamin W. Keller

Publications and source records attributed to Benjamin W. Keller.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

$V/σ$ Trends with Mass for Dwarf Galaxies from the Marvelous Massive Dwarfs Suite

Galaxy formation scenarios can be interpreted through galaxy morphology and the level of rotational versus pressure support, quantified through the ratio of a galaxy's rotation speed to its velocity dispersion: $V/σ$. Observational studies of dwarf galaxies find that $V/σ$ does not strongly depend on environment, and may weakly depend on galaxy mass, which could shift our understanding of how dwarf galaxies form. We utilize the Marvelous Massive Dwarfs suite to examine whether $V/σ$ depends on mass in simulations, and understand how this varies for different baryonic components of the galaxy: HI gas, young stars ($<$ 1 Gyr) and old stars ($>$ 1 Gyr). We use a simulation sample of 67 isolated dwarf galaxies with M$_\star=10^6-10^9$ M$_\odot$ and produce line-of-sight maps for rotation speed and dispersion for different viewing angles of each galaxy. We find that $V/σ$ increases with mass, and that HI gas and young stars are more rotation-supported ($V/σ\approx 1-13$) while old stars are more dispersion-supported ($V/σ\approx 0.2-5$). This result is consistent with the scenario where young stars are born from dynamically cold gas in the interstellar medium and undergo dynamical heating over time. We quantify the effects of spatial resolution in observational determinations of $V/σ$ and find that existing observations using old stars may underestimate the intrinsic $V/σ$. We find a correlation between $V/σ_\mathrm{HI,global}$ and HI line profile shape that is qualitatively similar to previous simulation results, but we find higher $V/σ_\mathrm{HI,global}$ compared to prior work which found values $\lesssim 2$ for most galaxies in this mass range. Our results motivate future work to examine $V/σ$ and dwarf galaxy formation with different kinematic tracers of the galaxy.

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Unveiling the drivers of the Baryon Cycles with Interpretable Multi-step Machine Learning and Simulations

We present a new approach for understanding how galaxies lose or retain baryons by utilizing a pipeline of two machine learning methods applied the IllustrisTNG100 simulation. We employed a Random Forest Regressor and Explainable Boosting Machine (EBM) model to connect the retained baryon fraction of approximately 10^5 simulated galaxies to their properties. We employed Random Forest models to filter and used the five most significant properties to train an EBM. Interaction functions identified by the EBM highlight the relationship between baryon fraction and three different galactic mass measurements, the location of the rotation curve peak, and the velocity dispersion. This interpretable machine learning-based approach provides a promising pathway for understanding the baryon cycle in galaxies.

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Glimmers in the Cosmic Dawn. III. On the Photometrically Determined Black Hole Mass to Stellar Mass Relation Across Cosmic Time

We present the results from performing spectral energy distribution (SED) fitting on 121 variable active galactic nuclei (AGN) candidates in the Hubble Ultra Deep Field (HUDF) using photometry from both the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) and the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) covering $0.2 - 4.8$ microns. We designed a bespoke SED fitting code which decomposes the total SED into its stellar and AGN contributions. Our SED fitting retrieves a significant contribution to the total SED from an AGN template for 26 of our variable sources with $0 < z < 7$. We leverage the model AGN spectrum to estimate black hole masses ($M_{BH}$) using the measured luminosity at 5100 Å and local empirical calibrations. Common with recently discovered JWST broad line AGN (BL-AGN), we observe a trend in the $M_{BH} - M_{\ast}$ plane where low redshift sources have $M_{BH}$ which agree with local relations while high redshift sources have increasingly overmassive black holes with respect to the stellar mass ($M_{\ast}$) of their host galaxies. Within our sample, we identify two IMBH candidates hosted by dwarf galaxies at $z<1$ featuring overmassive BHs in the $M_{BH}-M_{\ast}$ plane, similarly to our high redshift sources. Finally, our SED fitter successfully retrieves the AGN nature of one source at $z >6$. This object has $z_{phot} = 6.74$ and we estimate a lower limit on its black hole mass of $\log_{10}(M_{BH}/M_{\odot}) > 7.36$.

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Glimmers in the Cosmic Dawn. II. A variability census of supermassive black holes across the Universe

Understanding the origin and evolution of supermassive black holes (SMBH) stands as one of the most important challenges in astrophysics and cosmology, with little current theoretical consensus. Improved observational constraints on the cosmological evolution of SMBH demographics are needed. Here we report results of a search via photometric variability for SMBHs appearing as active galactic nuclei (AGN) in the cosmological volume defined by the Hubble Ultra Deep Field (HUDF). This work includes particular focus on a new observation carried out in 2023 with the \textit{Hubble Space Telescope (HST)} using the WFC3/IR/F140W, which is compared directly to equivalent data taken 11 years earlier in 2012. Two earlier pairs of observations from 2009 to 2012 with WFC3/IR/F105W and WFC3/IR/F160W are also analysed. We identify 521, 188, and 109 AGN candidates as nuclear sources that exhibit photometric variability at a level of 2, 2.5 and 3~$σ$ in at least one filter. This sample includes 13, 3, and 2 AGN candidates at redshifts $z>6$, when the Universe was $\lesssim900$~Myr old. After variability and luminosity function (down to $M_{\rm UV}=-17\:$mag) completeness corrections, we estimate the co-moving number density of SMBHs, $n_{\rm SMBH}(z)$. At $z \gtrsim 6$, $n_{\rm SMBH}\gtrsim 6\times10^{-3}\:{\rm cMpc^{-3}}$. At low-$z$ our observations are sensitive to AGN fainter than $M_{\rm UV}=-17 \:$mag, and we estimate $n_{\rm SMBH}\gtrsim 10^{-2}\:{\rm cMpc^{-3}}$. We discuss how these results place strong constraints on a variety of SMBH seeding theories.

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Predictions for Detecting a Turndown in the Baryonic Tully Fisher Relation

The baryonic Tully Fisher relation (bTFR) provides an empirical connection between baryonic mass and dynamical mass (measured by the maximum rotation velocity) for galaxies. Due to the impact of baryonic feedback in the shallower potential wells of dwarf galaxies, the bTFR is predicted to turn down at low masses from the extrapolated power-law relation at high masses. The low-mass end of the bTFR is poorly constrained due to small samples and difficulty in connecting the galaxy's gas kinematics to its dark matter halo. Simulations can help us understand this connection and interpret observations. We measure the bTFR with 75 dwarf galaxies from the Marvel-ous and Marvelous Massive Dwarfs hydrodynamic simulations. Our sample has M$_\star = 10^6-10^9$ M$_\odot$, and is mostly gas dominated. We compare five velocity methods: V$_\mathrm{out,circ}$ (spatially resolved mass-enclosed), V$_\mathrm{out,mid}$ (spatially resolved midplane gravitational potential), and unresolved HI linewidths at different percentages of the peak flux (W$_\mathrm{10}$, W$_\mathrm{20}$, and W$_\mathrm{50}$). We find an intrinsic turndown in the bTFR for maximum halo speeds $\lesssim 50$ km s$^{-1}$, or total baryonic mass M$_\mathrm{bary}\lesssim 10^{8.5}$ M$_\odot$. We find that observing HI in lower-mass galaxies to the conventional surface density limit of 1 M$_\odot$ pc$^{-2}$ is not enough to detect a turndown in the bTFR; none of the HI velocity methods, spatially resolved or unresolved, recover the turndown, and we find bTFR slopes consistent with observations of higher-mass galaxies. However, we predict that the turndown can be recovered by resolved rotation curves if the HI limit is $\lesssim 0.08$ M$_\odot$ pc$^{-2}$, which is within the sensitivity of current HI surveys like FEASTS and MHONGOOSE.

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Glimmers in the Cosmic Dawn: A Census of the Youngest Supermassive Black Holes by Photometric Variability

We report first results from a deep near infrared campaign with the Hubble Space Telescope to obtain late-epoch images of the Hubble Ultra-Deep Field (HUDF), 10-15 years after the first epoch data were obtained. The main objectives are to search for faint active galactic nuclei (AGN) at high redshifts by virtue of their photometric variability, and measure (or constrain) the comoving number density of supermassive black holes (SMBHs), n_{SMBH}, at early times. In this Letter we present an overview of the program and preliminary results concerning eight objects. Three variables are supernovae, two of which are apparently hostless with indeterminable redshifts, although one has previously been recorded at a z\approx 6 object precisely because of its transient nature. Two further objects are clear AGN at z= 2.0 and 3.2, based on morphology and/or infrared spectroscopy from JWST. Three variable targets are identified at z = 6-7, which are also likely AGN candidates. These sources provide a first measure of n_{SMBH} in the reionization epoch by photometric variability, which places a firm lower limit of 3 \times 10^{-4} cMpc^{-3}. After accounting for variability and luminosity incompleteness, we estimate n_{SMBH} \gtrsim 8 \times 10{-3} cMpc{-3}, which is the largest value so far reported at these redshifts. This SMBH abundance is also strikingly similar to estimates of n_{SMBH} in the local Universe. We discuss how these results test various theories for SMBH formation.

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HI discs of L$_{\ast}$ galaxies as probes of the baryonic physics of galaxy evolution

Understanding what shapes the cold gas component of galaxies, which both provides the fuel for star formation and is strongly affected by the subsequent stellar feedback, is a crucial step towards a better understanding of galaxy evolution. Here, we analyse the HI properties of a sample of 46 Milky Way halo-mass galaxies, drawn from cosmological simulations (EMP-Pathfinder and FIREbox). This set of simulations comprises galaxies evolved self-consistently across cosmic time with different baryonic sub-grid physics: three different star formation models [constant star formation efficiency (SFE) with different star formation eligibility criteria, and an environmentally-dependent, turbulence-based SFE] and two different feedback prescriptions, where only one sub-sample includes early stellar feedback. We use these simulations to assess the impact of different baryonic physics on the HI content of galaxies. We find that the galaxy-wide HI properties agree with each other and with observations. However, differences appear for small-scale properties. The thin HI discs observed in the local Universe are only reproduced with a turbulence-dependent SFE and/or early stellar feedback. Furthermore, we find that the morphology of HI discs is particularly sensitive to the different physics models: galaxies simulated with a turbulence-based SFE have discs that are smoother and more rotationally symmetric, compared to those simulated with a constant SFE; galaxies simulated with early stellar feedback have more regular discs than supernova-feedback-only galaxies. We find that the rotational asymmetry of the HI discs depends most strongly on the underlying physics model, making this a promising observable for understanding the physics responsible for shaping the interstellar medium of galaxies.

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PHANGS-JWST First Results: Multi-wavelength view of feedback-driven bubbles (The Phantom Voids) across NGC 628

We present a high-resolution view of bubbles within The Phantom Galaxy (NGC 628); a nearby (~10Mpc), star-forming (~2Msun/yr), face-on (i~9deg) grand-design spiral galaxy. With new data obtained as part of the PHANGS-JWST treasury program, we perform a detailed case-study of two regions of interest, one of which contains the largest and most prominent bubble in the galaxy (The Phantom Void; over 1kpc in diameter), and the other being a smaller region that may be the precursor to such a large bubble (The Precursor Phantom Void). When comparing to matched resolution Halpha observations from the Hubble Space Telescope (HST), we see that the ionized gas is brightest in the shells of both bubbles, and is coincident with the youngest (~1Myr) and most massive (~100,000Msun) stellar associations. We also find an older generation (~20Myr) of stellar associations is present within the bubble of The Phantom Void. From our kinematic analysis of the HI, H2 (CO) and HII gas across The Phantom Void, we infer a high expansion speed of around 15 to 50km/s. The large size and high expansion speed of The Phantom Void suggest that the driving mechanism is sustained stellar feedback due to multiple mechanisms, where early feedback first cleared a bubble (as we observe now in The Precursor Phantom Void), and since then SNe have been exploding within the cavity, and have accelerated the shell. Finally, comparison to simulations shows a striking resemblance to our JWST observations, and suggests that such large-scale stellar feedback-driven bubbles should be common within other galaxies.

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Empirically-motivated early feedback: momentum input by stellar feedback in galaxy simulations inferred through observations

We present a novel method for including the effects of early (pre-supernova) feedback in simulations of galaxy evolution. Rather than building a model which attempts to match idealized, small-scale simulations or analytic approximations, we rely on direct observational measurements of the time-scales over which star-forming molecular clouds are disrupted by early feedback. We combine observations of the spatial de-correlation between molecular gas and star formation tracers on $\sim100$~pc scales with an analytic framework for the expansion of feedback fronts driven by arbitrary sources or mechanisms, and use these to constrain the time-scale and momentum injection rate by early feedback. This allows us to directly inform our model for feedback from these observations, sidestepping the complexity of multiple feedback mechanisms and their interaction below the resolution scale. We demonstrate that this new model has significant effects on the spatial clustering of star formation, the structure of the ISM, and the driving of outflows from the galactic plane, while preserving the overall regulation of the galaxy-integrated star formation rate. We find that this new feedback model results in galaxies that regulate star formation through the rapid disruption of star-forming clouds, rather than by highly efficient, global galactic outflows. We also demonstrate that these results are robust to stochasticity, degraded numerical resolution, changes in the star formation model parameters, and variations in the single free model parameter that is unconstrained by observations.

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Uncertainties in supernova input rates drive qualitative differences in simulations of galaxy evolution

Feedback from core collapse supernovae (SNe), the final stage of evolution of massive stars, is a key element in galaxy formation theory. The energy budget of SN feedback, as well as the duration over which SNe occur, are constrained by stellar lifetime models and the minimum mass star that ends its life as a SN. Simplifying approximations for this SN rate are ubiquitous in simulation studies. We show here how the choice of SN budget and timings ($t_0$ for the delay between star formation and the first SN, $τ_{\rm SN}$ for the duration of SN injection, and the minimum SN progenitor mass) drive changes in the regulation of star formation and outflow launching. Extremely long delays for instantaneous injection of SN energy $(t_0 << 20\;\rm{Myr})$ reduces star formation and drive stronger outflows compared smaller delays. This effect is primarily driven by enhanced clustering of young stars. With continuous injection of energy, longer SN durations results in a larger fraction of SN energy deposited in low ambient gas densities, where cooling losses are lower. This is effect is particularly when driven by the choice of the minimum SN progenitor mass, which also sets the total SN energy budget. These underlying uncertainties mean that despite advances in the sub-grid modeling of SN feedback, serious difficulties in constraining the strength of SN feedback remain. We recommend future simulations use realistic SN injection durations, and bound their results using SN energy budgets and durations for minimum SN progenitors of $7M_\odot$ and $9M_\odot$.

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Introducing EMP-Pathfinder: modelling the simultaneous formation and evolution of stellar clusters in their host galaxies

The formation and evolution of stellar clusters is intimately linked to that of their host galaxies. To study this connection, we present the EMP-Pathfinder suite of cosmological zoom-in Milky Way-mass simulations. These simulations contain a sub-grid description for stellar cluster formation and evolution, allowing us to study the simultaneous formation and evolution of stellar clusters alongside their host galaxies across cosmic time. As a key ingredient in these simulations, we include the physics of the multi-phase nature of the interstellar medium (ISM), which enables studies of how the presence of a cold, dense ISM affects cluster formation and evolution. We consider two different star formation prescriptions: a constant star formation efficiency per free-fall time, as well as an environmentally-dependent, turbulence-based prescription. We identify two key results drawn from these simulations. Firstly, we find that tidal shock-driven disruption caused by the graininess of the cold ISM produces old ($τ>10~$Gyr) stellar cluster populations with properties that are in excellent agreement with the observed populations in the Milky Way and M31. Importantly, the addition of the cold ISM addresses the areas of disagreement found in previous simulations that lacked the cold gas phase. Secondly, the formation of stellar clusters is extremely sensitive to the baryonic physics that govern the properties of the cold, dense gas reservoir in the galaxy. This implies that the demographics of stellar cluster populations represent an important diagnostic tool for constraining baryonic physics models in upcoming galaxy formation simulations that also include a description of the cold ISM.

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Constraining the formation of NGC1052-DF2 from its unusual globular cluster population

The ultra-diffuse galaxy (UDG) NGC1052-DF2 has a low dark matter content and hosts a very unusual globular cluster (GC) population, with a median luminosity $\sim4$ times higher than in most galaxies and containing about 5~per~cent of the galaxy's stars. We apply a theoretical model that predicts the initial cluster mass function as a function of the galactic environment to investigate the origin of DF2's peculiar GC system. Using the GC mass function, the model constrains the star-forming conditions in the galaxy during the formation of its GCs, $\sim9~\rm{Gyr}$ ago. We predict that the GCs formed in an environment with very high gas surface density, $Σ_{\rm ISM} \gtrsim 10^3 M_{\odot} \rm{pc}^{-2}$, and strong centrifugal support, $Ω\gtrsim 0.7~\rm{Myr}^{-1}$, similar to nearby circum-nuclear starbursts and the central region of the Milky Way. These extreme conditions required to form the observed GC population imply a very high cluster formation efficiency of $\gtrsim 78$ per cent, and contrast strongly with the current diffuse nature of the galaxy. Since a nuclear starburst would lead to the rapid in-spiral of the GCs and is ruled out by the absence of a nuclear star cluster, we propose that the GCs plausibly formed during a major merger at $z\sim1.3$. The merger remnant must have undergone significant expansion of its stellar (and perhaps also its dark matter) component to reach its low present surface brightness, leading to the interesting possibility that it was the formation of DF2's extreme GC population that caused it to become a UDG. If true, this strong structural evolution would have important implications for understanding the origins of UDGs.

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Not the Birth Cluster: the Stellar Clustering that Shapes Planetary Systems is Generated by Galactic-Dynamical Perturbations

Recent work has demonstrated that exoplanetary system properties correlate strongly with ambient stellar clustering in six-dimensional stellar position-velocity phase space, quantified by dividing planetary systems into sub-samples with high or low phase space densities (`overdensity' and `field' systems, respectively). We investigate the physical origins of the phase space overdensities and, thereby, which environmental mechanisms may have impacted the planetary systems. We consider the galactic-scale kinematic structure of the Milky Way observed with Gaia and show that the overdensities correspond to the well-known, kpc-scale kinematic ripples and streams in the Galactic disk, which are thought to be generated by bar and spiral arm-driven resonances and satellite galaxy passages. We also find indications that the planet demographics may vary between individual phase space overdensities, which potentially have differing physical origins and histories. Planetary systems associated with the `phase space spiral' (a recent perturbation of the Galactic disk) have a hot Jupiter-to-cold Jupiter ratio that is 10 times higher than in field systems. Finally, the hot Jupiter-to-cold Jupiter ratio within overdensities may increase with host stellar age over Gyr timescales. Because the overdensities persist for several Gyr, we argue that late-time perturbations of planetary systems most likely explain these trends, although additional perturbations at birth may contribute too. This suggests that planetary system properties are not just affected by stellar clustering in their immediate surroundings, but by galaxy-scale processes throughout their evolution. We conclude by discussing the main open questions towards understanding the diversity of physical processes that together set planetary system architectures.

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Momentum feedback from marginally-resolved HII regions in isolated disc galaxies

We present a novel, physically-motivated sub-grid model for HII region feedback within the moving mesh code Arepo, accounting for both the radiation pressure-driven and thermal expansion of the ionised gas surrounding young stellar clusters. We apply this framework to isolated disc galaxy simulations with mass resolutions between $10^3~{\rm M}_\odot$ and $10^5~{\rm M}_\odot$ per gas cell. Each simulation accounts for the self-gravity of the gas, the momentum and thermal energy from supernovae, the injection of mass by stellar winds, and the non-equilibrium chemistry of hydrogen, carbon and oxygen. We reduce the resolution-dependence of our model by grouping those HII regions with overlapping ionisation front radii. The Strömgren radii of the grouped HII regions are at best marginally-resolved, so that the injection of purely-thermal energy within these radii has no effect on the interstellar medium. By contrast, the injection of momentum increases the fraction of cold and molecular gas by more than 50 per cent at mass resolutions of $10^3~{\rm M}_\odot$, and decreases its turbulent velocity dispersion by $\sim 10~{\rm kms}^{-1}$. The mass-loading of galactic outflows is decreased by an order of magnitude. The characteristic lifetime of the least-massive molecular clouds ($M/{\rm M}_\odot < 5.6 \times 10^4$) is reduced from $\sim 18$ Myr to $<10$ Myr, indicating that HII region feedback is effective in destroying these clouds. Conversely, the lifetimes of intermediate-mass clouds ($5.6 \times 10^4 < M/{\rm M}_\odot < 5 \times 10^5$) are elongated by $\sim 7$ Myr, likely due to a reduction in supernova clustering. The derived cloud lifetimes span the range from $10$-$40$ Myr, in agreement with observations. All results are independent of whether the momentum is injected from a 'spherical' or a 'blister-type HII region.

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A scaling relation for the molecular cloud lifetime in Milky Way-like galaxies

We study the time evolution of molecular clouds across three Milky Way-like isolated disc galaxy simulations at a temporal resolution of 1 Myr, and at a range of spatial resolutions spanning two orders of magnitude in spatial scale from ~10 pc up to ~1 kpc. The cloud evolution networks generated at the highest spatial resolution contain a cumulative total of ~80,000 separate molecular clouds in different galactic-dynamical environments. We find that clouds undergo mergers at a rate proportional to the crossing time between their centroids, but that their physical properties are largely insensitive to these interactions. Below the gas disc scale-height, the cloud lifetime obeys a scaling relation of the form $τ_{\rm life} \propto \ell^{-0.3}$ with the cloud size $\ell$, consistent with over-densities that collapse, form stars, and are dispersed by stellar feedback. Above the disc scale-height, these self-gravitating regions are no longer resolved, so the scaling relation flattens to a constant value of ~13 Myr, consistent with the turbulent crossing time of the gas disc, as observed in nearby disc galaxies.

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The kinematics of globular cluster populations in the E-MOSAICS simulations and their implications for the assembly history of the Milky Way

We present a detailed comparison of the Milky Way (MW) globular cluster (GC) kinematics with the 25 Milky Way-mass cosmological simulations from the E-MOSAICS project. While the MW falls within the kinematic distribution of GCs spanned by the simulations, the relative kinematics of its metal-rich ($[\rm{Fe/H}]>-1.2$) versus metal-poor ($[\rm{Fe/H}]<-1.2$), and inner ($r<8\rm{kpc}$) versus outer ($r>8\rm{kpc}$) populations are atypical for its mass. To understand the origins of these features, we perform a comprehensive statistical analysis of the simulations, and find 18 correlations describing the assembly of $L^*$ galaxies and their dark matter haloes based on their GC population kinematics. The correlations arise because the orbital distributions of accreted and in-situ GCs depend on the masses and accretion redshifts of accreted satellites, driven by the combined effects of dynamical fraction, tidal stripping, and dynamical heating. Because the kinematics of in-situ/accreted GCs are broadly traced by the metal-rich/metal-poor and inner/outer populations, the observed GC kinematics are a sensitive probe of galaxy assembly. We predict that relative to the population of $L^*$ galaxies, the MW assembled its dark matter and stellar mass rapidly through a combination of in-situ star formation, more than a dozen low-mass mergers, and $1.4\pm1.2$ early ($z=3.1\pm1.3$) major merger. The rapid assembly period ended early, limiting the fraction of accreted stars. We conclude by providing detailed quantitative predictions for the assembly history of the MW.

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Pre-supernova feedback mechanisms drive the destruction of molecular clouds in nearby star-forming disc galaxies

It is a major open question which physical processes stop the accretion of gas onto giant molecular clouds (GMCs) and limit the efficiency at which gas is converted into stars within these GMCs. While feedback from supernova explosions has been the popular feedback mechanism included in simulations of galaxy formation and evolution, `early' feedback mechanisms such as stellar winds, photoionisation and radiation pressure are expected to play an important role in dispersing the gas after the onset of star formation. These feedback processes typically take place on small scales ($\sim 10-100$ pc) and their effects have therefore been difficult to constrain in environments other than the Milky Way. We apply a novel statistical method to $\sim 1$" resolution maps of CO and Ha emission across a sample of nine nearby disc galaxies, in order to measure the time over which GMCs are dispersed by feedback from young, high-mass stars, as a function of the galactic environment. We find that GMCs are typically dispersed within $\sim$ 3 Myr after the emergence of unembedded high-mass stars, showing no significant trend with galactocentric radius. Comparison with analytical predictions demonstrates that, independently of the environment, early feedback mechanisms (particularly photoionisation and stellar winds) play a crucial role in dispersing GMCs and limiting their star formation efficiency in nearby galaxies. Finally, we show that the efficiency at which the energy injected by these early feedback mechanisms couples with the parent GMC is relatively low (a few tens of per cent), such that the vast majority of momentum and energy emitted by the young stellar populations escapes the parent GMC.

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The role of galactic dynamics in shaping the physical properties of giant molecular clouds in Milky Way-like galaxies

We examine the role of the large-scale galactic-dynamical environment in setting the properties of giant molecular clouds in Milky Way-like galaxies. We perform three high-resolution simulations of Milky Way-like discs with the moving-mesh hydrodynamics code Arepo, yielding a statistical sample of $\sim 80,000$ giant molecular clouds and $\sim 55,000$ HI clouds. We account for the self-gravity of the gas, momentum and thermal energy injection from supernovae and HII regions, mass injection from stellar winds, and the non-equilibrium chemistry of hydrogen, carbon and oxygen. By varying the external gravitational potential, we probe galactic-dynamical environments spanning an order of magnitude in the orbital angular velocity, gravitational stability, mid-plane pressure and the gradient of the galactic rotation curve. The simulated molecular clouds are highly overdense ($\sim 100\times$) and over-pressured ($\sim 25\times$) relative to the ambient interstellar medium. Their gravo-turbulent and star-forming properties are decoupled from the dynamics of the galactic mid-plane, so that the kpc-scale star formation rate surface density is related only to the number of molecular clouds per unit area of the galactic mid-plane. Despite this, the clouds display clear, statistically-significant correlations of their rotational properties with the rates of galactic shearing and gravitational free-fall. We find that galactic rotation and gravitational instability can influence their elongation, angular momenta, and tangential velocity dispersions. The lower pressures and densities of the HI clouds allow for a greater range of significant dynamical correlations, mirroring the rotational properties of the molecular clouds, while also displaying a coupling of their gravitational and turbulent properties to the galactic-dynamical environment.

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