arXiv subjects

J. Wadsley

Publications and source records attributed to J. Wadsley.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2024

On the relation between magnetic field strength and gas density in the interstellar medium: A multiscale analysis

The magnetic field strength to gas density relation in the interstellar medium is of fundamental importance. We present and compare Bayesian analyses of the B-n relation for two comprehensive observational data sets: a Zeeman data set and 700 observations using the Davis-Chandrasekhar-Fermi (DCF) method. Using a hierarchical Bayesian analysis we present a general, multi-scale broken power-law relation, $B=B_0(n/n_0)^{\alpha}$ , with $\alpha=\alpha_1$ for $n n_0$, and with $B_0$ the field strength at $n_0$. For the Zeeman data we find: $\alpha_1={0.15^{+0.06}_{-0.09}}$ for diffuse gas and $\alpha_2 = {0.53^{+0.09}_{-0.07}}$ for dense gas with $n_0 = 4.00^{+12.7}_{-2.90} \times 10^3$ cm$^{-3}$. For the DCF data we find: $\alpha_1={0.26^{+0.15}_{-0.15}}$ and $\alpha_2={0.77_{-0.15}^{+0.14}}$, with $n_0=13.9^{+10.1}_{-7.30} \times 10^4$ cm$^{-3}$, where the uncertainties give 68\% credible intervals. We perform a similar analysis on nineteen numerical magnetohydrodynamic simulations covering a wide range of physical conditions from protostellar disks to dwarf and Milky Way-like galaxies, completed with the AREPO, Flash, Pencil, and Ramses codes. The resulting exponents depend on several physical factors such as dynamo effects and their time scales, turbulence, and initial seed field strength. \textcolor{red}{We find that the dwarf and Milky Way-like galaxy simulations produce results closest to the observations.

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arXiv2023

Hyperbolic Conduction: A Fast, Physical Conduction Model Implemented in Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics

We present the first implementation of hyperbolic thermal conduction in smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH). Hyperbolic conduction is a physically-motivated alternative to traditional, parabolic conduction. It incorporates a relaxation time, which ensures that heat propagates no faster than a physical signal speed. This allows for larger, Courant like, time steps for explicit schemes. Numerical solutions of the hyperbolic conduction equations require added dissipation to remain stable at discontinuities and we present a novel scheme for this. Test cases include a simple step, the Sod shock tube, the Sedov-Taylor blast, and a super bubble. We demonstrate how longer relaxation times limit conduction, recovering the purely hydrodynamical results, while short relaxation times converge on the parabolic conduction result. We demonstrate that our scheme is stable with explicit Courant-like time steps and can be orders of magnitude faster than explicit parabolic conduction, depending on the application.

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arXiv2021

Cosmic filaments delay quenching inside clusters

We investigate how large-scale cosmic filaments impact the quenching of galaxies within one virial radius of 324 simulated clusters from The Three Hundred project. We track cosmic filaments with the versatile, observation-friendly program DisPerSE and identify halos hosting galaxies with VELOCIRaptor. We find that cluster galaxies close to filaments tend to be more star-forming, bluer, and contain more cold gas than their counterparts further away from filaments. This effect is recovered at all stellar masses. This is in stark contrast with galaxies residing outside of clusters, where galaxies close to filaments show clear signs of density related pre-processing. We first show that the density contrast of filaments is reduced inside the intra-cluster medium. Moreover, examination of flows around and into cluster galaxies shows that the gas flows in intra-cluster filaments are colder and tend to stream along with galaxies in their midst, partially shielding them from strangulation by the hot, dense intra-cluster medium. This also preserves accretion onto satellites and limit ram pressure.

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arXiv2021

Magnetorotational instability with smoothed particle hydrodynamics

We present a thorough numerical study on the MRI using the smoothed particle magnetohydrodynamics method (SPMHD) with the geometric density average force expression (GDSPH). We perform shearing box simulations with different initial setups and a wide range of resolution and dissipation parameters. We show, for the first time, that MRI with sustained turbulence can be simulated successfully with SPH, with results consistent with prior work with grid-based codes. In particular, for the stratified boxes, our simulations reproduce the characteristic butterfly diagram of the MRI dynamo with saturated turbulence for at least 100 orbits. On the contrary, traditional SPH simulations suffer from runaway growth and develop unphysically large azimuthal fields, similar to the results from a recent study with mesh-less methods. We investigated the dependency of MRI turbulence on the numerical Prandtl number in SPH, focusing on the unstratified, zero net-flux case. We found that turbulence can only be sustained with a Prandtl number larger than $\sim$2.5, similar to the critical values of physical Prandtl number found in grid-code simulations. However, unlike grid-based codes, the numerical Prandtl number in SPH increases with resolution, and for a fixed Prandtl number, the resulting magnetic energy and stresses are independent of resolution. Mean-field analyses were performed on all simulations, and the resulting transport coefficients indicate no $α$-effect in the unstratified cases, but an active $αΩ$ dynamo and a diamagnetic pumping effect in the stratified medium, which are generally in agreement with previous studies. There is no clear indication of a shear-current dynamo in our simulation, which is likely to be responsible for a weaker mean-field growth in the tall, unstratified, zero net-flux simulation.

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arXiv2017

Haloes at the ragged edge: The importance of the splashback radius

We have explored the outskirts of dark matter haloes out to 2.5 times the virial radius using a large sample of halos drawn from Illustris, along with a set of zoom simulations (MUGS). Using these, we make a systematic exploration of the shape profile beyond R$_{vir}$. In the mean sphericity profile of Illustris halos we identify a dip close to the virial radius, which is robust across a broad range of masses and infall rates. The inner edge of this feature may be related to the virial radius and the outer edge with the splashback radius. Due to the high halo-to-halo variation this result is visible only on average. However, in four individual halos in the MUGS sample, a decrease in the sphericity and a subsequent recovery is evident close to the splashback radius. We find that this feature persists for several Gyr, growing with the halo. This feature appears at the interface between the spherical halo density distribution and the filamentary structure in the environment. The shape feature is strongest when there is a high rate of infall, implying that the effect is due to the mixing of accreting and virializing material. The filamentary velocity field becomes rapidly mixed in the halo region inside the virial radius, with the area between this and the splashback radius serving as the transition region. We also identify a long-lasting and smoothly evolving splashback region in the radial density gradient in many of the MUGS halos.

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arXiv2016

The anatomy of a star-forming galaxy: Pressure-driven regulation of star formation in simulated galaxies

We explore the regulation of star formation in star-forming galaxies through a suite of high-resolution isolated galaxy simulations. We use the SPH code GASOLINE, including photoelectric heating and metal cooling, which produces a multi-phase interstellar medium. We show that representative star formation and feedback sub-grid models naturally lead to a weak, sub-linear dependence between the amount of star formation and changes to star formation parameters. We incorporate these sub-grid models into an equilibrium pressure-driven regulation framework. We show that the sub-linear scaling arises as a consequence of the non-linear relationship between scale height and the effective pressure generated by stellar feedback. Thus, simulated star-formation regulation is sensitive to how well vertical structure in the ISM is resolved. Full galaxy disks experience density waves which drive locally time-dependent star formation. We develop a simple time-dependent, pressure-driven model that reproduces the response extremely well.

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arXiv2016

Cosmological Galaxy Evolution with Superbubble Feedback II: The Limits of Supernovae

We explore when supernovae can (and cannot) regulate the star formation and bulge growth in galaxies based on a sample of 18 simulated galaxies. The simulations include key physics such as evaporation and conduction, neglected in prior work, and required to correctly model superbubbles resulting from stellar feedback. We show that for galaxies with virial masses $>10^{12}\;M_\odot$, supernovae alone cannot prevent excessive star formation. This failure occurs due to a shutdown of galactic winds, with wind mass loadings falling from $η\sim10$ to $η<1$. In more massive systems, this transfer of baryons to the circumgalactic medium falters earlier on and the galaxies diverge significantly from observed galaxy scaling relations and morphologies. The decreasing efficiency is simply due to a deepening potential well preventing gas escape. This implies that non-supernova feedback mechanisms must become dominant for galaxies with stellar masses greater than $\sim4\times10^{10}\;M_\odot$. The runaway growth of the central stellar bulge, strongly linked to black hole growth, suggests that feedback from active galactic nuclei is the probable mechanism. Below this mass, supernovae alone are able to produce a realistic stellar mass fraction, star formation history and disc morphology.

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arXiv2016

The MaGICC Baryon Cycle: The Enrichment History of Simulated Disc Galaxies

Using cosmological galaxy formation simulations from the MaGICC project, spanning more than three magnitudes in stellar mass (~10^7-3x10^{10} Msun), we trace the baryonic cycle of infalling gas from the virial radius through to its participation in the star formation process. An emphasis is placed upon the temporal history of chemical enrichment during its passage through the corona and CGM. We derive the distributions of time between gas crossing the virial radius and being accreted to the star forming region (which allows mixing within the corona), as well as the time between gas being accreted to the star forming region and then forming stars (which allows mixing within the disc). Significant numbers of stars are formed from gas that cycles back through the hot halo after first accreting to the star forming region. Gas entering high mass galaxies is pre-enriched in low mass proto-galaxies prior to entering the virial radius of the central progenitor, with only small amounts of primordial gas accreted, even at high redshift (z~5). After entering the virial radius, significant further enrichment occurs prior to the accretion of the gas to the star forming region, with gas that is feeding the star forming region surpassing 0.1Z by z=0. Mixing with halo gas, itself enriched via galactic fountains, is thus crucial in determining the metallicity at which gas is accreted to the disc. The lowest mass simulation (Mvir~2x10^{10}Msun, with M*~10^7Msun), by contrast, accretes primordial gas through the virial radius and onto the disc at all times. Much like the classical analytical solutions to the `G-dwarf problem', overproduction of low-metallicity stars is ameliorated by the inefficiency of star formation. Finally, gas outflow/metal removal rates from star forming regions as a function of galactic mass are presented.

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arXiv2015

The history of stellar metallicity in a simulated disc galaxy

We explore the chemical distribution of stars in a simulated galaxy. Using simulations of the same initial conditions but with two different feedback schemes (MUGS and MaGICC), we examine the features of the age-metallicity relation (AMR), and the three-dimensional age-metallicity-[O/Fe] distribution, both for the galaxy as a whole and decomposed into disc, bulge, halo, and satellites. The MUGS simulation, which uses traditional supernova feedback, is replete with chemical substructure. This sub- structure is absent from the MaGICC simulation, which includes early feedback from stellar winds, a modified IMF and more efficient feedback. The reduced amount of substructure is due to the almost complete lack of satellites in MaGICC. We identify a significant separation between the bulge and disc AMRs, where the bulge is considerably more metal-rich with a smaller spread in metallicity at any given time than the disc. Our results suggest, however, that identifying the substructure in observations will require exquisite age resolution, on the order of 0.25 Gyr. Certain satellites show exotic features in the AMR, even forming a 'sawtooth' shape of increasing metallicity followed by sharp declines which correspond to pericentric passages. This fact, along with the large spread in stellar age at a given metallicity, compromises the use of metallicity as an age indicator, although alpha abundance provides a more robust clock at early times. This may also impact algorithms that are used to reconstruct star formation histories from resolved stellar populations, which frequently assume a monotonically-increasing AMR.

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arXiv2015

Cosmological Galaxy Evolution with Superbubble Feedback I: Realistic Galaxies with Moderate Feedback

We present the first cosmological galaxy evolved using the modern smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH) code GASOLINE2 with superbubble feedback. We show that superbubble-driven galactic outflows powered by Type II supernovae alone can produce $\rm{L^*}$ galaxies with flat rotation curves with circular velocities $\sim 200\; \rm{km/s}$, low bulge-to-disc ratios, and stellar mass fractions that match observed values from high redshift to the present. These features are made possible by the high mass loadings generated by the evaporative growth of superbubbles. Outflows are driven extremely effectively at high redshift, expelling gas at early times and preventing overproduction of stars before $z=2$. Centrally concentrated gas in previous simulations has often lead to unrealistically high bulge to total ratios and strongly peaked rotation curves. We show that supernova-powered superbubbles alone can produce galaxies that agree well with observed properties without the need for additional feedback mechanisms or increased feedback energy. We present additional results arising from properly modelled hot feedback.

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arXiv2015

NIHAO III: The constant disc gas mass conspiracy

We show that the cool gas masses of galactic discs reach a steady state that lasts many Gyr after their last major merger in cosmological hydrodynamic simulations. The mass of disc gas, M$_{\rm gas}$, depends upon a galaxy halo's spin and virial mass, but not upon stellar feedback. Halos with low spin have high star formation efficiency and lower disc gas mass. Similarly, lower stellar feedback leads to more star formation so the gas mass ends up nearly the same irregardless of stellar feedback strength. Even considering spin, the M$_{\rm gas}$ relation with halo mass, M$_{200}$ only shows a factor of 3 scatter. The M$_{\rm gas}$--M$_{200}$ relation show a break at M$_{200}$=$2\times10^{11}$ M$_\odot$ that corresponds to an observed break in the M$_{\rm gas}$--M$_\star$ relation. The constant disc mass stems from a shared halo gas density profile in all the simulated galaxies. In their outer regions, the profiles are isothermal. Where the profile rises above $n=10^{-3}$ cm$^{-3}$, the gas readily cools and the profile steepens. Inside the disc, rotation supports gas with a flatter density profile except where supernova explosions disrupt the disc. Energy injection from stellar feedback also provides pressure support to the halo gas to prevent runaway cooling flows. The resulting constant gas mass makes simpler models for galaxy formation possible, either using a "bathtub" model for star formation rates or when modeling chemical evolution.

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arXiv2015

All about baryons: revisiting SIDM predictions at small halo masses

We use cosmological hydrodynamic simulations to consistently compare the assembly of dwarf galaxies in both $Λ$ dominated, Cold (CDM) and Self--Interacting (SIDM) dark matter models. The SIDM model adopts a constant cross section of 2 $cm^{2}/g$, a relatively large value to maximize its effects. These are the first SIDM simulations that are combined with a description of stellar feedback that naturally drives potential fluctuations able to create dark matter cores. Remarkably, SIDM fails to significantly lower the central dark matter density at halo peak velocities V$_{max}$ $<$ 30 Km/s. This is due to the fact that the central regions of very low--mass field halos have relatively low central velocity dispersion and densities, leading to time scales for SIDM collisions greater than a Hubble time. CDM halos with V$_{max}$ $<$ 30 km/s have inefficient star formation, and hence weak supernova feedback. At a fixed 2 cm2/g SIDM cross section, the DM content of very low mass CDM and SIDM halos differs by no more than a factor of two within 100-200pc. At larger halo masses ($\sim$ 10$^{10}$ solar masses), the introduction of baryonic processes creates field dwarf galaxies with dark matter cores and central DM$+$baryon distributions that are effectively indistinguishable between CDM and SIDM. Both models are in broad agreement with observed Local Group field galaxies across the range of masses explored. To significantly differentiate SIDM from CDM at the scale of faint dwarf galaxies, a velocity dependent cross section that rapidly increases to values larger than 2 $cm^{2}/g$ for halos with V$_{max}$ < 25-30 Km/s needs to be introduced.

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arXiv2014

Orbital Decay of Supermassive Black Hole Binaries in Clumpy Multiphase Merger Remnants

We simulate an equal-mass merger of two Milky Way-size galaxy discs with moderate gas fractions at parsec-scale resolution including a new model for radiative cooling and heating in a multi-phase medium, as well as star formation and feedback from supernovae. The two discs initially have a $2.6\times10^6\mathrm{~M_{\odot}}$ supermassive black hole (SMBH) embedded in their centers. As the merger completes and the two galactic cores merge, the SMBHs form a a pair with a separation of a few hundred pc that gradually decays. Due to the stochastic nature of the system immediately following the merger, the orbital plane of the binary is significantly perturbed. Furthermore, owing to the strong starburst the gas from the central region is completely evacuated, requiring $\sim10$~Myr for a nuclear disc to rebuild. Most importantly, the clumpy nature of the interstellar medium has a major impact on the the dynamical evolution of the SMBH pair, which undergo gravitational encounters with massive gas clouds and stochastic torquing by both clouds and spiral modes in the disk. These effects combine to greatly delay the decay of the two SMBHs to separations of a few parsecs by nearly two orders of magnitude, $\sim 10^8$ yr, compared to previous work. In mergers of more gas-rich, clumpier galaxies at high redshift stochastic torques will be even more pronounced and potentially lead to stronger modulation of the orbital decay. This suggests that SMBH pairs at separations of several tens of parsecs should be relatively common at any redshift.

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arXiv2014

A Superbubble Feedback Model for Galaxy Simulations

We present a new stellar feedback model that reproduces superbubbles. Superbubbles from clustered young stars evolve quite differently to individual supernovae and are substantially more efficient at generating gas motions. The essential new components of the model are thermal conduction, sub-grid evaporation and a sub-grid multi-phase treatment for cases where the simulation mass resolution is insufficient to model the early stages of the superbubble. The multi-phase stage is short compared to superbubble lifetimes. Thermal conduction physically regulates the hot gas mass without requiring a free parameter. Accurately following the hot component naturally avoids overcooling. Prior approaches tend to heat too much mass, leaving the hot ISM below $10^6$ K and susceptible to rapid cooling unless ad-hoc fixes were used. The hot phase also allows feedback energy to correctly accumulate from multiple, clustered sources, including stellar winds and supernovae. We employ high-resolution simulations of a single star cluster to show the model is insensitive to numerical resolution, unresolved ISM structure and suppression of conduction by magnetic fields. We also simulate a Milky Way analog and a dwarf galaxy. Both galaxies show regulated star formation and produce strong outflows.

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arXiv2014

Simulating disc galaxy bulges that are consistent with observed scaling relations

We present a detailed comparison between the photometric properties of the bulges of two simulated galaxies and those of a uniform sample of observed galaxies. This analysis shows that the simulated galaxies have bulges with realistic surface brightnesses for their sizes and magnitude. These two field disc galaxies have rotational velocities ~ 100 km/s and were integrated to a redshift of zero in a fully cosmological Lambda cold dark matter context as part of high-resolution smoothed particle hydrodynamic simulations. We performed bulge-disc decompositions of the galaxies using artificial observations, in order to conduct a fair comparison to observations. We also dynamically decomposed the galaxies and compared the star formation histories of the bulges to those of the entire galaxies. These star formation histories showed that the bulges were primarily formed before z = 1 and during periods of rapid star formation. Both galaxies have large amounts of early star formation, which is likely related to the relatively high bulge-to-disc ratios also measured for them. Unlike almost all previous cosmological simulations, the realistically concentrated bulges of these galaxies do not lead to unphysically high rotational velocities, causing them to naturally lie along the observed Tully-Fisher relation.

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arXiv2013

Galaxy Formation with local photoionisation feedback I. Methods

We present a first study of the effect of local photoionising radiation on gas cooling in smoothed particle hydrodynamics simulations of galaxy formation. We explore the combined effect of ionising radiation from young and old stellar populations. The method computes the effect of multiple radiative sources using the same tree algorithm used for gravity, so it is computationally efficient and well resolved. The method foregoes calculating absorption and scattering in favour of a constant escape fraction for young stars to keep the calculation efficient enough to simulate the entire evolution of a galaxy in a cosmological context to the present day. This allows us to quantify the effect of the local photoionisation feedback through the whole history of a galaxy`s formation. The simulation of a Milky Way like galaxy using the local photoionisation model forms ~ 40 % less stars than a simulation that only includes a standard uniform background UV field. The local photoionisation model decreases star formation by increasing the cooling time of the gas in the halo and increasing the equilibrium temperature of dense gas in the disc. Coupling the local radiation field to gas cooling from the halo provides a preventive feedback mechanism which keeps the central disc light and produces slowly rising rotation curves without resorting to extreme feedback mechanisms. These preliminary results indicate that the effect of local photoionising sources is significant and should not be ignored in models of galaxy formation.

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arXiv2013

MaGICC Thick Disk I: Comparing a Simulated Disk Formed with Stellar Feedback to the Milky Way

We analyse the structure and chemical enrichment of a Milky Way-like galaxy with a stellar mass of 2 10^{10} M_sun, formed in a cosmological hydrodynamical simulation. It is disk-dominated with a flat rotation curve, and has a disk scale length similar to the Milky Way's, but a velocity dispersion that is ~50% higher. Examining stars in narrow [Fe/H] and [α/Fe] abundance ranges, we find remarkable qualitative agreement between this simulation and observations: a) The old stars lie in a thickened distribution with a short scale length, while the young stars form a thinner disk, with scale lengths decreasing, as [Fe/H] increases. b) Consequently, there is a distinct outward metallicity gradient. c) Mono-abundance populations exist with a continuous distribution of scale heights (from thin to thick). However, the simulated galaxy has a distinct and substantive very thick disk (h_z~1.5 kpc), not seen in the Milky Way. The broad agreement between simulations and observations allows us to test the validity of observational proxies used in the literature: we find in the simulation that mono-abundance populations are good proxies for single age populations (<1 Gyr) for most abundances.

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arXiv2012

The luminosity function of diverse satellite galaxy systems

The high-resolution, SPH galaxies of the McMaster Unbiased Galaxy Survey (MUGS) are used to examine the satellite systems of sixteen model host galaxies. Each galaxy has a different mass, angular momentum and merger history that yield a rich set of satellite luminosity functions. With new observations of distant satellite systems, we can compare these luminosity functions to satellite systems beyond the Local Group. We find that the luminosity functions of our simulations compare well to observations when the luminosity functions are scaled according to host mass. We use the recently-found relationship between dwarf satellites and host mass in distant satellite systems (Trentham & Tully 2009) to normalize a theoretical, complete luminosity function for the Milky Way (Koposov et al. 2008). The luminosity function of satellites, expressed as a function of the host mass, is given by dN/dM_V= 3.5 x M_host^(0.91) x 10^(0.1 x M_V-10.2), where host mass is given in M_sun. The mass of a host galaxy can be used to predict the number of dwarf satellites and even when considering spiral and elliptical hosts separately this relation holds.

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