Figuring Out Gas & Galaxies in Enzo (FOGGIE). IV. The Stochasticity of Ram Pressure Stripping in Galactic Halos
Year: 2020
Type: article
Abstract: We study ram pressure stripping in simulated Milky Way-like halos at from the Figuring Out Gas & Galaxies in Enzo (FOGGIE) project. These simulations reach subkiloparsec resolution throughout the gas in their circumgalactic medium (CGM) owing to FOGGIE’s novel refinement scheme. The CGM of each halo spans a wide dynamic range in density and velocity over its volume—roughly 6 dex and 1000 km s −1 , respectively—translating into a 5 dex range in ram pressure imparted to interacting satellites. The local ram pressure of the simulated CGM at z = 2 is highly stochastic, owing to kiloparsec-scale variations of the density and velocity fields of the CGM gas. As a result, the efficacy of ram pressure stripping depends strongly on the specific path a satellite takes through the CGM. The ram pressure history of a single satellite is generally unpredictable and not well correlated with its approach vector with respect to the host galaxy. The cumulative impact of ram pressure on the simulated satellites is dominated by only a few short, strong impulses—on average, 90% of the total surface momentum gained through ram pressure is imparted in 20% or less of the total orbital time. These results reveal an erratic mode of ram pressure stripping in Milky Way-like halos at high redshift—one that is not captured by a smooth, spherically averaged hydrostatic model of the circumgalactic medium.
Source: The Astrophysical Journal
Authors: Raymond C. Simons, Molly S. Peeples, Jason Tumlinson, Brian W. O’Shea, Britton D. Smith, Lauren Corlies, Cassandra Lochhaas, Yong Zheng, Ramona Augustin, Deovrat Prasad, Gregory F. Snyder, Erik Tollerud
Language: English
Subfield: Astronomy and Astrophysics
Field: Physics and Astronomy
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: bronze
Funders: National Science Foundation, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Adolph C. and Mary Sprague Miller Institute for Basic Research in Science, University of California Berkeley, National Centre for Supercomputing Applications, Space Telescope Science Institute, Nuclear Safety and Security Commission, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Ames Research Center, Science Mission Directorate
Awards: JINA Center for the Evolution of the Elements, G1092154682, G2171960263, Collaborative Research:Framework:Software:NSCI:Enzo for the Exascale Era (Enzo-E), WE PROPOSE TO USE A NEW "GALAXY PARTICLE"-BASED METHOD WITHIN COSMOLOGICAL HYDRODYNAMICS SIMULATIONS TO SIMULTANEOUSLY MODEL BOTH THE GALAX, G3951370523, G433322167, G4518818167, Petascale Adaptive Mesh Simulations of Milky Way-type Galaxies and Their Environments, Sustained-Petascale In Action: Blue Waters Enabling Transformative Science And Engineering, COSMOLOGICAL SIMULATIONS OF GALAXY CLUSTERS TYPICALLY TREAT THE INTRACLUSTER MEDIUM AS A SIMPLE MAGNETIZED FLUID AN APPROXIMATION THAT IS NOW UNDERS, G5579076799, Collaborative Research: Multiscale Physics and Feedback in Real and Simulated Circumgalactic Gas Over Cosmic Time, G58316358, G6273510985, G6789543936, G7125371745, Collaborative research: Multiscale physics and feedback in real and simulated circumgalactic gas over cosmic time, G767601387, G8210229802, G8324313409, THE WAYS IN WHICH GALAXIES ACQUIRE PROCESS ENRICH AND EXPEL THEIR GAS---KNOWN AS THE "BARYON CYCLE"---ARE AMONG THE MOST COMPLEX AND IMPORTANT PROCESSES IN ASTROPHYSICS. HUBBLE AND ITS CONTEMPORARIES HAVE REVEALED MUCH ABOUT THE GAS-GALAXY CONNECTION AT Z<1. WE ANTICIPATE RAPID PROGRESS IN OBSERVATIONAL STUDIES OF THE GAS-GALAXY CONNECTION AT THE Z>2 EPOCH THANKS TO JWST WHICH WILL REACH MUCH DEEPER INTO THE GALAXY POPULATION AND TO MUCH HIGHER REDSHIFTS THAN HAS BEEN POSSIBLE TO DATE DRAWING A RICHER PICTURE OF THIS CONNECTION WHEN ADDED TO THE ALREADY LARGE BODY OF GROUND-BASED SPECTROSCOPY OF THE GAS. TO ADDRESS THE BARYON CYCLE AT Z<1 OUR GROUP HAS DEVELOPED NOVEL APPROACHES TO SIMULATING THE GAS-GALAXY CONNECTION AND SYNTHESIZING MOCK DATA. WE HAVE ACHIEVED 10^4-5 TIMES FINER MASS RESOLUTION IN GALACTIC GAS FLOWS THAN CONVENTIONAL COSMOLOGICAL SIMULATIONS AND WE ARE DEVELOPING NEW TOOLS FOR MAKING SYNTHETIC DATA. WE PROPOSE TO APPLY THESE NEW TECHNIQUES AT Z>2 WHEN STAR FORMATION AND BLACK HOLE ACCRETION RATES WERE RISING WHEN THE POTENTIAL IMPACTS FOR FEEDBACK ON THE BARYON CYCLE ARE STRONGEST. NEW DATA EXPECTED FROM JWST WILL REVOLUTIONIZE THE GALAXY SIDE OF THE GAS/GALAXY EQUATION AT THESE REDSHIFTS OFFERING A NEW WINDOW INTO THE IMPORTANT PHYSICS AND DRAWING SOLID LINKS TO HUBBLE'S WORK AT Z<1. FULLY INTERPRETING THESE NEW DATA HOWEVER WILL REQUIRE NEW THEORETICAL MODELS SYNTHETIC OBSERVATIONS AND ANALYSIS METHODS: FOGGIE WILL EXPLORE BOTH THE PHYSICAL AND OBSERVABLE EFFECTS OF FEEDBACK ON Z>2 GALAXIES. OUR MAIN SCIENTIFIC GOAL FOR THIS WORK IS TO UNDERSTAND THE CGM AND ISM GAS PROCESSES THAT GOVERN STAR FORMATION AND MORPHOLOGY IN OBSERVABLE WAYS. WE WILL FOCUS ON FOUR INTER-RELATED SCIENCE QUESTIONS: (1) STARS: HOW DO FEEDBACK ACCRETION AND GAS RECYCLING AFFECT RESOLVED STAR FORMATION HISTORIES? (2) ISM: HOW DO STAR FORMATION AND AGN FEEDBACK AFFECT THE PHYSICAL PROPERTIES OF THE ISM AT Z>2 AND WHAT DIAGNOSTICS ACCURATELY TRACE THESE PROPERTIES? (3) CGM: HOW DOES FEEDBACK AFFECT THE PHYSICAL AND OBSERVABLE PROPERTIES OF THE CGM? (4) METALS: HOW DOES FEEDBACK AFFECT GALACTIC METAL BUDGETS AND METALLICITY SCALING RELATIONS? WE WILL ADDRESS THESE IMPORTANT QUESTIONS WITH A NOVEL COMBINATION OF EXTREME RESOLUTION IN THE GAS FLOWS AROUND GALAXIES A SUITE OF SYNTHETIC DATA AND NEW TREATMENTS OF STELLAR AND AGN FEEDBACK. WE PLAN TO ADDRESS THESE UNANSWERED QUESTIONS WITH A MAJOR STEP FORWARD IN OUR ABILITY TO ANALYZE THE CONNECTION BETWEEN GALAXIES AND THEIR CIRCUMGALACTIC GAS. OUR PROGRAM CONSISTS OF (1) A NEW SUITE OF COSMOLOGICAL HYDRODYNAMIC SIMULATIONS OF UNPRECEDENTED RESOLUTION IN THE GAS FLOWS AROUND AND WITHIN GALAXIES (2) A NOVEL REFINEMENT SCHEME FOR ACHIEVING THIS RESOLUTION (3) SYNTHETIC OBSERVATIONS OF SIMULATION DATA AND AN OPEN-SOURCE PIPELINE FOR PRODUCING MOCK DATA FROM OTHER SIMULATIONS AND (4) A NOVEL APPROACH TO VARYING FEEDBACK RECIPES AND ASSESSING THEIR EFFECTS ON OBSERVABLE DATA OF BOTH STARS AND GAS. OUR GOALS ARE CONSISTENT WITH NASA'S STRATEGIC OBJECTIVE 1.6 TO "DISCOVER HOW THE UNIVERSE WORKS. . . ". WE WILL PROVIDE PHYSICAL MODELS AND SYNTHETIC DATA FOR COMPARISONS TO OBSERVATIONS FROM CURRENT AND FUTURE NASA FACILITIES SUCH AS HUBBLE AND JWST. WITH JWST SET TO BE COMMISSIONED FOR SCIENCE BY SPRING 2019 (BEFORE THE NEXT ATP DEADLINE) IT IS IMPORTANT THAT WE BEGIN THIS WORK NOW.
OpenAlex ID: W3021924440