The Evolution of Disk Galaxies Over Cosmic Ages
Alyson Brooks (Caltech)
I will present the latest results from a set of cosmological N-body simulations that form individual spiral galaxies. I will discuss how both increased resolution and a physically motivated prescription for supernovae feedback are necessary to overcome long-standing problems with past CDM disk galaxy simulations. Our high resolution and feedback scheme lead to disk galaxies that have a realistic angular moment content with scale lengths and light profiles similar to observed galaxies, as well as a realistic metal content that reproduces the observed mass-metallicity relation for galaxies.
I will highlight recent work utilizing these simulations, demonstrating that cold flow gas accretion modifies the standard picture of gas accretion and cooling onto galaxy disks. Within this modified picture, galaxies are able to accrete a large mass of cold gas along filaments at early times, with lower initial gas temperatures leading to shorter cooling times to reach the disk. The short cooling times allow for the growth of stellar disks at much higher redshift than predicted by the standard model.
Alyson Brooks (Caltech)
I will present the latest results from a set of cosmological N-body simulations that form individual spiral galaxies. I will discuss how both increased resolution and a physically motivated prescription for supernovae feedback are necessary to overcome long-standing problems with past CDM disk galaxy simulations. Our high resolution and feedback scheme lead to disk galaxies that have a realistic angular moment content with scale lengths and light profiles similar to observed galaxies, as well as a realistic metal content that reproduces the observed mass-metallicity relation for galaxies.
I will highlight recent work utilizing these simulations, demonstrating that cold flow gas accretion modifies the standard picture of gas accretion and cooling onto galaxy disks. Within this modified picture, galaxies are able to accrete a large mass of cold gas along filaments at early times, with lower initial gas temperatures leading to shorter cooling times to reach the disk. The short cooling times allow for the growth of stellar disks at much higher redshift than predicted by the standard model.