ITC Colloquium - Brant Robertson (UCSC)
Date and Time
September 13, 2018
11:00AM - 12:00PM EDT
Location
Pratt
"Modeling Galactic Outflows with Petascale Simulations"
Galactic outflows play a critical role in the formation and evolution of galaxies, as the expulsion of gas regulates the baryonic content of dwarf galaxies and likely explains the behavior of the faint end of the luminosity function. Using the CGOLS (Cholla Galactic OutfLow Simulations) suite of high-resolution isolated galaxy models, we examine how large-scale outflows from galaxies may develop from energy and momentum input on small scales. In modeling the multiphase character of the outflows, we demonstrate the viability of rapid radiative cooling as a source of fast-moving (v∼1000 km/s), cool (T~10^4 K) gas observed in absorption line studies of outflows around some star-forming galaxies. These results suggest an origin for fast-moving cool gas in outflows that does not rely on directly accelerating cool gas from the interstellar medium, and these cooling flows may additionally provide an explanation for the multiphase gas ubiquitously observed in the halos of star-forming galaxies at low redshift.
Galactic outflows play a critical role in the formation and evolution of galaxies, as the expulsion of gas regulates the baryonic content of dwarf galaxies and likely explains the behavior of the faint end of the luminosity function. Using the CGOLS (Cholla Galactic OutfLow Simulations) suite of high-resolution isolated galaxy models, we examine how large-scale outflows from galaxies may develop from energy and momentum input on small scales. In modeling the multiphase character of the outflows, we demonstrate the viability of rapid radiative cooling as a source of fast-moving (v∼1000 km/s), cool (T~10^4 K) gas observed in absorption line studies of outflows around some star-forming galaxies. These results suggest an origin for fast-moving cool gas in outflows that does not rely on directly accelerating cool gas from the interstellar medium, and these cooling flows may additionally provide an explanation for the multiphase gas ubiquitously observed in the halos of star-forming galaxies at low redshift.