Colloquium Jorge Moreno
Spatially Resolved Galaxy Interactions
Jorge Moreno, Pomona College
The focus of this talk is to address the spatial structure and evolution of star formation and the interstellar medium ISM in interacting galaxies. We use an extensive suite of parsec-scale galaxy merger simulations, which employs the “Feedback In Realistic Environments” model FIRE-2. This framework resolves star formation, feedback processes, and the multi-phase structure of the ISM. We focus on the galaxy-pair stages of interaction. We find that close encounters substantially augment cool HI and cold-dense H2 gas budgets, elevating the formation of new stars as a result. We also find that galaxies with elevated global star formation rate SFR experience intense nuclear SFR enhancement, driven by high levels of either star formation efficiency SFE or available cold-dense gas fuel. Galaxies with suppressed global SFR also contain a nuclear cold-dense gas reservoir, but low SFE levels diminish SFR in the central region. Our numerical predictions underscore the need of substantially larger, and/or merger-dedicated, spatially-resolved integral-field spectroscopic galaxy surveys — capable of examining vast and diverse samples of interacting systems — coupled with multi-wavelength campaigns aimed to capture their internal ISM structure. If time allows, I will also speak of dark matter free dwarf galaxies in FIREBox, a cosmological simulation of galaxy formation with FIRE. https://arxiv.org/abs/2009.11289
https://nmsu.zoom.us/j/96153330256
03:00 PM - 04:00 PM Friday
