Facial reconstruction

Search LJMU Research Online

Browse Repository | Browse E-Theses

The fundamental plane of star formation in galaxies revealed by the EAGLE hydrodynamical simulations

Lagos, CDP, Theuns, T, Schaye, J, Furlong, M, Bower, RG, Schaller, M, Crain, RA, Trayford, JW and Matthee, J (2016) The fundamental plane of star formation in galaxies revealed by the EAGLE hydrodynamical simulations. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 459 (3). pp. 2632-2650. ISSN 0035-8711

[img]
Preview
Text
MNRAS-2016-Lagos-2632-50.pdf - Published Version

Download (5MB) | Preview

Abstract

We investigate correlations between different physical properties of star-forming galaxies in the "Evolution and Assembly of GaLaxies and their Environments" (EAGLE) cosmological hydrodynamical simulation suite over the redshift range $0\le z\le 4.5$. A principal component analysis reveals that neutral gas fraction ($f_{\rm gas, neutral}$), stellar mass ($M_{\rm stellar}$) and star formation rate (SFR) account for most of the variance seen in the population, with galaxies tracing a two-dimensional, nearly flat, surface in the three-dimensional space of $f_{\rm gas, neutral}-M_{\rm stellar}-\rm SFR$ with little scatter. The location of this plane varies little with redshift, whereas galaxies themselves move along the plane as their $f_{\rm gas, neutral}$ and SFR drop with redshift. The positions of galaxies along the plane are highly correlated with gas metallicity. The metallicity can therefore be robustly predicted from $f_{\rm gas, neutral}$, or from the $M_{\rm stellar}$ and SFR. We argue that the appearance of this "fundamental plane of star formation" is a consequence of self-regulation, with the plane's curvature set by the dependence of the SFR on gas density and metallicity. We analyse a large compilation of observations spanning the redshift range $0\lesssim \rm z\lesssim 2.5$, and find that such a plane is also present in the data. The properties of the observed fundamental plane of star formation are in good agreement with EAGLE's predictions.

Item Type: Article
Additional Information: This article has been accepted for publication in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society ©: 2016 R.A. Crain et al. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Royal Astronomical Society. All rights reserved.
Uncontrolled Keywords: 0201 Astronomical And Space Sciences
Subjects: Q Science > QB Astronomy
Divisions: Astrophysics Research Institute
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Related URLs:
Date Deposited: 25 May 2016 11:18
Last Modified: 02 Aug 2022 14:24
DOI or ID number: 10.1093/mnras/stw717
URI: https://researchonline.ljmu.ac.uk/id/eprint/3670
View Item View Item