Introducing the Rhea simulations of Milky-Way-like galaxies I: Effect of gravitational potential on morphology and star formation

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Auteurs principaux: Göller, Junia, Girichidis, Philipp, Brucy, Noé, Hunter, Glen, Kjellgren, Karin, Tress, Robin, Klessen, Ralf S., Glover, Simon C. O., Hennebelle, Patrick, Molinari, Sergio, Smith, Rowan, Soler, Juan D., Sormani, Mattia C., Testi, Leonardo
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Publié: 2025
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author Göller, Junia
Girichidis, Philipp
Brucy, Noé
Hunter, Glen
Kjellgren, Karin
Tress, Robin
Klessen, Ralf S.
Glover, Simon C. O.
Hennebelle, Patrick
Molinari, Sergio
Smith, Rowan
Soler, Juan D.
Sormani, Mattia C.
Testi, Leonardo
author_facet Göller, Junia
Girichidis, Philipp
Brucy, Noé
Hunter, Glen
Kjellgren, Karin
Tress, Robin
Klessen, Ralf S.
Glover, Simon C. O.
Hennebelle, Patrick
Molinari, Sergio
Smith, Rowan
Soler, Juan D.
Sormani, Mattia C.
Testi, Leonardo
contents The Milky Way is a complex ecosystem, for which we can obtain detailed observations probing the physical mechanisms determining the interstellar medium. For a detailed comparison with observations, and to provide theories for missing observables, we need to model the Milky Way as closely as possible. However, details of the Galactic structure are not fully defined by observations, raising the need for more generalized models. With the Rhea simulations we present a set of Milky Way like simulations, containing detailed physics of the interstellar medium, as well as star formation and stellar feedback. We conduct two simulations that differ in the gravitational potential: one fitted to several structural details derived from observations, the other just reproducing the most basic quantities. We find little difference in the overall morphology except for the bar region, which funnels gas towards the Galactic inner region and therefore prevents quenching in the center. Despite differences with galacto-centric radius, the global star formation rate is almost identical in both setups. A spiral arm potential does not influence properties of groups of formed stars. A bar potential, however, lowers size and formation time of those groups. We therefore conclude for a spiral arm potential to have little influence on star formation in the Galaxy, except for producing long-lived spiral structures instead of transient ones. A Galactic bar potential has noticeable influence on star formation mainly within the innermost 2.5kpc.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2502_02646
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Introducing the Rhea simulations of Milky-Way-like galaxies I: Effect of gravitational potential on morphology and star formation
Göller, Junia
Girichidis, Philipp
Brucy, Noé
Hunter, Glen
Kjellgren, Karin
Tress, Robin
Klessen, Ralf S.
Glover, Simon C. O.
Hennebelle, Patrick
Molinari, Sergio
Smith, Rowan
Soler, Juan D.
Sormani, Mattia C.
Testi, Leonardo
Astrophysics of Galaxies
The Milky Way is a complex ecosystem, for which we can obtain detailed observations probing the physical mechanisms determining the interstellar medium. For a detailed comparison with observations, and to provide theories for missing observables, we need to model the Milky Way as closely as possible. However, details of the Galactic structure are not fully defined by observations, raising the need for more generalized models. With the Rhea simulations we present a set of Milky Way like simulations, containing detailed physics of the interstellar medium, as well as star formation and stellar feedback. We conduct two simulations that differ in the gravitational potential: one fitted to several structural details derived from observations, the other just reproducing the most basic quantities. We find little difference in the overall morphology except for the bar region, which funnels gas towards the Galactic inner region and therefore prevents quenching in the center. Despite differences with galacto-centric radius, the global star formation rate is almost identical in both setups. A spiral arm potential does not influence properties of groups of formed stars. A bar potential, however, lowers size and formation time of those groups. We therefore conclude for a spiral arm potential to have little influence on star formation in the Galaxy, except for producing long-lived spiral structures instead of transient ones. A Galactic bar potential has noticeable influence on star formation mainly within the innermost 2.5kpc.
title Introducing the Rhea simulations of Milky-Way-like galaxies I: Effect of gravitational potential on morphology and star formation
topic Astrophysics of Galaxies
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2502.02646