Simulating Molecular Hydrogen in Evolving Galaxies
Charlotte Christensen
University of Arizona
Monday Nov 21st 2011, 4PM, Steward N210
One aspect of star formation that has been neglected in most previous simulations of galaxy formation is the cold, molecular phase of the interstellar medium. In this talk, I present a method for integrating the non-equilibrium molecular hydrogen abundance throughout a simulation, including such processes as its dissociation by Lyman-Werner radiation and the shielding of the molecular gas. With this code, I have integrated the formation of several low-mass spiral and dwarf galaxies to a redshift of zero. These simulations illustrate the effects of enabling the formation of the cold phase of the ISM and linking star formation to that phase. I discuss how the addition of H2 physics leads to differences in the star formation and mass distribution and what we can learn about galaxy evolution by studying the link between the ISM, star formation, and feedback. href="http://www.cfa.harvard.edu/~dnarayan/tapcolloq/tapcolloq10.html">TAP
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