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On the impact of empirical and theoretical star formation laws on galaxy formation

Lagos, C.D.P.; Lacey, C.G.; Baugh, C.M.; Bower, R.G.; Benson, A.J.

On the impact of empirical and theoretical star formation laws on galaxy formation Thumbnail


Authors

C.D.P. Lagos

R.G. Bower

A.J. Benson



Abstract

We investigate the consequences of applying different star formation laws in the galaxy formation model GALFORM. Three broad star formation laws are implemented: the empirical relations of Kennicutt and Schmidt and Blitz & Rosolowsky and the theoretical model of Krumholz, McKee & Tumlinson. These laws have no free parameters once calibrated against observations of the star formation rate (SFR) and gas surface density in nearby galaxies. We start from published models, and investigate which observables are sensitive to a change in the star formation law, without altering any other model parameters. We show that changing the star formation law (i) does not significantly affect either the star formation history of the universe or the galaxy luminosity functions in the optical and near-infrared, due to an effective balance between the quiescent and burst star formation modes, (ii) greatly affects the cold gas contents of galaxies and (iii) changes the location of galaxies in the SFR versus stellar mass plane, so that a second sequence of ‘passive’ galaxies arises, in addition to the known ‘active’ sequence. We show that this plane can be used to discriminate between the star formation laws.

Citation

Lagos, C., Lacey, C., Baugh, C., Bower, R., & Benson, A. (2011). On the impact of empirical and theoretical star formation laws on galaxy formation. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 416(2), 1566-1584. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2966.2011.19160.x

Journal Article Type Article
Publication Date Sep 11, 2011
Deposit Date Jan 28, 2012
Publicly Available Date Mar 28, 2024
Journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Print ISSN 0035-8711
Electronic ISSN 1365-2966
Publisher Royal Astronomical Society
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 416
Issue 2
Pages 1566-1584
DOI https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2966.2011.19160.x
Keywords Stars: formation galaxies, Evolution galaxies: formation galaxies, ISM.

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Copyright Statement
This article has been accepted for publication in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society © 2011 The Authors Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society © 2011 RAS. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Royal Astronomical Society. All rights reserved.





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