Galaxy evolution
Numerical simulation performed with AREPO.
Description of the simulations:
In this project, we conduct high-resolution numerical simulations of isolated, Milky Way–type disk galaxies to investigate the formation, evolution, and star-forming activity of molecular clouds in a galactic environment. The simulated galaxy comprises a live dark matter halo, a stellar bulge, a stellar disk, and a rotating multiphase gas disk. The models incorporate a comprehensive suite of physical processes critical to the interstellar medium (ISM) and star formation, including self-gravity, gas cooling and heating, star formation recipes based on local gas conditions, and stellar feedback mechanisms such as supernovae, stellar winds, and radiation pressure. These ingredients allow for a realistic modeling of the turbulent, hierarchical structure of the ISM and the non-linear dynamics governing molecular cloud lifecycles. The primary aim is to understand how the galactic environment regulates cloud formation, how feedback reshapes the ISM and limits star formation efficiency, and how molecular clouds inherit their kinematic and structural properties from large-scale galactic dynamics. This numerical simulation remains unpublished.