On the impact of empirical and theoretical star formation laws on galaxy formation
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.
Additional Information
© 2011 The Authors. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society © 2011 RAS. Accepted 2011 May 28. Received 2011 May 18; in original form 2010 November 24. Article first published online: 22 Jul. 2011. We thank Shaun Cole, Mark Swinbank, Martin Stringer, Jarle Brinchmann, Dave Gilbank and Violeta González for useful comments and discussions. We thank the anonymous referee for helpful remarks that enable us to improve the presentation of this work. CPL gratefully acknowledges an STFC Gemini studentship. AJB acknowledges the support of the Gordon & Betty Moore Foundation. This work was supported by a rolling grant from the STFC.Attached Files
Published - Lagos2011p16030Mon_Not_R_Astron_Soc.pdf
Accepted Version - 1011.5506.pdf
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Additional details
- Eprint ID
- 27251
- Resolver ID
- CaltechAUTHORS:20111017-111848030
- Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation
- Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC)
- Created
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2011-10-17Created from EPrint's datestamp field
- Updated
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2021-11-09Created from EPrint's last_modified field
- Caltech groups
- Moore Center for Theoretical Cosmology and Physics