The energy and momentum input of supernova explosions in structured and ionized molecular clouds

By Stefanie Walch, T. Naab. 2014

160 citations recorded by the source corpus.

We investigate the early impact of single and binary supernova (SN) explosions on dense gas clouds with three-dimensional, high-resolution, hydrodynamic simulations. The effect of cloud structure, radiative cooling, and ionising radiation from the progenitor stars on the net input of kinetic energy, f_kin=E_kin/E_SN, thermal energy, f_therm=E_therm/E_SN, and gas momentum f_P=P/P_SN to the interstellar medium (ISM) is tested. For clouds with n=100 cm^{-3}, the momentum generating Sedov and pressure-driven snowplough phases are terminated early (~ 0.01 Myr) and radiative cooling limits the coupling to f_therm ~ 0.01, f_kin ~ 0.05, and f_P ~ 9, significantly lower than for the case without cooling. For pre-ionised clouds these numbers are only increased by ~ 50%, independent of the cloud structure. This only suffices to accelerate ~ 5% of the cloud to radial velocities >30km/s. A second SN might further enhance the coupling efficiencies if delayed past the Sedov phase of the first explosion. Such very low coupling efficiencies cast doubts on many galaxy-scale sub-resolution models for supernova feedback, most of which are validated a posteriori by qualitative agreement of galaxy properties with observations. Ionising radiation appears not to significantly enhance the immediate coupling of SNe to the surrounding gas as it drives the ISM into inert dense shells and cold clumps, a process which is unresolved in galaxy scale simulations. Our results support previous conclusions that supernovae might only drive a wind if a significant fraction explodes in low-density environments or if they are supported by processes other than ionising radiation.

Subfields: Astronomy and Astrophysics, Nuclear and High Energy Physics

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/91b8d2164048b8496d7ab5c80d8cd42c7996a3b7

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Citations in the corpus

A unified model for galactic discs: star formation, turbulence driving, and mass transport (2017, background): “Simulations suggest the momentum per unit mass is p∗/m∗ ≈ 3000 km s−1 for single supernovae (Cioffi, McKee & Bertschinger 1988; Thornton et al. 1998; Kim & Ostriker 2015a; Martizzi et al. 2015; Walch & Naab 2015; Gentry et al. 2017; Kim, Ostriker & Raileanu 2017).”
Cool outflows in galaxies and their implications (2020, background): “mentum from SNe can be boosted by an order of magnitude during the Sedov-Taylor phase due to work done by the hot shocked gas (e.g., Kim and Ostriker 2015; Kimm et al. 2015; Martizzi et al. 2015; Walch and Naab 2015): pSN = 3 × 105 km s−1 M E 16/17 51 n −2/17 H Z −0.”
The SILCC (SImulating the LifeCycle of molecular Clouds) project – I. Chemical evolution of the supernova-driven ISM (2014, background): “(33) In a high-density environment (n 100 cm−3; see e.g. Walch & Naab 2015) the condition that Rinj ≥ 4 x can typically not be met with Minj = 800 M .”
Three-phase Interstellar Medium in Galaxies Resolving Evolution with Star Formation and Supernova Feedback (TIGRESS): Algorithms, Fiducial Model, and Convergence (2016, methodology): “…= ´p 2.8snr - - - ( )M n10 km s cm5 1 H 3 0.17 computed from resolved numerical simulations of a single SN in a two-phase medium (see KO15a); other resolved simulations for an inhomogeneous medium find similar final momenta (Martizzi et al. 2015; Iffrig & Hennebelle 2015; Walch & Naab 2015).”
Theoretical Challenges in Galaxy Formation (2016, background): “9351 n−0.130 (8) Kim & Ostriker (2015a) have shown in detail that these analytic estimates agree well with direct, high-resolution, three-dimensional numerical simulations (see also Iffrig & Hennebelle (2015); Martizzi, Faucher-Giguère & Quataert (2015); Walch & Naab (2015)).”
Modeling UV Radiation Feedback from Massive Stars. II. Dispersal of Star-forming Giant Molecular Clouds by Photoionization and Radiation Pressure (2018, background): “While some of the supernova energy escapes easily through low-density channels (e.g. Rogers & Pittard 2013; Walch & Naab 2015), and supernovae may undermine radiation feedback by compressing overdense structures, supernova feedback likely aids in destroying star-forming clouds overall (e.g. Geen et…”
The SILCC project - III. Regulation of star formation and outflows by stellar winds and supernovae (2016, background): “…on the ISM depends on the structure and the density of the gas near the explosion centre (see e.g. Iffrig & Hennebelle 2015; Kim & Ostriker 2015a; Martizzi, Faucher-Giguère & Quataert 2015; Walch & Naab 2015; Wareing, Pittard & Falle 2016, for recent high-resolution numerical simulations).”
The SILCC (SImulating the LifeCycle of molecular Clouds) project - II. Dynamical evolution of the supernova-driven ISM and the launching of outflows (2015, background): “…McKee & Ostriker 1981; Ostriker & McKee 1988; Cioffi, McKee & Bertschinger 1988; Slavin & Cox 1992; Dwarkadas & Gruszko 2012; Rogers & Pittard 2013; Walch & Naab 2015; Kim & Ostriker 2015; Gatto et al. 2015; Iffrig & Hennebelle 2015; Martizzi, Faucher-Giguère & Quataert 2015; Li et al. 2015).”
FIRE-2 simulations: physics versus numerics in galaxy formation (2017, background): “We therefore have: ∆p′′b ≡∆p′b MIN [√ 1 + mb ∆mb , pt pej ] (D22) pt M kms−1 ≈ 4.8×105 ( Etot, ej 1051 erg ) 13 14 ( nb cm−3 )− 17 f (Zb) 32 (D23) f (Z) = { 2 (Z/Z < 0.01) (Z/Z ) −0.14 (0.01≤ Z/Z ) (D24) The expression for pt comes from high-resolution simulations of individual SNe explosions (see e”
Cold Molecular Outflows in the Local Universe and Their Feedback Effect on Galaxies (2018, background): “Yet, models and simulations expect still higher coupling efficiencies, of the order of 5 per cent (Walch & Naab 2015).”
The Auriga Project: the properties and formation mechanisms of disc galaxies across cosmic time (2016, background): “Currently, SN feedback is being studied further: in particular, their placement and ability to drive winds have been studied in stratified box simulations of the interstellar medium (ISM; e.g. Creasey, Theuns & Bower 2013; Walch & Naab 2015; Simpson et al. 2016; Sur, Scannapieco & Ostriker 2016).”