Galaxies in box: A simulated view of the interstellar medium

TL;DR

This paper reviews the development of three-dimensional hydrodynamic and magnetohydrodynamic simulations of galaxies, covering scales from molecular clouds to entire spiral disks, highlighting the hierarchical modeling approach due to computational limitations.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive overview of the current state of galaxy simulations across multiple scales and discusses how different models can be integrated to better understand galactic dynamics.

Findings

Hierarchical modeling approach links small-scale and large-scale galaxy features.

Current computational limits prevent resolving all scales simultaneously.

Simulations include effects of cosmic rays and tracer particles.

Abstract

We review progress in the development of physically realistic three dimensional simulated models of the galaxy.We consider the scales from star forming molecular clouds to the full spiral disc. Models are computed using hydrodynamic (HD) or magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) equations and may include cosmic ray or tracer particles. The range of dynamical scales between the full galaxy structure and the turbulent scales of supernova (SN) explosions and even cloud collapse to form stars, make it impossible with current computing tools and resources to resolve all of these in one model. We therefore consider a hierarchy of models and how they can be related to enhance our understanding of the complete galaxy.