Formation and evolution of molecular hydrogen in disk galaxies with different masses and Hubble types

TL;DR

This study uses chemodynamical simulations to explore how galaxy mass, structure, and interactions influence the formation, distribution, and scaling relations of molecular hydrogen in disk galaxies.

Contribution

It provides new insights into the dependence of H2 properties on galaxy mass, morphology, and interactions, including the effects of bulges and bars on H2 formation.

Findings

Higher halo and baryonic masses increase H2 fractions.

Low-mass galaxies with M_h < 10^10 M_sun have minimal H2 and star formation.

Galaxy interactions boost H2 mass and fractions.

Abstract

We investigate the physical properties of molecular hydrogen (H2) in isolated and interacting disk galaxies with different masses and Hubble types by using chemodynamical simulations with H2 formation on dust grains and dust growth and destruction in interstellar medium (ISM). We particularly focus on the dependences of H2 gas mass fractions (f_H2), spatial distributions of HI and H2, and local H2-scaling relations on initial halo masses (M_h), baryonic fractions (f_bary), gas mass fractions (f_g), and Hubble types. The principal results are as follows. The final f_H2 can be larger in disk galaxies with higher M_h, f_bary, and f_g. Some low-mass disk models with M_h smaller than 10^10 M_sun show extremely low f_H2 and thus no/little star formation, even if initial f_g is quite large (>0.9). Big galactic bulges can severely suppress the formation of H2 from HI on dust grains whereas strong stellar bars can not only enhance f_H2 but also be responsible for the formation of H2-dominated central rings. The projected radial distributions of H2 are significantly more compact than those of HI and the simulated radial profiles of H2-to-HI-ratios (R_mol) follow roughly R^-1.5 in MW-type disk models. Galaxy interaction can significantly increase f_H2 and total H2 mass in disk galaxies. The local surface mass densities of H2 can be correlated with those of dust in a galaxy. The observed correlation between R_mol and gas pressure (R_mol ~ P_g^0.92) can be well reproduced in the simulated disk galaxies.