Cosmological simulations of galaxy formation with cosmic rays

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates that including cosmic rays in galaxy formation simulations significantly alters galaxy morphology, producing more realistic disk structures and rotation curves by enabling outflows and escape from dense regions.

Contribution

It introduces a two-fluid cosmic ray model into cosmological simulations, showing how CR diffusion influences galaxy morphology and dynamics.

Findings

Cosmic rays lead to the formation of thin, extended disks.

CR diffusion enables outflows and escape from dense star-forming regions.

Simulations with CRs produce more realistic rotation curves.

Abstract

We investigate the dynamical impact of cosmic rays in cosmological simulations of galaxy formation using adaptive-mesh refinement simulations of a $10^{12}$ solar mass halo. In agreement with previous work, a run with only our standard thermal energy feedback model results in a massive spheroid and unrealistically peaked rotation curves. However, the addition of a simple two-fluid model for cosmic rays drastically changes the morphology of the forming disk. We include an isotropic diffusive term and a source term tied to star formation due to (unresolved) supernova-driven shocks. Over a wide range of diffusion coefficients, the CRs generate thin, extended disks with a significantly more realistic (although still not flat) rotation curve. We find that the diffusion of CRs is key to this process, as they escape dense star forming clumps and drive outflows within the more diffuse ISM.