Evolution of dust grain size distribution and grain porosity in galaxies

TL;DR

This paper models the evolution of dust grain size distribution and porosity in galaxies, revealing how porosity develops over time and affects extinction curves, with implications for understanding galactic dust properties.

Contribution

It introduces a comprehensive model for the coupled evolution of grain size and porosity, including processes like coagulation and shattering, over galaxy evolution.

Findings

Porosity develops after small grains are created and coagulate.

Porosity significantly steepens the extinction curve for silicate grains.

Porosity increases collisional cross-sections and influences grain size distribution.

Abstract

The radiative properties of interstellar dust are affected not only by the grain size distribution but also by the grain porosity. We develop a model for the evolution of size-dependent grain porosity and grain size distribution over the entire history of galaxy evolution. We include stellar dust production, supernova dust destruction, shattering, coagulation, and accretion. Coagulation is {assumed to be} the source of grain porosity. We use a one-zone model with a constant dense gas fraction ($\eta_\mathrm{dense}$), which regulates the balance between shattering and coagulation. We find that porosity develops after small grains are sufficiently created by the interplay between shattering and accretion (at age $t\sim 1$ Gyr for star formation time-scale $\tau_\mathrm{SF}=5$ Gyr) and are coagulated. The filling factor drops down to 0.3 at grain radii $\sim 0.03~\mu$m for $\eta_\mathrm{dense}=0.5$. The grains are more porous for smaller $\eta_\mathrm{dense}$ because small grains, from which porous coagulated grains form, are more abundant. We also calculate the extinction curves based on the above results. The porosity steepens the extinction curve significantly for silicate, but not much for amorphous carbon. The porosity also increases the collisional cross-sections and produces slightly more large grains through the enhanced coagulation; however, the extinction curve does not necessarily become flatter because of the steepening effect by porosity. We also discuss the implication of our results for the Milky Way extinction curve.