The Galactic Dust-Up: Modeling Dust Evolution in FIRE

TL;DR

This paper introduces and compares two detailed dust evolution models integrated into galaxy simulations, highlighting the importance of chemically motivated and specific dust species modeling to match observed dust properties.

Contribution

It presents two novel dust evolution models ('Elemental' and 'Species') within FIRE-2 simulations, emphasizing the need for chemically motivated and specific dust species for accurate predictions.

Findings

Both models produce reasonable dust-to-metals ratios.

Gas-dust accretion is identified as the main dust growth mechanism.

Chemically motivated models better reproduce observed element depletions.

Abstract

Recent strides have been made developing dust evolution models for galaxy formation simulations but these approaches vary in their assumptions and degree of complexity. Here we introduce and compare two separate dust evolution models (labelled 'Elemental' and 'Species'), based on recent approaches, incorporated into the GIZMO code and coupled with FIRE-2 stellar feedback and ISM physics. Both models account for turbulent dust diffusion, stellar production of dust, dust growth via gas-dust accretion, and dust destruction from time-resolved supernovae, thermal sputtering in hot gas, and astration. The "Elemental" model tracks the evolution of generalized dust species and utilizes a simple, 'tunable' dust growth routine, while the "Species" model tracks the evolution of specific dust species with set chemical compositions and incorporates a physically motivated, two-phase dust growth routine. We test and compare these models in an idealized Milky Way-mass galaxy and find that while both produce reasonable galaxy-integrated dust-to-metals (D/Z) ratios and predict gas-dust accretion as the main dust growth mechanism, a chemically motivated model is needed to reproduce the observed scaling relation between individual element depletions and D/Z with column density and local gas density. We also find the inclusion of theoretical metallic iron and O-bearing dust species are needed in the case of specific dust species in order to match observations of O and Fe depletions, and the integration of a sub-resolution dense molecular gas/CO scheme is needed to both match observed C depletions and ensure carbonaceous dust is not overproduced in dense environments.