The merger-starburst connection across cosmic times

TL;DR

This study uses cosmological simulations to explore how galaxy mergers trigger starbursts, revealing that such episodes depend on galaxy evolution stages and are not always linked to high specific star formation rates.

Contribution

It demonstrates that starbursts are triggered by tidal compression after disc formation, highlighting the timing and conditions of starburst episodes across cosmic history.

Findings

Starbursts are linked to tidal compression induced by mergers.

Starbursts occur after the formation of the galactic disc.

Not all starburst galaxies are outliers above the main sequence.

Abstract

The correspondence between galaxy major mergers and starburst activity is well-established observationally and in simulations of low redshift galaxies. However, the evolution of the properties of interactions and of the galaxies involved suggests that the starburst response of galaxies to merger events could vary across cosmic time. Using the VINTERGATAN cosmological zoom-in simulation of a Milky Way-like galaxy, we show here that starbursts, i.e. episodes of fast star formation, are connected with the onset of tidal compression, itself induced by mergers. However, this compression becomes strong enough to trigger starbursts only after the formation of the galactic disc. As a consequence, starburst episodes are only found during a precise phase of galaxy evolution, after the formation of the disc and until the last major merger. As the depletion time quantifies the instantaneous star formation activity, while the specific star formation rate involves the integrated result of the past activity (via the stellar mass), starburst episodes do not necessarily coincide with elevated specific star formation rate. This suggests that not all starburst galaxies are outliers above the main sequence of galaxy formation.