The Starburst Acceleration of High-Velocity Clouds in the Galactic Center

TL;DR

This study uses 3D simulations to investigate how starburst activity in the Galactic center can produce high-velocity clouds, explaining their observed properties and survival rates, with implications for star formation efficiency.

Contribution

It introduces a magneto-hydrodynamic simulation approach to demonstrate that starburst events can generate and sustain high-velocity clouds in the Galactic center.

Findings

Simulations reproduce observed HVC properties.

Approximately 5% of cloud mass survives after 3.5 Myr.

Starburst-driven processes enhance star formation efficiency.

Abstract

High-velocity clouds (HVCs) in the Galactic center have garnered significant attention due to their mysterious formation, potentially linked to starburst events or supermassive black hole activity in the region. However, it remains challenging to explain the observed column density and velocity distribution of HVCs. The discovery of high-velocity molecular clouds (HVMCs), which are denser and more massive, adds to this complexity. To address this, we conduct three-dimensional numerical simulations to explore the origin and magneto-hydrodynamic evolution of HVCs in the context of a starburst in the Galactic center. By incorporating magnetic fields and an initial tangential velocity for the clouds, our simulation results align with the observed properties of HVCs, supporting the notion that these clouds can originate from a starburst process. In addition, ~5% of the total mass of initial clouds can survive after 3.5 Myr, as a result, the following star formation will be more efficient than a feedback process that destroys all cool clouds.