Properties of Galactic Outflows Driven by Starburst at Cosmic Noon: Insights from Hydrodynamical Simulations

TL;DR

This study uses high-resolution hydrodynamical simulations to analyze starburst-driven galactic outflows in low-mass galaxies at cosmic noon, revealing their complex, evolving properties and comparing them with observational data.

Contribution

It provides detailed simulation-based insights into the multiphase outflows in low-mass galaxies during cosmic noon, highlighting the importance of measurement methods and temporal evolution.

Findings

Outflow velocities range from 50 to 1000 km/s.

Mass loading factors vary from 0.24 to 6.26.

Cool phase dominates the outflow and aligns with observations.

Abstract

We investigate starburst-driven galactic outflows in low-mass galaxies ($9.0 < \log(M_*/M_\odot) < 10.0$) at cosmic noon using high-resolution 3D hydrodynamical simulations based on a framework that can reproduce the multiphase outflows in M82. The simulations produce starbursts lasting 20-30 Myr, with peak star formation rates of 2-68 M$_\odot \,\rm{yr}^{-1}$. Outflow properties vary strongly with time, radial distance to galaxy center, stellar mass, and gas fraction, exhibiting velocities of 50-1000 $\,\rm{km\,s}^{-1}$, mass outflow rates of 0.3-20 M$_\odot \,\rm{yr}^{-1}$, and mass loading factors, $\eta_\mathrm{M}$, of 0.24-6.26. The cool phase ($8000 < T \le 2 \times 10^4$ K) dominates the outflow, and properties of the cool and warm phases are broadly consistent with observations. At $M_*= 10^{9.5}\,M_\odot$, average $\eta_\mathrm{M}$ for the total, cool, and warm phases are $\sim$1.2, 0.75, and 0.25, respectively. The mass loading factor decreases with increasing galaxy stellar mass, but increases with star formation rate. Given strong temporal and spatial evolution, scaling slopes from limited samples should be treated with caution. Our total $\eta_\mathrm{M}$ values are higher than FIRE-2 by 0.06 dex but lower than EAGLE and TNG50 by 0.50 and 0.84 dex. Accounting for methodological differences in outflow measurement reduces these gaps to 0.2-0.4 dex, suggesting that part of the discrepancy between observations and simulations reported in the literature may arise from inconsistent definitions and measurement methods, though differences in individual phases persist. Larger observational and simulation samples, together with consistent methods for measuring outflow properties, are required to draw robust conclusions about the scaling relations of galactic outflows.