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Galaxies in the EAGLE hydrodynamical simulation and in the Durham and Munich semi-analytical models

Guo, Q.; Gonzalez-Perez, V.; Guo, Q.; Schaller, M.; Furlong, M.; Bower, R.G.; Cole, S.; Crain, R.A.; Frenk, C.S.; Helly, J.C.; Lacey, C.G.; Lagos, C. d. P.; Mitchell, P.; Schaye, J.; Theuns, T.

Galaxies in the EAGLE hydrodynamical simulation and in the Durham and Munich semi-analytical models Thumbnail


Authors

Q. Guo

V. Gonzalez-Perez

Q. Guo

M. Schaller

M. Furlong

R.G. Bower

R.A. Crain

C. d. P. Lagos

P. Mitchell

J. Schaye



Abstract

We compare global predictions from the EAGLE hydrodynamical simulation, and two semi-analytic (SA) models of galaxy formation, L-GALAXIES and GALFORM. All three models include the key physical processes for the formation and evolution of galaxies and their parameters are calibrated against a small number of observables at z ≈ 0. The two SA models have been applied to merger trees constructed from the EAGLE dark matter only simulation. We find that at z ≤ 2, both the galaxy stellar mass functions for stellar masses M* < 1010.5 M⊙ and the median specific star formation rates (sSFRs) in the three models agree to better than 0.4 dex. The evolution of the sSFR predicted by the three models closely follows the mass assembly history of dark matter haloes. In both EAGLE and L-GALAXIES there are more central passive galaxies with M* < 109.5 M⊙ than in GALFORM. This difference is related to galaxies that have entered and then left a larger halo and which are treated as satellites in GALFORM. In the range 0 < z < 1, the slope of the evolution of the star formation rate density in EAGLE is a factor of ≈1.5 steeper than for the two SA models. The median sizes for galaxies with M* > 109.5 M⊙ differ in some instances by an order of magnitude, while the stellar mass–size relation in EAGLE is a factor of ≈2 tighter than for the two SA models. Our results suggest the need for a revision of how SA models treat the effect of baryonic self-gravity on the underlying dark matter. The treatment of gas flows in the models needs to be revised based on detailed comparison with observations to understand in particular the evolution of the stellar mass–metallicity relation.

Citation

Guo, Q., Gonzalez-Perez, V., Guo, Q., Schaller, M., Furlong, M., Bower, R., …Theuns, T. (2016). Galaxies in the EAGLE hydrodynamical simulation and in the Durham and Munich semi-analytical models. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 461(4), 3457-3482. https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stw1525

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Jun 22, 2016
Online Publication Date Jun 24, 2016
Publication Date Oct 1, 2016
Deposit Date Sep 28, 2016
Publicly Available Date Oct 6, 2016
Journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Print ISSN 0035-8711
Electronic ISSN 1365-2966
Publisher Royal Astronomical Society
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 461
Issue 4
Pages 3457-3482
DOI https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stw1525
Public URL https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1396756
Related Public URLs https://arxiv.org/abs/1512.00015

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Copyright Statement
This article has been published in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society ©: 2016 The Authors Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Royal Astronomical Society. All rights reserved.






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