http://arxiv.org/abs/1806.10688
Ubiquitous detections of cold/warm gas around galaxies indicate that the circumgalactic medium (CGM) is multiphase and dynamic. Recent state-of-the-art cosmological galaxy simulations have generally underproduced the column density of cold halo gas. We argue that this may be due to a mismatch of spatial resolution in the circumgalactic space and the relevant physical scales at which the cold gas operates. Using semi-analytic calculations and a set of magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) simulations, we present a multiphase model of the gaseous halos around galaxies, the circumgalactic mist (CGm). The CGm model is based on the idea that the observed cold halo gas may be a composite of cold, dense and small cloudlets embedded in a hot diffuse halo, resembling terrestrial clouds and mist. We show that the resulting cold gas from thermal instabilities conforms to a characteristic column density of $N_{\rm H}\approx 10^{17}\rm{cm^{-2}}$ as predicted by the $c_s t_{\rm cool}$ ansatz. The model implies a large number of cold clumps in the inner galactic halo with a small volume filling factor but large covering fraction. The model also naturally gives rise to spatial extents and differential covering fractions of cold, warm and hot gas. To self-consistently model the co-evolution of the CGM and star formation within galaxies, future simulations must address the mismatch of the spatial resolution and characteristic scale of cold gas.
C. Liang and I. Remming
Fri, 29 Jun 18
50/58
Comments: Submitted to MNRAS, comments welcome