THE X-FACTOR IN GALAXIES. II. THE MOLECULAR-HYDROGEN-STAR-FORMATION RELATION
- Department of Astronomy, University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720 (United States)
- Particle Astrophysics Center, Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, Batavia, IL 60510 (United States)
There is ample observational evidence that the star formation rate (SFR) surface density, {Sigma}{sub SFR}, is closely correlated with the surface density of molecular hydrogen, {Sigma}{sub H{sub 2}}. This empirical relation holds both for galaxy-wide averages and for individual {approx}>kpc sized patches of the interstellar medium, but appears to degrade substantially at a sub-kpc scale. Identifying the physical mechanisms that determine the scale-dependent properties of the observed {Sigma}{sub H{sub 2}}-{Sigma}{sub SFR} relation using a set of cosmological, galaxy formation simulations with a peak resolution of {approx}100 pc. These simulations include a chemical network for molecular hydrogen, a model for the CO emission, and a simple, stochastic prescription for star formation that operates on {approx}100 pc scales. Specifically, star formation is modeled as a Poisson process in which the average SFR is directly proportional to the present mass of H{sub 2}. The predictions of our numerical model are in good agreement with the observed Kennicutt-Schmidt and {Sigma}{sub H{sub 2}}-{Sigma}{sub SFR} relations. We show that observations based on CO emission are ill suited to reliably measure the slope of the latter relation at low ({approx}< 20 M {sub Sun} pc{sup -2}) H{sub 2} surface densities on sub-kpc scales. Our models also predict that the inferred {Sigma}{sub H{sub 2}}-{Sigma}{sub SFR} relation steepens at high H{sub 2} surface densities as a result of the surface density dependence of the CO/H{sub 2} conversion factor. Finally, we show that on sub-kpc scales most of the scatter of the relation is a consequence of discreteness effects of the star formation process. In contrast, variations of the CO/H{sub 2} conversion factor are responsible for most of the scatter measured on super-kpc scales.
- OSTI ID:
- 22086507
- Journal Information:
- Astrophysical Journal, Vol. 758, Issue 2; Other Information: Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0004-637X
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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