How do supernovae regulate the star formation rate in dwarf galaxies?
- 1Instituto de Radioastronomía y Astrofísica, Apdo. Postal 72-3 (Xangari), Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México , Morelia, Michocán 58089 ,
- 2Centre de Recherche Astrophysique de Lyon UMR5574, ENS de Lyon, Univ. Lyon1, CNRS, Université de Lyon , F-69007 Lyon ,
Abstract
Stars form in cold, dense clouds embedded in galactic discs, but whether their formation is primarily regulated by gravitational collapse, turbulence, or stellar feedback remains unclear. Using four high-resolution dwarf galaxy simulations with and without supernova (SN) feedback and magnetic fields, we test how feedback regulates the supply of dense gas and, consequently, the star formation rate (SFR). Although the SFR does increase when SNe are turned off, this increase is only by a factor of a few. Instead, across all models, the theoretical maximum SFR originally proposed by Zuckerman and Palmer, defined as the ratio of the total dense gas mass to its mean free-fall time (Mdense/τ ff), always exceeds the measured SFR by nearly two orders of magnitude. Moreover, the increase of the SFR in the case without SNe is accompanied by a nearly corresponding increase of the total dense gas mass (Mdense), such that the dense-gas depletion time, τ ≡ SFR/Mdense, decreases by only ∼ 33 per cent in the hydrodynamical case and by about 55 per cent in the magnetohydrodynamical models. This indicates that SN feedback does not primarily act by slowing the collapse of dense gas, but instead by limiting how much diffuse gas can be converted into dense gas.
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BibTeX
@article{whitworth2026supernovae,
title = {{How do supernovae regulate the star formation rate in dwarf galaxies?}},
author = {D J Whitworth and E Vázquez-Semadeni and J Ballesteros-Paredes and G C Gómez},
journal = {Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.1093/mnras/stag1869},
url = {https://academic.oup.com/mnras/article/doi/10.1093/mnras/stag1869/8859096},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - How do supernovae regulate the star formation rate in dwarf galaxies?
AU - D J Whitworth
AU - E Vázquez-Semadeni
AU - J Ballesteros-Paredes
AU - G C Gómez
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/01
JO - Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
DO - 10.1093/mnras/stag1869
UR - https://academic.oup.com/mnras/article/doi/10.1093/mnras/stag1869/8859096
AB - Stars form in cold, dense clouds embedded in galactic discs, but whether their formation is primarily regulated by gravitational collapse, turbulence, or stellar feedback remains unclear. Using four high-resolution dwarf galaxy simulations with and without supernova (SN) feedback and magnetic fields, we test how feedback regulates the supply of dense gas and, consequently, the star formation rate (SFR). Although the SFR does increase when SNe are turned off, this increase is only by a factor of a few. Instead, across all models, the theoretical maximum SFR originally proposed by Zuckerman and Palmer, defined as the ratio of the total dense gas mass to its mean free-fall time (M_dense/τ _ff), always exceeds the measured SFR by nearly two orders of magnitude. Moreover, the increase of the SFR in the case without SNe is accompanied by a nearly corresponding increase of the total dense gas mass (M_dense), such that the dense-gas depletion time, τ ≡ SFR/M_dense, decreases by only ∼ 33 per cent in the hydrodynamical case and by about 55 per cent in the magnetohydrodynamical models. This indicates that SN feedback does not primarily act by slowing the collapse of dense gas, but instead by limiting how much diffuse gas can be converted into dense gas.
SN - 0035-8711
SN - 1365-2966
ER -