Speaker
Maximilian Brunner
(USM/LMU)
Description
In galaxies stars are formed from a reservoir of cold molecular gas. For star formation to continue this reservoir has to be fueled with extragalactic material or else the gas is depleted. In this project we use the SPH-code GADGET to simulate a spiral galaxy that is constantly fed with new gas at a rate of five solar masses per year. We find that the star formation rate tries to adjust to the accretion rate in order to achieve equilibrium in a way that is expected from theory. We also see that the properties of the interstellar medium in our disc evolve over time as the system is influenced by the constant supply of new material.