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Colloquium
Code comparison in galaxy-scale simulations with resolved supernova feedback: Lagrangian vs. Eulerian methods

Abstract

Feedback from supernovae (SNe) plays a fundamental role in galaxy formation. However, current cosmological simulations adopt empirical sub-grid prescriptions to model SN feedback due to limited resolutions, reducing their predictive power. Recently, galaxy-scale simulations have started to reach parsec-scale resolution to follow the small-scale physics in the interstellar medium, providing a promising way forward. In this talk, I will present a suite of resolved galaxy simulations using four different hydrodynamical codes, including Gizmo, Arepo, Gadget, and Ramses, as part of the SMAUG collaboration project. I will demonstrate the striking difference between Lagrangian and Eulerian codes in terms of the star formation bustiness, gas morphology, and galactic outflow rates in the simulations. This is caused by the behavior in the dense, collapsing gas clouds, which controls the clustering of star formation and the subsequent SN events, where highly clustered SNe have a more substantial dynamical impact on the interstellar medium. I will also discuss the key factors that control SN clustering, such as star formation efficiency and stellar lifetime.