The radial dependence of the mechanisms driving the multi-phase circumgalactic medium

In this poster, I will present our in prep. work on the multi-phase nature of the circumgalactic medium and our analysis of simulation data of the formation, evolution, and end-state of multi-phase gas structure.

Using 17 cosmological zoom-in simulations from the Auriga suite with monte-carlo tracer particles, we investigate the origins and eventual fates of multi-phase Circumgalactic Medium (CGM) gas in Milky-Way mass halos (M_halo ~ 1e12 Msol) at low red-shift (z<0.15). We divide the CGM into three radial shells (of equal radial thickness) and the gas into three (logarithmically spaced) temperature phases.

Our investigations find that a variety of physical mechanisms, such as Interstellar Medium (ISM) ejecta from supernovae and AGN; Galactic Fountains/recycling; precipitation; ambient flows; satellite stripping; Intragalactic Medium (IGM) accretion; inflows; and outflows into the IGM, contribute to the multi-phase structure of the CGM.

Indeed, the relationship between phase and fate/origin is not one-to-one, and I will present our findings on which mechanisms dominate depending on temperature and galactocentric distance.