Dynamics and Feedback Processes in Galaxy Formation
Summary
Galaxy formation unfolds through a complex interplay between gravitational dynamics, gas physics and energetic feedback from stars and black holes. Dark matter haloes collapse under gravity, drawing in baryonic gas that cools radiatively and settles into rotating discs or spheroids. Within these environments, stars form and evolve, generating winds and supernova explosions that inject energy and momentum into the interstellar medium, thereby regulating further star formation. At the centres of massive galaxies, accretion onto supermassive black holes powers active galactic nuclei, whose radiation, jets and winds can heat or expel gas on scales ranging from the central parsec to hundreds of kiloparsecs. This feedback controls the growth of galaxies, shapes their morphology and establishes scaling relations between stellar mass, black hole mass and halo properties. On cosmological scales, gas accretion occurs in both cold streams that deliver unshocked material and in hot modes where infalling gas is shock-heated at the virial radius. Numerical simulations incorporating subgrid models for star formation and feedback have been instrumental in revealing how these multi-scale processes combine to produce the observed diversity of galaxy populations and the evolution of the cosmic star formation history.
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Dynamics and Feedback Processes in Galaxy Formation publication trend
The graph below shows the total number of articles in dynamics and feedback processes in galaxy formation across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).
Technical terms
Feedback: The process by which energy and momentum from stars or active galactic nuclei influence surrounding gas, regulating cooling, accretion and star formation.
Active galactic nucleus (AGN): A compact, luminous region at the centre of a galaxy powered by accretion onto a supermassive black hole, capable of launching jets and winds.
Circumgalactic medium (CGM): The diffuse halo of gas surrounding a galaxy beyond its stellar component, acting as a reservoir for inflows and outflows.
Thermal feedback: Injection of heat into the interstellar or circumgalactic gas by energetic events such as supernovae or quasar-driven radiation.
Kinetic feedback: Transfer of momentum to the gas via directed outflows or jets, driving bulk motions and shock heating that can expel or redistribute baryons.
References
- Global preventive feedback of powerful radio jets on galaxy formation. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (2024).
- Quantifying Baryonic Feedback on the Warm–Hot Circumgalactic Medium in CAMELS Simulations. The Astrophysical Journal (2025).
- Simulating galaxy formation with black hole driven thermal and kinetic feedback. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society (2016).
- The rates and modes of gas accretion on to galaxies and their gaseous haloes. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society (2011).
- The EAGLE simulations of galaxy formation: calibration of subgrid physics and model variations. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society (2015).
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