Simulations of the galaxy population constrained by observations from z=3 to the present day: implications for galactic winds and the fate of their ejecta

Henriques, Bruno M B
White, Simon D M
Thomas, Peter A
Angulo, Raul E
Guo, Qi
Lemson, Gerard
Springel, Volker

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Publication date

June 2013

DOI

10.1093/mnras/stt415

Publisher

Oxford University Press (OUP)

ISSN

1365-2966

Language

English

Citation count (estimate)

118

Abstract

We apply Monte Carlo Markov Chain (MCMC) methods to large-scale simulations of galaxy formation in a LambdaCDM cosmology in order to explore how star formation and feedback are constrained by the observed luminosity and stellar mass functions of galaxies. We build models jointly on the Millennium and Millennium-II simulations, applying fast sampling techniques which allow observed galaxy abundances over the ranges 7<log(M*/Msun)<12 and z=0 to z=3 to be used simultaneously as constraints in the MCMC analysis. When z=0 constraints alone are imposed, we reproduce the results of previous modelling by Guo et al. (2012), but no single set of parameters can reproduce observed galaxy abundances at all redshifts simultaneously, reflecting the fact t...