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The rates and modes of gas accretion on to galaxies and their gaseous haloes
Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics · Submitted 10 Nov 2010
abstract compiled · 2026-09-23 · no language-model review
The authors' main claim Galaxies, but not necessarily their gaseous haloes, are predominantly fed by gas that did not experience an accretion shock when it entered the host halo.
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The abstract, sentence by sentence
(Abridged) We study the rate at which gas accretes onto galaxies and haloes and investigate whether the accreted gas was shocked to high temperatures before reaching a galaxy. For this purpose we use a suite of large cosmological, hydrodynamical simulations from the OWLS project. We improve on previous work by considering a wider range of halo masses and redshifts, by distinguishing accretion onto haloes and galaxies, by including important feedback processes, and by comparing simulations with different physics. The specific rate of gas accretion onto haloes is, like that for dark matter, only weakly dependent on halo mass. For halo masses Mhalo>>10^11 Msun it is relatively insensitive to feedback processes. In contrast, accretion rates onto galaxies are determined by radiative cooling and by outflows driven by supernovae and active galactic nuclei. Galactic winds increase the halo mass at which the central galaxies grow the fastest by about two orders of magnitude to Mhalo~10^12 Msun. Gas accretion is bimodal, with maximum past temperatures either of order the virial temperature or <~10^5 K. The fraction of gas accreted on to haloes in the hot mode is insensitive to feedback and metal-line cooling. It increases with decreasing redshift, but is mostly determined by halo mass, increasing gradually from less than 10% for ~10^11 Msun to greater than 90% at 10^13 Msun. In contrast, for accretion onto galaxies the cold mode is always significant and the relative contributions of the two accretion modes are more sensitive to feedback and metal-line cooling. The majority of stars present in any mass halo at any redshift were formed from gas accreted in the cold mode, although the hot mode contributes typically over 10% for Mhalo>~10^11 Msun. Galaxies, but not necessarily their gaseous haloes, are predominantly fed by gas that did not experience an accretion shock when it entered the host halo.
background contribution method result interpretation main claim
| # | sentence | role | the authors' own work | states the main conclusion | strength |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| s0 | (Abridged) We study the rate at which gas accretes onto galaxies and haloes and investigate whether the accreted gas was shocked to high temperatures before reaching a galaxy. | contribution 0.86 | 0.88 | 0.06 | unclear 0.67 |
| s1 | For this purpose we use a suite of large cosmological, hydrodynamical simulations from the OWLS project. | method 1.00 | 0.71 | 0.01 | asserted 0.69 |
| s2 | We improve on previous work by considering a wider range of halo masses and redshifts, by distinguishing accretion onto haloes and galaxies, by including important feedback processes, and by comparing simulations with different physics. | contribution 0.94 | 0.83 | 0.03 | asserted 0.96 |
| s3 | The specific rate of gas accretion onto haloes is, like that for dark matter, only weakly dependent on halo mass. | result 1.00 | 0.90 | 0.12 | asserted 1.00 |
| s4 | For halo masses Mhalo>>10^11 Msun it is relatively insensitive to feedback processes. | result 1.00 | 0.89 | 0.06 | asserted 1.00 |
| s5 | In contrast, accretion rates onto galaxies are determined by radiative cooling and by outflows driven by supernovae and active galactic nuclei. | result 0.98 | 0.87 | 0.14 | asserted 1.00 |
| s6 | Galactic winds increase the halo mass at which the central galaxies grow the fastest by about two orders of magnitude to Mhalo~10^12 Msun. | result 1.00 | 0.92 | 0.10 | asserted 1.00 |
| s7 | Gas accretion is bimodal, with maximum past temperatures either of order the virial temperature or <~10^5 K. | result 1.00 | 0.92 | 0.21 | asserted 1.00 |
| s8 | The fraction of gas accreted on to haloes in the hot mode is insensitive to feedback and metal-line cooling. | result 1.00 | 0.91 | 0.09 | asserted 1.00 |
| s9 | It increases with decreasing redshift, but is mostly determined by halo mass, increasing gradually from less than 10% for ~10^11 Msun to greater than 90% at 10^13 Msun. | result 1.00 | 0.93 | 0.12 | asserted 1.00 |
| s10 | In contrast, for accretion onto galaxies the cold mode is always significant and the relative contributions of the two accretion modes are more sensitive to feedback and metal-line cooling. | result 1.00 | 0.91 | 0.15 | asserted 1.00 |
| s11 | The majority of stars present in any mass halo at any redshift were formed from gas accreted in the cold mode, although the hot mode contributes typically over 10% for Mhalo>~10^11 Msun. | result 0.96 | 0.92 | 0.19 | asserted 0.99 |
| s12 | Galaxies, but not necessarily their gaseous haloes, are predominantly fed by gas that did not experience an accretion shock when it entered the host halo. | result 0.93 | 0.91 | 0.52 | asserted 0.89 |
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The paper
Original abstract
(Abridged) We study the rate at which gas accretes onto galaxies and haloes and investigate whether the accreted gas was shocked to high temperatures before reaching a galaxy. For this purpose we use a suite of large cosmological, hydrodynamical simulations from the OWLS project. We improve on previous work by considering a wider range of halo masses and redshifts, by distinguishing accretion onto haloes and galaxies, by including important feedback processes, and by comparing simulations with different physics. The specific rate of gas accretion onto haloes is, like that for dark matter, only weakly dependent on halo mass. For halo masses Mhalo>>10^11 Msun it is relatively insensitive to feedback processes. In contrast, accretion rates onto galaxies are determined by radiative cooling and by outflows driven by supernovae and active galactic nuclei. Galactic winds increase the halo mass at which the central galaxies grow the fastest by about two orders of magnitude to Mhalo~10^12 Msun. Gas accretion is bimodal, with maximum past temperatures either of order the virial temperature or <~10^5 K. The fraction of gas accreted on to haloes in the hot mode is insensitive to feedback and metal-line cooling. It increases with decreasing redshift, but is mostly determined by halo mass, increasing gradually from less than 10% for ~10^11 Msun to greater than 90% at 10^13 Msun. In contrast, for accretion onto galaxies the cold mode is always significant and the relative contributions of the two accretion modes are more sensitive to feedback and metal-line cooling. The majority of stars present in any mass halo at any redshift were formed from gas accreted in the cold mode, although the hot mode contributes typically over 10% for Mhalo>~10^11 Msun. Galaxies, but not necessarily their gaseous haloes, are predominantly fed by gas that did not experience an accretion shock when it entered the host halo.
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References
How later papers used it
108 later papers cite it
1 later paper by other authors is listed below: 1 compared its own results with it.
Compares with it 1 of 7 papers with this label
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While our galaxies are again slightly biased towards lower at high $z$ compared to [ref] , the disagreement is quite significant compared to [ref] .
Gas accretion at high redshift: cold flows all the way (2025) · Cold fractions at final redshifts · 0.99
How the literature uses it
8 arXiv papers cite this in 18 sentences
Papers citing it · 14 sentences without a confident label
Cites it as support 3 papers
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Taken together, the combination of lower metallicity, higher density, and reduced non-thermal motions is consistent with metal-poor, filamentary inflow that retains substantial angular momentum as it spirals toward the disk [ref] .
The chemodynamical signature of coherent metal-poor inflow and enriched recycled accretion in the cool circumgalactic medium · Coherent inflow along the disk plane · 1.00
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Simulations confirm this, and have shown that it is largely insensitive to feedback processes ( [ref] ).
Rapidly Star-forming Galaxies At High Redshifts · Gas Fueling · 0.98
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SPH simulations show that feedback plays indeed a key role in regulating gas accretion rates and star formation [ref] .
The ATLAS3D Project-- VIII: Modelling the Formation and Evolution of Fast and Slow Rotator Early-Type Galaxies within $\Lambda$CDM · Discussion & Summary · 0.96
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