Speaker
Description
Galactic-scale outflows, driven by supernova feedback in Milky Way-mass galaxies, play a crucial role in transporting metals from the disc to the circumgalactic medium (CGM). The distribution of these metals across different temperature phases within multiphase outflows is key to understanding CGM enrichment, as metal loading varies between phases. High-resolution, idealized simulations of Milky Way-like systems are essential for capturing the metal transfer between these phases.
In this talk, I will present results from the QED suite of 3D HD tall-box simulations, run using the GPU-accelerated HD code Quokka. With a $\sim$pc-scale resolution over a $\sim 10$ kpc$^3$ volume, QED simulations track metal exchanges between outflow phases with unprecedented detail. Our results show that while SN-driven outflows are responsible for expelling the majority of metals from the disc, the flux from freshly produced metals accounts for only half of the total metal flux. I will also share results from our latest paper that explores how environmental factors—such as initial gas surface density and galaxy metallicity—modulate wind properties and therefore metal transport.
Finally, I will share insights gained from generating mock X-ray observations of the QED simulations, highlighting how incomplete metal mixing between the phases leads to gradients manifested in Chandra observations.
