Modelling star formation and feedback in simulations of interacting galaxies

We discuss a heuristic model to implement star formation and feedback in hydrodynamical simulations of galaxy formation and evolution. In this model, gas is allowed to cool radiatively and to form stars at a rate given by a simple Schmidt-type law. We assume that supernova feedback results in turbulent motions of gas below resolved scales, a process that can pressurize the diffuse gaseous medium effectively, even if it lacks substantial thermal support. Ignoring the complicated detailed physics of the feedback processes, we try to describe their net effect on the interstellar medium with a fiducial second reservoir of internal energy, which accounts for the kinetic energy content of the gas on unresolved scales. Applying the model to three-dimensional, fully self-consistent models of isolated disc galaxies, we show that the resulting feedback loop can be modelled with smoothed particle hydrodynamics such that converged results can be reached with moderate numerical resolution. With an appropriate choice of the free parameters, Kennicutt's phenomenological star formation law can be reproduced over many orders of magnitude in gas surface density. We also apply the model to mergers of equal-mass disc galaxies, typically resulting in strong nuclear starbursts. Confirming previous findings, the presence of a bulge can delay the onset of the starburst from the first encounter of the galaxies until their final coalescence. The final density profiles of the merger remnants are consistent with de Vaucouleurs profiles, except for the innermost region, where the newly created stars give rise to a luminous core with stellar densities that may be in excess of those observed in the cores of most elliptical galaxies. By comparing the isophotal shapes of collisionless and dissipative merger simulations we show that dissipation leads to isophotes that are more discy than those of corresponding collisionless simulations.