Title:
On the formation of gas-rich star-forming disks at z~2: cosmological
'zoom-in' SPH simulations
Abstract:
Star-forming galaxies at redshift ~2 are observed to be very different
from local late-type galaxies in several respects: their (specific)
star-formation rates are a factor of ~10 higher, their morphologies are
irregular and clumpy and their gas is probably much more turbulent. I will
present cosmological N-body/SPH simulations with 'zoom-in' initial
conditions and resolution of <~100pc that reproduce many of the properties
of that observed galaxy population. The modeled galaxies are thick and
marginally-unstable gas-rich disks with large and massive transient
star-forming clumps. I will discuss the critical role of stellar feedback
in their formation and several gaps that remain in our understanding of
their evolution.