Abstract
We examine the global HI properties of galaxies in quarter-billion particle
cosmological hydrodynamic simulations, focusing on how our main adjustable
physical process, galactic outflows, impacts HI content. In addition to the
three outflow models considered in our earlier papers, we present a new one
(ezw) motivated by high resolution interstellar medium simulations, in which
the scalings of wind speeds and mass loading factors follow those expected for
momentum-driven outflows for larger galaxies, and energy-driven outflows for
dwarfs (sigma<75 km/s). To obtain predicted HI masses, we employ a simple but
effective local correction for particle self-shielding, as well as an
observationally-constrained transition from neutral to molecular hydrogen. We
find that our ezw model produces an HI mass function whose shape agrees well
with observations from the ALFALFA survey, having a low mass end slope of -1.3,
while other models agree less well. Outflows critically govern the HI content
in low-mass galaxies, with higher mass loading factors yielding higher HI
fractions. Satellite galaxies have a bimodal distribution in HI fraction versus
halo mass, with lower mass satellites and/or satellites in larger halos more
often being devoid of HI. At a given stellar mass, HI content correlates with
star formation rate and inversely correlates with metallicity, as expected if
driven by stochasticity in the accretion rate. At higher redshifts, massive HI
galaxies become less frequent and the HI mass function becomes significantly
steeper. The global cosmic HI density conspires to remain fairly constant from
z~5-0, but the relative contribution from smaller galaxies increases
substantially with redshift. Overall, HI in galaxies reflects a transient
reservoir of fuel for star formation, and hence provides a crucial glimpse into
the inflow and outflow processes that govern galaxy evolution.
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