Stellar feedback in the low-metallicity interstellar medium

• Applicant: Dr. Oleg Egorov
• Subject Area: Astrophysics and Astronomy
• Term: since 2024
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 541068876

Stellar feedback is a key process that regulates star formation activity and redistributes metals in and around galaxies. Progress from studies of high-mass galaxies shows that observations of nearby galaxies with high angular resolution resolving scales of individual giant molecular clouds (<100 pc) are key to measuring the properties of the ISM and stellar feedback. Low-mass galaxies, where the role of stellar feedback should be even more dramatic, can now be studied with newly obtained observations with the VLT/MUSE integral-field spectrograph, accompanied by the multiwavelength observations with HST, ALMA, and JWST. We will address three major questions in this project: what is the coupling efficiency of stellar feedback in a low-metallicity environment?; how different is the contribution of the pre-supernovae feedback to the total energy and pressure balance in low-mass and metallicity galaxies in contrast to the normal spiral galaxies?; how homogeneous is the metal distribution in the ISM of dwarf galaxies and what is the role of stellar feedback in setting the metallicity variations there? Theoretical models and simulations predict that properties of stellar feedback change with metallicity. However, expectations on the efficiency of the different feedback mechanisms and the overall role of stellar feedback in shaping the ISM and redistributing metals are often controversial in different models and previous case-study observations of the low-metallicity ISM in nearby galaxies. Our analysis will provide quantitative observational constraints on the stellar feedback in the low-metallicity ISM. These will refine the theoretical models and simulations, which are crucial for our understanding of the galaxy evolution and baryon cycle in the Universe.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants
• International Connection: Australia, USA
• Cooperation Partners: Dr. Brent Groves; Professor Dr. Adam Leroy; Dr. David Thilker