Cited by 3,601Galaxies: Formation, Evolution, PhenomenaAstrophysics and Star Formation StudiesStellar, planetary, and galactic studies

The EAGLE project: simulating the evolution and assembly of galaxies and their environments

Open access
Schaye, Joop, Crain, Robert A., Bower, Richard G., Furlong, Michelle, Schaller, Matthieu, Theuns, Tom, Dalla Vecchia, Claudio, Frenk, Carlos S. +14 more·2015·Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

Abstract

We introduce the Virgo Consortium's Evolution and Assembly of GaLaxies and their Environments (EAGLE) project, a suite of hydrodynamical simulations that follow the formation of galaxies and supermassive black holes in cosmologically representative volumes of a standard Λ cold dark matter universe. We discuss the limitations of such simulations in light of their finite resolution and poorly constrained subgrid physics, and how these affect their predictive power. One major improvement is our treatment of feedback from massive stars and active galactic nuclei (AGN) in which thermal energy is injected into the gas without the need to turn off cooling or decouple hydrodynamical forces, allowing winds to develop without predetermined speed or mass loading factors. Because the feedback efficiencies cannot be predicted from first principles, we calibrate them to the present-day galaxy stellar mass function and the amplitude of the galaxy-central black hole mass relation, also taking galaxy sizes into account. The observed galaxy stellar mass function is reproduced to ≲ 0.2 dex over the full resolved mass range, 108 < M*/M⊙ ≲ 1011, a level of agreement close to that attained by semi-analytic models, and unprecedented for hydrodynamical simulations. We compare our results to a representative set of low-redshift observables not considered in the calibration, and find good agreement with the observed galaxy specific star formation rates, passive fractions, Tully–Fisher relation, total stellar luminosities of galaxy clusters, and column density distributions of intergalactic C iv and O vi. While the mass–metallicity relations for gas and stars are consistent with observations for M* ≳ 109 M⊙ (M* ≳ 1010 M⊙ at intermediate resolution), they are insufficiently steep at lower masses. For the reference model, the gas fractions and temperatures are too high for clusters of galaxies, but for galaxy groups these discrepancies can be resolved by adopting a higher heating temperature in the subgrid prescription for AGN feedback. The EAGLE simulation suite, which also includes physics variations and higher resolution zoomed-in volumes described elsewhere, constitutes a valuable new resource for studies of galaxy formation.

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1093/mnras/stu2058

Cites

209 of 209 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Claims the paper makes

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

  • The largest EAGLE cosmological simulation contains 100 objects that are close analogs to the Milky Way in stellar and dark mass, SFR, and bulge-to-disk ratio, of which a handful have dynamically similar stellar halos.

    “The largest EAGLE cosmological simulation (Schaye et al. 2015), for example, contains 100 objects that are close analogs to the Milky Way in terms of stellar and dark mass, SFR, and bulge-to-disk ratio, of which a handful have dynamically similar stellar halos (see Bignone et al. 2019).”

    From Streams, Substructures, and the Early History of the Milky Way (2020) · cites this paper as Schaye et al. 2015

Self-check

Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.

The self-check needs the paper’s full text.

Cites

Flagged first, then by citations

Research works printed but not linked: 11

  1. Danforth C. W. et al., 2014, ApJ, preprint (arXiv:1402.2655) · arXiv
  2. Furlong M. et al., 2014, MNRAS, preprint (arXiv:1410.3485) · arXiv
  3. Gerritsen J. P. E., 1997, PhD thesis, Groningen University, the Netherlands
  4. Horner D. J., 2001, PhD thesis, Univ. Maryland College Park Hu C.-Y., Naab T., Walch S., Moster B. P., Oser L., 2014, MNRAS, 443, 1173
  5. Khandai N., Di Matteo T., Croft R., Wilkins S. M., Feng Y., Tucker E., DeGraf C., Liu M.-S., 2014, MNRAS, preprint (arXiv:1402.0888) · arXiv
  6. Kravtsov A., Vikhlinin A., Meshscheryakov A., 2014, ApJ, preprint (arXiv:1401.7329) · arXiv
  7. Lemson G., Virgo Consortium 2006, preprint (arXiv:astro-ph/0608019) · arXiv
  8. Planck Collaboration I, 2013, preprint (arXiv:1303.5062) · arXiv
  9. Rosas-Guevara Y. M. et al., 2013, MNRAS, preprint (arXiv:1312.0598) · arXiv
  10. Sawala T. et al., 2014a, MNRAS, preprint (arXiv:1404.3724) · arXiv
  11. Sawala T. et al., 2014b, MNRAS, preprint (arXiv:1406.6362) · arXiv

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Schaye, J., Crain, R. A., Bower, R. G., Furlong, M., Schaller, M., Theuns, T., Dalla Vecchia, C., Frenk, C. S., McCarthy, I. G., Helly, J. C., Jenkins, A., Rosas-Guevara, Y. M., White, S. D. M., Baes, M., Booth, C. M., Camps, P., Navarro, J. F., Qu, Y., Rahmati, A., Sawala, T., Thomas, P. A., & Trayford, J.
Affiliations
  • Leiden University (NL)
  • Durham University (GB)
  • University of Antwerp (BE)
  • Liverpool John Moores University (GB)
  • Max Planck Society (DE)
  • Ghent University (BE)
  • University of Victoria (CA)
  • University of Sussex (GB)
Corresponding author
Schaye, Joop
Venue
Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Published
2014-11-11
Volume
446
Issue
1
Pages
521-554
ISSN
  • 0035-8711 (ISSN-L)
  • 1365-2966
OpenAlex
W2119131940
Cited by
3,601
References
209
Citations by year
2026: 225 · 2025: 326 · 2024: 340 · 2023: 338 · 2022: 369 · 2021: 338 · 2020: 362 · 2019: 356 · 2018: 285 · 2017: 293 · 2016: 226 · 2015: 137 · 2014: 6
FWCI
116.61
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society (publishedVersion)
  • Liverpool John Moores University (acceptedVersion)
  • Durham Research Online (Durham University) (acceptedVersion)
  • arXiv (Cornell University) (submittedVersion)
  • Ghent University Academic Bibliography (Ghent University) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
  • Durham Research Online (Durham University) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
  • Liverpool John Moores University (submittedVersion)
  • Sussex Research Online (University of Sussex) (submittedVersion)
  • Max Planck Digital Library (submittedVersion)
  • Figshare (submittedVersion, cc-by)
  • MPG.PuRe (Max Planck Society) (submittedVersion)
  • arXiv (Cornell University)
Funders
  • National Science Foundation (PHY11- 25915, ST/K003267/1, ST/H008519/1, FP7/2007-2013, ST/K00042X/1, NSF PHY-11-25915, 25915)
  • European Commission (278594, NSF PHY11-25915, 2007–2013, 256573, FP7 2007-2013, FP7/2007)
  • Durham University (ST/K00042X/1, ST/K003267/1, ST/H008519/1)
  • Partnership for Advanced Computing in Europe AISBL
  • Belgian Federal Science Policy Office (AP P7/08 CHARM)
  • Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek (ST/K00042X/1, FP7 2007-2013, ST/H008519/1)
  • Uniwersytet Warszawski
  • Science and Technology Facilities Council (ST/I00162X/1, ST/H008519, ST/I004459/2, ST/K00042X/1, PERG06-GA-2009-256573, FP7/2007-2013, ST/L00075X/1, ST/L00061X/1, ST/F001166/1, ST/H008519/1, ST/I000976/1, ST/K003267/1, ST/L000652/1, ST/I004459/1)
  • European Regional Development Fund (FP7/2007‐2013, 2007 – 2013)
  • FP7 Ideas: European Research Council (267291, 321334)
Topics
  • Physical Sciences › Physics and Astronomy › Astronomy and Astrophysics › Galaxies: Formation, Evolution, Phenomena
  • Physical Sciences › Physics and Astronomy › Astronomy and Astrophysics › Astrophysics and Star Formation Studies
  • Physical Sciences › Physics and Astronomy › Astronomy and Astrophysics › Stellar, planetary, and galactic studies
Keywords
EAGLE simulation, galaxy formation, galaxy assembly, supermassive black hole formation, AGN feedback, stellar feedback, fluid simulation, stellar mass function, galaxy size, specific star formation rate, quiescent galaxies, Tully-Fisher relation, galaxy clusters, intergalactic medium, mass-metallicity relation, galaxy groups, subgrid physics, resolution limit

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review