Cold Gas Survival in Galactic Winds

This project investigates the conditions under which cold gas clouds can persist while being entrained in galactic winds, focusing on the interplay between turbulent mixing and radiative cooling. By extending previous studies beyond the narrow parameter regimes explored so far, it aims to map out the full landscape of cold-gas survival in realistic outflow conditions.

Cold gas clouds embedded in hot galactic winds face rapid destruction through hydrodynamic instabilities and turbulent mixing, yet observations show that such gas can survive over large distances. The balance between mixing and radiative cooling is crucial, but previous work has explored only a narrow region of parameter space (e.g., Mach numbers around ~1.5 and density contrasts of ~100).
In this project, you will run high-resolution hydrodynamical simulations across a broad range of Mach numbers, density contrasts, and cooling efficiencies to determine when and how cold gas can endure. The goal is to produce a survival map of cold clouds in galactic outflows, providing valuable constraints for interpreting observations and improving galaxy-scale models.