Three-Dimensional Numerical Simulations of Thermal-Gravitational Instability in Protogalactic Halo Environment

Abstract

We study thermal-gravitational instability in simplified models for protogalactic halos using three-dimensional hydrodynamic simulations. The simulations followed the evolution of gas with radiative cooling down to T = 10^4 K, background heating, and self-gravity. Then cooled and condensed clouds were identified and their physical properties were examined in detail. During early stage clouds start to form around initial density peaks by thermal instability. Small clouds appear first and they are pressure-bound. Subsequently, the clouds grow through compression by the background pressure as well as gravitational infall. During late stage cloud-cloud collisions become important, and clouds grow mostly through gravitational merging. Gravitationally bound clouds with mass M_c > ~6 X 10^6 Msun are found in the late stage. They are approximately in virial equilibrium and have radius R_c = \~150 - 200 pc. Those clouds have gained angular momentum through tidal torque as well as merging, so they have large angular momentum with the spin parameter <lambda_s> ~ 0.3. The clouds formed in a denser background tend to have smaller spin parameters. We discuss briefly the implications of our results on the formation of protoglobular cluster clouds in protogalactic halos. (abridged)