Su et al., available on arXiv.

Abstract: Using high-resolution simulations with explicit treatment of stellar feedback physics based on the FIRE (Feedback in Realistic Environments) project, we study how galaxy formation and the interstellar medium (ISM) are affected by magnetic fields, anisotropic Spitzer-Braginskii conduction and viscosity, and sub-grid turbulent metal diffusion. We consider controlled simulations of isolated (non-cosmological) galaxies but also a limited set of cosmological “zoom-in” simulations. Although simulations have shown significant effects from these physics with weak or absent stellar feedback, the effects are much weaker than those of stellar feedback when the latter is modeled explicitly. The additional physics have no systematic effect on galactic star formation rates (SFRs). In contrast, removing stellar feedback leads to SFRs being over-predicted by factors of ~10-100. Without feedback, neither galactic winds nor volume filling hot-phase gas exist, and discs tend to runaway collapse to ultra-thin scale-heights with unphysically dense clumps congregating at the galactic center. With stellar feedback, a multi-phase, turbulent medium with galactic fountains and winds is established. At currently achievable resolutions, the additional physics investigated here (MHD, conduction, viscosity, metal diffusion) have only weak (~10%-level) effects on these properties and do not significantly alter the balance of phases, outflows, or the energy in ISM turbulence, consistent with simple equipartition arguments. We conclude that galactic star formation and the ISM are primarily governed by a combination of turbulence, gravitational instabilities, and feedback.