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We present a novel approach to inspecting galaxy spectra using sound, via their direct audio representation ('spectral audification'). We discuss the potential of this as a complement to (or stand-in for) visual approaches. We surveyed 58 respondents who use the audio representation alone to rate 30 optical galaxy spectra with strong emission lines. Across three tests, each focusing on different quantities measured from the spectra (signal-to-noise ratio, emission-line width, & flux ratios), we find that user ratings are well correlated with measured quantities. This demonstrates that physical information can be independently gleaned from listening to spectral audifications. We note the importance of context when rating these sonifications, where the order examples are heard can influence responses. Finally, we adapt the method used in this promising pilot study to spectral datacubes. We suggest that audification allows efficient exploration of complex, spatially-resolved spectral data., Comment: 6 pages, 3 figures, accepted for publication in RASTI. Supplementary data (including animated figure) available at https://doi.org/10.25405/data.ncl.22816442

We investigate the formation and properties of low surface brightness galaxies (LSBGs) with $M_{*} > 10^{9.5} \mathrm{M_{\odot}}$ in the EAGLE hydrodynamical cosmological simulation. Galaxy surface brightness depends on a combination of stellar mass surface density and mass-to-light ratio ($M/L$), such that low surface brightness is strongly correlated with both galaxy angular momentum (low surface density) and low specific star formation rate (high $M/L$). This drives most of the other observed correlations between surface brightness and galaxy properties, such as the fact that most LSBGs have low metallicity. We find that LSBGs are more isolated than high surface brightness galaxies (HSBGs), in agreement with observations, but that this trend is driven entirely by the fact that LSBGs are unlikely to be close-in satellites. The majority of LSBGs are consistent with a formation scenario in which the galaxies with the highest angular momentum are those that formed most of their stars recently from a gas reservoir co-rotating with a high-spin dark matter halo. However, the most extended LSBG disks in EAGLE, which are comparable in size to observed giant LSBGs, are built up via mergers. These galaxies are found to inhabit dark matter halos with a higher spin in their inner regions ($<0.1r_{200c}$), even when excluding the effects of baryonic physics by considering matching halos from a dark matter only simulation with identical initial conditions., Comment: Version accepted to MNRAS. 20 pages, 13 figures, plus appendix with 2 figures

We study the optical morphology of galaxies in a large-scale hydrodynamic cosmological simulation, the EAGLE simulation. Galaxy morphologies were characterized using non-parametric statistics (Gini, $M_{20}$, Concentration and Asymmetry) derived from mock images computed using a 3D radiative transfer technique and post-processed to approximate observational surveys. The resulting morphologies were contrasted to observational results from a sample of $\log_{10}(M_{*}/M_\odot) > 10$ galaxies at $z \sim 0.05$ in the GAMA survey. We find that the morphologies of EAGLE galaxies reproduce observations, except for asymmetry values which are larger in the simulated galaxies. Additionally, we study the effect of spatial resolution in the computation of non-parametric morphologies, finding that Gini and Asymmetry values are systematically reduced with decreasing spatial resolution. Gini values for lower mass galaxies are especially affected. Comparing against other large scale simulations, the non-parametric statistics of EAGLE galaxies largely agree with those found in IllustrisTNG. Additionally, EAGLE galaxies mostly reproduce observed trends between morphology and star formation rate and galaxy size. Finally, We also find a significant correlation between optical and kinematic estimators of morphologies, although galaxy classification based on an optical or a kinematic criteria results in different galaxy subsets. The correlation between optical and kinematic morphologies is stronger in central galaxies than in satellites, indicating differences in morphological evolution., Comment: 21 pages, 12 Figures. Accepted for publication in MNRAS

We present a simple model for galaxy attenuation by distilling SKIRT radiative transfer calculations for ~100,000 EAGLE galaxies at redshifts z=2-0. Our model adapts the two component screen model of Charlot & Fall (2000), parametrising the optical depth and slope of the ISM screen using the average dust surface density, $\Sigma_{\rm dust}$. We recover relatively tight relations between these parameters for the EAGLE sample, but also provide the scatter in these parameter owing to the morphological variation and orientation of galaxies. We also find that these relations are nearly independent of redshift in the EAGLE model. By pairing our model with an empirical prescription for birth clouds below the resolution scale of the simulation, we reproduce the observed relation between attenuation slope and optical depth for the first time in a cosmological simulation. We demonstrate that this result is remarkably independent of the attenuation properties assumed for birth cloud screen, merely requiring a boosted attenuation for infant stars. We present this model with a view to interpreting observations, as well as processing semi-analytic models and other hydrodynamic simulations., Comment: 16 pages (incl. 4 appendix pages), 8 Figures. Submitted to MNRAS. Comments welcome!

We combine the Shark semi-analytic model of galaxy formation with the ProSpect software tool for spectral energy distribution (SED) generation to study the multi-wavelength emission of galaxies from the far-ultraviolet (FUV) to the far-infrared (FIR) at $0\le z\le 10$. We produce a physical model for the attenuation of galaxies across cosmic time by combining a local Universe empirical relation to compute the dust mass of galaxies from their gas metallicity and mass, attenuation curves derived from radiative transfer calculations of galaxies in the EAGLE hydrodynamic simulation suite, and the properties of Shark galaxies. We are able to produce a wide range of galaxies, from the $z=8$ star-forming galaxies with almost no extinction, $z=2$ submillimeter galaxies, down to the normal star-forming and red sequence galaxies at $z=0$. Quantitatively, we find that Shark reproduces the observed (i) the $z=0$ FUV-to-FIR, (ii) $0\le z\le 3$ rest-frame $K$-band, and (iii) $0\le z\le 10$ rest-frame FUV luminosity functions, (iv) $z\le 8$ UV slopes, (v) the FUV-to-FIR number counts (including the widely disputed 850$\mu$m), (vi) redshift distribution of bright $850\mu$m galaxies and (vii) the integrated cosmic SED from $z=0$ to $z=1$ to an unprecedented level. This is achieved without the need to invoke changes in the stellar initial mass function, dust-to-metal mass ratio, or metal enrichment timescales. Our model predicts star formation in galaxy disks to dominate in the FUV-to-optical, while bulges dominate at the NIR at all redshifts. The FIR sees a strong evolution in which disks dominate at $z\le 1$ and starbursts (triggered by both galaxy mergers and disk instabilities, in an even mix) dominate at higher redshifts, even out to $z=10$., Comment: Accepted for publication in MNRAS after minor corrections (22 pages, 21 figures)

The scatter (${\rm\sigma_{\text{sSFR}}}$) of the specific star formation rates (sSFRs) of galaxies is a measure of the diversity in their star formation histories (SFHs) at a given mass. In this paper we employ the EAGLE simulations to study the dependence of the ${\rm \sigma_{\text{sSFR}}}$ of galaxies on stellar mass (${\rm M_{\star}}$) through the ${\rm \sigma_{\text{sSFR}}}$-${\rm M_{\star}}$ relation in $ {\rm z \sim 0-4}$. We find that the relation evolves with time, with the dispersion depending on both stellar mass and redshift. The models point to an evolving U-shape form for the ${\rm \sigma_{\text{sSFR}}}$-${\rm M_{\star}}$ relation with the scatter being minimal at a characteristic mass $M^{\star}$ of ${\rm 10^{9.5}}$ ${\rm M_{\odot}}$ and increasing both at lower and higher masses. This implication is that the diversity of SFHs increases towards both at the low- and high-mass ends. We find that active galactic nuclei feedback is important for increasing the ${\rm \sigma_{\text{sSFR}}}$ for high mass objects. On the other hand, we suggest that SNe feedback increases the ${\rm \sigma_{\text{sSFR}}}$ of galaxies at the low-mass end. We also find that excluding galaxies that have experienced recent mergers does not significantly affect the ${\rm \sigma_{\text{sSFR}}}$-${\rm M_{\star}}$ relation. Furthermore, we employ the combination of the EAGLE simulations with the radiative transfer code SKIRT to evaluate the effect of SFR/stellar mass diagnostics in the ${\rm \sigma_{\text{sSFR}}}$-${\rm M_{\star}}$ relation and find that the ${\rm SFR/M_{\star}}$ methodologies (e.g. SED fitting, UV+IR, UV+IRX-$\beta$) widely used in the literature to obtain intrinsic properties of galaxies have a large effect on the derived shape and normalization of the ${\rm \sigma_{\text{sSFR}}}$-${\rm M_{\star}}$ relation., Comment: 23 pages, 10 figures, Accepted to ApJ

Davies et al. (2019) established that for L^* galaxies the fraction of baryons in the circumgalactic medium (CGM) is inversely correlated with the mass of their central supermassive black holes (BHs) in the EAGLE hydrodynamic simulation. The interpretation is that, over time, a more massive BH has provided more energy to transport baryons beyond the virial radius, which additionally reduces gas accretion and star formation. We continue this research by focusing on the relationship between the 1) BH masses, 2) physical and observational properties of the CGM, and 3) galaxy colours for Milky Way-mass systems. The ratio of the cumulative BH feedback energy over the gaseous halo binding energy is a strong predictor of the CGM gas content, with BHs injecting >~10x the binding energy resulting in gas-poor haloes. Observable tracers of the CGM, including CIV, OVI, and HI absorption line measurements, are found to be effective tracers of the total z~0 CGM halo mass. We use high-cadence simulation outputs to demonstrate that BH feedback pushes baryons beyond the virial radius within 100 Myr timescales, but that CGM metal tracers take longer (0.5-2.5 Gyr) to respond. Secular evolution of galaxies results in blue, star-forming or red, passive populations depending on the cumulative feedback from BHs. The reddest quartile of galaxies with M_*=10^{10.2-10.7} M_solar (median u-r = 2.28) has a CGM mass that is 2.5x lower than the bluest quartile (u-r=1.59). We propose strategies for observing the predicted lower CGM column densities and covering fractions around galaxies hosting more massive BHs using the Cosmic Origins Spectrograph on Hubble., Comment: 15 pages, 10 figures, 1 table, submitted to MNRAS

We exploit EAGLE, a cosmological hydrodynamical simulation, to reproduce the selection of the observed sub-millimeter (submm) galaxy population by selecting the model galaxies at $z \geq 1$ with mock submm fluxes $S_{850} \geq 1$ mJy. There is a reasonable agreement between the galaxies within this sample and the properties of the observed submm population, such as their star formation rates (SFRs) at $z<3$, redshift distribution and many integrated galaxy properties. We find that the bulk of the $S_{850} \geq 1$ mJy model population is at $z = 2.5$, and that they are massive galaxies ($M_* \sim 10^{11}$ Msol) with high dust masses ($M_{\mathrm{dust}} \sim 10^{8}$ Msol), gas fractions ($f_{\mathrm{gas}} \approx 50$%) and SFRs ($\dot M_* \approx 100$ Msol/yr). They have major and minor merger fractions similar to the general population, suggesting that mergers are not the primary driver of the model submm galaxies. Instead, the $S_{850} \geq 1$ mJy model galaxies yield high SFRs primarily because they maintain a significant gas reservoir as a result of hosting an undermassive black hole. In addition, we find that not all highly star-forming EAGLE galaxies have submm fluxes $S_{850} > 1$ mJy. Thus, we investigate the nature of $z \geq 1$ highly star-forming Submm-Faint galaxies (i.e., $\dot M_* \geq 80$ Msol/yr but $S_{850}< 1$ mJy). We find they are similar to the model submm galaxies; being gas rich and hosting undermassive black holes, however they are typically lower mass ($M_* \sim 10^{10}$ Msol) and are at higher redshifts ($z>4$). These typically higher-$z$ galaxies show stronger evidence for having been triggered by major mergers, and critically, they are likely missed by current submm surveys due to their higher dust temperatures. This suggests a potentially even larger contribution to the SFR density at $z > 3$ from dust-obscured systems than implied by current observations., Comment: 15 pages, 9 figures, submitted to MNRAS

We explore scaling relations between the physical properties of spatially resolved regions within the galaxies that emerge in the Evolution and Assembly of GaLaxies and their Environments (EAGLE) hydrodynamical, cosmological simulations. Using 1 kpc-scale spaxels, we compute the relationships between the star formation rate and stellar mass surface densities, i.e. the spatially resolved star-forming main sequence (rSFMS), and between the gas metallicity and the stellar mass surface density, i.e. the spatially resolved mass-metallicity relation (rMZR). We compare to observed relations derived from integral field unit surveys and imaging of galaxies. EAGLE reproduces the slope of the local ($z\approx0.1$) rSFMS well, but with a $\approx-0.15$ dex offset, close to that found for the galaxy-integrated relation. The shape of the rMZR agrees reasonably well with observations, replicating the characteristic turnover at high surface density, which we show is due to AGN feedback. The residuals of the rSFMS and rMZR are negatively (positively) correlated at low (high) surface density. The rSFMS becomes shallower as the simulation evolves from $z=2$ to 0.1, a manifestation of inside-out galaxy formation. The shape of the rMZR also exhibits dramatic evolution, from a convex profile at $z=2$ to the observed concave profile at $z=0.1$, such that the gas in regions of high stellar density is more enriched at higher redshift. The redshift independence of the relationship between the galaxy-wide gas fraction and metallicity in EAGLE galaxies is not preserved on 1 kpc scales, implying that chemical evolution is non-local due to the transport of gas and metals within galaxies., Comment: Submitted to MNRAS. 20 pages (15 + 5 appendices), 12 figures & 2 tables

We investigate the evolution in colour and morphology of the progenitors of red-sequence galaxies in the EAGLE cosmological hydrodynamical simulation. We quantify colours with $u^{*}-r^{*}$ intrinsic magnitudes and morphologies with a measure of the stellar kinematics. The time when galaxies moved onto the red sequence depends on their morphology. Disc-type galaxies tend to have become red during the last 3 Gyr, while elliptical-type galaxies joined the red sequence earlier, with half the sample already being red 5 Gyr ago. The time-scale, $\tau_{\rm{Green}}$, of colour transition through the `green valley' depends weakly on the galaxy's morphological type. Elliptical-type galaxies cross the green valley slightly faster ($\tau_{\rm{Green}}{\approx}1$ Gyr) than disc-type galaxies ($\tau_{\rm{Green}}{\approx}$1.5 Gyr). While $\tau_{\rm{Green}}$ is similar for central and satellite galaxies, for satellites $\tau_{\rm{Green}}$ decreases with increasing stellar mass to host-halo mass ratio. Coupled with our finding that galaxies tend to become green after becoming satellites, this indicates that satellite-specific processes are important for quenching red-sequence galaxies. The last time central, elliptical-type red-sequence galaxies left the blue cloud is strongly correlated with the time the luminosity of the central black hole peaked, but this is not the case for discs. This suggests that AGN feedback is important for quenching ellipticals, particularly centrals, but not for discs. We find only a weak connection between transformations in colour and morphology., Comment: 13 pages and 13 figures. First submitted to MNRAS on 22/08/18, this revised version includes changes made as a result of the referee report

We use the \eagle\ simulations to study the connection between the quenching timescale, $\tau_{\rm Q}$, and the physical mechanisms that transform star-forming galaxies into passive galaxies. By quantifying $\tau_{\rm Q}$ in two complementary ways - as the time over which (i) galaxies traverse the green valley on the colour-mass diagram, or (ii) leave the main sequence of star formation and subsequently arrive on the passive cloud in specific star formation rate (SSFR)-mass space - we find that the $\tau_{\rm Q}$ distribution of high-mass centrals, low-mass centrals and satellites are divergent. In the low stellar mass regime where $M_{\star}<10^{9.6}M_{\odot}$, centrals exhibit systematically longer quenching timescales than satellites ($\approx 4$~Gyr compared to $\approx 2$~Gyr). Satellites with low stellar mass relative to their halo mass cause this disparity, with ram pressure stripping quenching these galaxies rapidly. Low mass centrals are quenched as a result of stellar feedback, associated with long $\tau_{\rm Q}\gtrsim 3$~Gyr. At intermediate stellar masses where $10^{9.7}\,\rm M_{\odot}

We study the formation and evolution of ring galaxies in the Evolution and Assembly of GaLaxies and their Environments (EAGLE) simulations. We use the largest reference model Ref-L100N1504, a cubic cosmological volume of 100 comoving megaparsecs on a side, to identify and characterise these systems through cosmic time. The number density of ring galaxies in EAGLE is in broad agreement with the observations. The vast majority of ring galaxies identified in EAGLE (83 per cent) have an interaction origin, i.e., form when one or more companion galaxies drop-through a disk galaxy. The remainder (17 per cent) have very long-lived ring morphologies (> 2 Gyr) and host strong bars. Ring galaxies are HI rich galaxies, yet display inefficient star formation activity and tend to reside in the green valley particularly at z > 0.5. This inefficiency is mainly due to the low pressure and metallicity of their interstellar medium (ISM) compared with the ISM of similar star-forming galaxies. We find that the interaction(s) is responsible for decreasing the ISM pressure by causing the ISM gas to flow from the inner regions to the outer disk, where the ring feature forms. At a fixed radius, the star formation efficiency of ring galaxies is indistinguishable from their star-forming counterparts, and thus the main reason for their integrated lower efficiency is the different gas surface density profiles. Since galaxy morphologies are not used to tune the parameters in hydrodynamical simulations, the experiment performed here demonstrates the success of the current numerical models in EAGLE., Comment: Accepted for publication in MNRAS!

The Hubble sequence provides a useful classification of galaxy morphology at low redshift. However, morphologies are not static, but rather evolve as the growth of structure proceeds through mergers, accretion and secular processes. We investigate how kinematically defined disc and spheroidal structures form and evolve in the EAGLE hydrodynamic simulation of galaxy formation. At high redshift most galaxies of all masses are asymmetric. By redshift $z\simeq 1.5$ the Hubble sequence is established and after this time most of the stellar mass is in spheroids whose contribution to the stellar mass budget continues to rise to the present day. The stellar mass fraction in discs peaks at $z\simeq 0.5$ but overall remains subdominant at all times although discs contribute most of the stellar mass in systems of mass $M^*\sim 10^{10.5}{\rm M_\odot}$ at $z \leq 1.5$. Star formation occurs predominantly in disc structures throughout most of cosmic time but morphological transformations rearrange stars, thus establishing the low-redshift morphological mix. Morphological transformations are common and we quantify the rates at which they occur. The rate of growth of spheroids decreases at $z < 2$ while the rate of decay of discs remains roughly constant at $z < 1$. Finally, we find that the prograde component of galaxies becomes increasingly dynamically cold with time., Comment: 24 pages, 19 figures & 2 tables. Submitted to MNRAS. Fixed axis tick labels in Fig. 7 & 9, results unchanged. Comments welcome

We present mock optical images, broad-band and H$\alpha$ fluxes, and D4000 spectral indices for 30,145 galaxies from the EAGLE hydrodynamical simulation at redshift $z=0.1$, modelling dust with the SKIRT Monte Carlo radiative transfer code. The modelling includes a subgrid prescription for dusty star-forming regions, with both the subgrid obscuration of these regions and the fraction of metals in diffuse interstellar dust calibrated against far-infrared fluxes of local galaxies. The predicted optical colours as a function of stellar mass agree well with observation, with the SKIRT model showing marked improvement over a simple dust screen model. The orientation dependence of attenuation is weaker than observed because EAGLE galaxies are generally puffier than real galaxies, due to the pressure floor imposed on the interstellar medium. The mock H$\alpha$ luminosity function agrees reasonably well with the data, and we quantify the extent to which dust obscuration affects observed H$\alpha$ fluxes. The distribution of D4000 break values is bimodal, as observed. In the simulation, 20$\%$ of galaxies deemed `passive' for the SKIRT model, i.e. exhibiting D4000 $> 1.8$, are classified `active' when ISM dust attenuation is not included. The fraction of galaxies with stellar mass greater than $10^{10}$ M$_\odot$ that are deemed passive is slightly smaller than observed, which is due to low levels of residual star formation in these simulated galaxies. Colour images, fluxes and spectra of EAGLE galaxies are to be made available through the public EAGLE database., Comment: Accepted for publication in MNRAS, 33 pages, 21 figures, 3 Tables

We introduce the Hydrangea simulations, a suite of 24 cosmological hydrodynamic zoom-in simulations of massive galaxy clusters (M_200c = 10^14-10^15 M_Sun) with baryon particle masses of ~10^6 M_Sun. Designed to study the impact of the cluster environment on galaxy formation, they are a key part of the `Cluster-EAGLE' project (Barnes et al. 2017). They use a galaxy formation model developed for the EAGLE project, which has been shown to yield both realistic field galaxies and hot gas fractions of galaxy groups consistent with observations. The total stellar mass content of the simulated clusters agrees with observations, but central cluster galaxies are too massive, by up to 0.6 dex. Passive satellite fractions are higher than in the field, and at stellar masses Mstar > 10^10 M_Sun this environmental effect is quantitatively consistent with observations. The predicted satellite stellar mass function matches data from local cluster surveys. Normalized to total mass, there are fewer low-mass (Mstar < 10^10 M_Sun) galaxies within the virial radius of clusters than in the field, primarily due to star formation quenching. Conversely, the simulations predict an overabundance of massive galaxies in clusters compared to the field that persists to their far outskirts (> 5r_200c). This is caused by a significantly increased stellar mass fraction of (sub-)haloes in the cluster environment, by up to ~0.3 dex even well beyond r_200c. Haloes near clusters are also more concentrated than equally massive field haloes, but these two effects are largely uncorrelated., Comment: 22 pages, 15 figures (18 pages, 14 figures without appendices); submitted to MNRAS

We use EAGLE to quantify the effect galaxy mergers have on the stellar specific angular momentum of galaxies, $j_{\rm stars}$. We split mergers into: dry (gas-poor)/wet (gas-rich), major/minor, and different spin alignments and orbital parameters. Wet (dry) mergers have an average neutral gas-to-stellar mass ratio of $1.1$ ($0.02$), while major (minor) mergers are those with stellar mass ratios $\ge 0.3$ ($0.1-0.3$). We correlate the positions of galaxies in the $j_{\rm stars}$-stellar mass plane at $z=0$ with their merger history, and find that galaxies of low spins suffered dry mergers, while galaxies of normal/high spins suffered predominantly wet mergers, if any. The radial $j_{\rm stars}$ profiles of galaxies that went through dry mergers are deficient by $\approx 0.3$~dex at $r\lesssim 10\,r_{50}$ (with $r_{50}$ being the half-stellar mass radius), compared to galaxies that went through wet mergers. Studying the merger remnants reveals that dry mergers reduce $j_{\rm stars}$ by $\approx 30$\%, while wet mergers increase it by $\approx 10$\%, on average. The latter is connected to the build-up of the bulge by newly formed stars of high rotational speed. Moving from minor to major mergers accentuates these effects. When the spin vectors of the galaxies prior to the dry merger are misaligned, $j_{\rm stars}$ decreases to a greater magnitude, while in wet mergers co-rotation and high orbital angular momentum efficiently spun-up galaxies. We predict what would be the observational signatures in the $j_{\rm stars}$ profiles driven by dry mergers: (i) shallow radial profiles and (ii) profiles that rise beyond $\approx 10\,r_{50}$, both of which are significantly different from spiral galaxies., Comment: Accepted for publication in MNRAS. Compared to previous revision, Fig. 6 and A1 are new, and section 3.3 was shortened

We study present-day galaxy clustering in the EAGLE cosmological hydrodynamical simulation. EAGLE's galaxy formation parameters were calibrated to reproduce the redshift $z=0.1$ galaxy stellar mass function, and the simulation also reproduces galaxy colours well. The simulation volume is too small to correctly sample large-scale fluctuations and we therefore concentrate on scales smaller than a few mega parsecs. We find very good agreement with observed clustering measurements from the Galaxy And Mass Assembly (GAMA) survey, when galaxies are binned by stellar mass, color, or luminosity. However, low-mass red-galaxies are clustered too strongly, which is at least partly due to limited numerical resolution. Apart from this limitation, we conclude that EAGLE galaxies inhabit similar dark matter haloes as observed GAMA galaxies, and that the radial distribution of satellite galaxies as function of stellar mass and colour is similar to that observed as well., Comment: 18 pages, 15 figures. Accepted for publication in MNRAS

Observations of galaxies in the local Universe have shown that both the ionized gas and the stars of satellites are more metal-rich than of equally massive centrals. To gain insight into the connection between this metallicity enhancement and other differences between centrals and satellites, such as their star formation rates, gas content, and growth history, we study the metallicities of >3600 galaxies with M_star > 10^10 M_sun in the cosmological hydrodynamical EAGLE 100 Mpc `Reference' simulation, including ~1500 in the vicinity of galaxy groups and clusters (M_200 >= 10^13 M_sun). The simulation predicts excess gas and stellar metallicities in satellites consistent with observations, except for stellar metallicities at M_star <~ 10^10.2 M_sun where the predicted excess is smaller than observed. The exact magnitude of the effect depends on galaxy selection, aperture, and on whether the metallicity is weighted by stellar mass or luminosity. The stellar metallicity excess in clusters is also sensitive to the efficiency scaling of star formation feedback. We identify stripping of low-metallicity gas from the galaxy outskirts, as well as suppression of metal-poor inflows towards the galaxy centre, as key drivers of the enhancement of gas metallicity. Stellar metallicities in satellites are higher than in the field as a direct consequence of the more metal-rich star forming gas, whereas stripping of stars and suppressed stellar mass growth, as well as differences in accreted vs. in-situ star formation between satellites and the field, are of secondary importance., Comment: 22 pages, 15 figures; accepted by MNRAS

The EAGLE cosmological simulations reproduce the observed galaxy stellar mass function and many galaxy properties. In this work, we study the dust-related properties of present-day EAGLE galaxies through mock observations in the far-infrared and submm wavelength ranges obtained with the 3D dust radiative transfer code SKIRT. To prepare an EAGLE galaxy for radiative transfer processing, we derive a diffuse dust distribution from the gas particles and we re-sample the star-forming gas particles and the youngest star particles into star-forming regions that are assigned dedicated emission templates. We select a set of redshift-zero EAGLE galaxies that matches the K-band luminosity distribution of the galaxies in the Herschel Reference Survey (HRS), a volume-limited sample of about 300 normal galaxies in the Local Universe. We find overall agreement of the EAGLE dust scaling relations with those observed in the HRS, such as the dust-to-stellar mass ratio versus stellar mass and versus NUV-r colour relations. A discrepancy in the f_250/f_350 versus f_350/f_500 submm colour-colour relation implies that part of the simulated dust is insufficiently heated, likely because of limitations in our sub-grid model for star-forming regions. We also investigate the effect of adjusting the metal-to-dust ratio and the covering factor of the photodissociation regions surrounding the star-forming cores. We are able to constrain the important dust-related parameters in our method, informing the calculation of dust attenuation for EAGLE galaxies in the UV and optical domain., Comment: 19 pages, 16 figures, accepted for publication in MNRAS

We introduce a series of 20 cosmological hydrodynamical simulations of Lstar (M_200 =10^11.7 - 10^12.3 Msol) and group-sized (M_200 = 10^12.7 - 10^13.3 Msol) haloes run with the model used for the EAGLE project, which additionally includes a non-equilibrium ionization and cooling module that follows 136 ions. The simulations reproduce the observed correlation, revealed by COS-Halos at z~0.2, between O VI column density at impact parameters b < 150 kpc and the specific star formation rate (sSFR=SFR/Mstar) of the central galaxy at z~0.2. We find that the column density of circumgalactic O VI is maximal in the haloes associated with Lstar galaxies, because their virial temperatures are close to the temperature at which the ionization fraction of O VI peaks (T~10^5.5 K). The higher virial temperature of group haloes (> 10^6 K) promotes oxygen to higher ionization states, suppressing the O VI column density. The observed NO VI-sSFR correlation therefore does not imply a causal link, but reflects the changing characteristic ionization state of oxygen as halo mass is increased. In spite of the mass-dependence of the oxygen ionization state, the most abundant circumgalactic oxygen ion in both Lstar and group haloes is O VII; O VI accounts for only 0.1% of the oxygen in group haloes and 0.9-1.3% with Lstar haloes. Nonetheless, the metals traced by O VI absorbers represent a fossil record of the feedback history of galaxies over a Hubble time; their characteristic epoch of ejection corresponds to z > 1 and much of the ejected metal mass resides beyond the virial radius of galaxies. For both Lstar and group galaxies, more of the oxygen produced and released by stars resides in the circumgalactic medium (within twice the virial radius) than in the stars and ISM of the galaxy., Comment: 25 pages, 14 figures, 2 tables. Accepted in MNRAS

We examine the evolution of intrinsic u-r colours of galaxies in the EAGLE cosmological hydrodynamical simulations, which has been shown to reproduce the observed redshift z=0.1 colour-magnitude distribution well. The median u-r of star-forming ('blue cloud') galaxies reddens by 1 mag from z=2 to 0 at fixed stellar mass, as their specific star formation rates decrease with time. A red sequence starts to build-up around z=1, due to the quenching of low-mass satellite galaxies at the faint end, and due to the quenching of more massive central galaxies by their active galactic nuclei (AGN) at the bright end. This leaves a dearth of intermediate-mass red sequence galaxies at z=1, which is mostly filled in by z=0. We quantify the time-scales of colour transition due to satellite and AGN quenching, finding that most galaxies spend less than 2 Gyr in the 'green valley'. On examining the trajectories of galaxies in a colour-stellar mass diagram, we identify three characteristic tracks that galaxies follow (quiescently star-forming, quenching and rejuvenating galaxies) and quantify the fraction of galaxies that follow each track., Comment: 16 pages, 10 figures. Accepted by MNRAS, some updated text & figures, added text to section 4. For the animated evolution of the EAGLE intrinsic u-r CMD (with central and satellite galaxies coloured red and blue respectively) see http://community.dur.ac.uk/j.w.trayford/media/CMD_evolution_EAGLE.mp4

We explore the co-evolution of the specific angular momentum of dark matter haloes and the cold baryons that comprise the galaxies within. We study over two thousand central galaxies within the reference cosmological hydrodynamical simulation of the "Evolution and Assembly of GaLaxies and their Environments" (EAGLE) project. We employ a methodology within which the evolutionary history of a system is specified by the time-evolving properties of the Lagrangian particles that define it at z=0. We find a strong correlation between the evolution of the specific angular momentum of today's stars (cold gas) and that of the inner (whole) dark matter halo they are associated with. This link is particularly strong for the stars formed before the epoch of maximum expansion and subsequent collapse of the central dark matter halo (turnaround). Spheroids are typically assembled primarily from stars formed prior to turnaround, and are therefore destined to suffer a net loss of angular momentum associated with the strong merging activity during the assembly of the inner dark matter halo. Stellar discs retain their specific angular momentum since they are comprised of stars formed mainly after turnaround, from gas that mostly preserves the high specific angular momentum it acquired by tidal torques during the linear growth of the halo. Since the specific angular momentum loss of the stars is tied to the galaxy's morphology today, it may be possible to use our results to predict, statistically, the assembly history of a halo given the morphology of the galaxy it hosts., Comment: 15 pages, 11 figures, submitted for publication in MNRAS, comments welcome

We compare the mass and internal distribution of atomic hydrogen (HI) in 2200 present-day central galaxies with M_star > 10^10 M_Sun from the 100 Mpc EAGLE Reference simulation to observational data. Atomic hydrogen fractions are corrected for self-shielding using a fitting formula from radiative transfer simulations and for the presence of molecular hydrogen using an empirical or a theoretical prescription from the literature. The resulting neutral hydrogen fractions, M_(HI+H2)/M_star, agree with observations to better than 0.1 dex for galaxies with M_star between 10^10 and 10^11 M_Sun. Our fiducial, empirical H2 model based on gas pressure results in galactic HI mass fractions, M_HI/M_star, that agree with observations from the GASS survey to better than 0.3 dex, but the alternative theoretical H2 formula leads to a negative offset in M_HI/M_star of up to 0.5 dex. Visual inspection reveals that most HI disks in simulated HI-rich galaxies are vertically disturbed, plausibly due to recent accretion events. Many galaxies (up to 80 per cent) contain spuriously large HI holes, which are likely formed as a consequence of the feedback implementation in EAGLE. The HI mass-size relation of all simulated galaxies is close to (but 16 per cent steeper than) observed, and when only galaxies without large holes in the HI disc are considered, the agreement becomes excellent (better than 0.1 dex). The presence of large HI holes also makes the radial HI surface density profiles somewhat too low in the centre, at \Sigma_HI > 1 M_Sun pc^-2 (by a factor of <~ 2 compared to data from the Bluedisk survey). In the outer region (\Sigma_HI < 1 M_Sun pc^-2), the simulated profiles agree quantitatively with observations. Scaled by HI size, the simulated profiles of HI-rich (M_HI > 10^9.8 M_Sun) and control galaxies (10^9.1 M_Sun > M_HI > 10^9.8 M_Sun) follow each other closely, as observed. (Abridged), Comment: 23 pages, 17 figures (16 pages, 9 figures without appendices), accepted by MNRAS

We investigate correlations between different physical properties of star-forming galaxies in the "Evolution and Assembly of GaLaxies and their Environments" (EAGLE) cosmological hydrodynamical simulation suite over the redshift range $0\le z\le 4.5$. A principal component analysis reveals that neutral gas fraction ($f_{\rm gas, neutral}$), stellar mass ($M_{\rm stellar}$) and star formation rate (SFR) account for most of the variance seen in the population, with galaxies tracing a two-dimensional, nearly flat, surface in the three-dimensional space of $f_{\rm gas, neutral}-M_{\rm stellar}-\rm SFR$ with little scatter. The location of this plane varies little with redshift, whereas galaxies themselves move along the plane as their $f_{\rm gas, neutral}$ and SFR drop with redshift. The positions of galaxies along the plane are highly correlated with gas metallicity. The metallicity can therefore be robustly predicted from $f_{\rm gas, neutral}$, or from the $M_{\rm stellar}$ and SFR. We argue that the appearance of this "fundamental plane of star formation" is a consequence of self-regulation, with the plane's curvature set by the dependence of the SFR on gas density and metallicity. We analyse a large compilation of observations spanning the redshift range $0\lesssim \rm z\lesssim 2.5$, and find that such a plane is also present in the data. The properties of the observed fundamental plane of star formation are in good agreement with EAGLE's predictions., Comment: 20 pages, 12 figures (16 pages without appendices). Accepted for publication in MNRAS. Changes from previous version are mainly in the way PCA was performed, but this had no impact in our conclusions. For movies and visualizations please visit http://www.clagos.com/movies.php

We present the public data release of halo and galaxy catalogues extracted from the EAGLE suite of cosmological hydrodynamical simulations of galaxy formation. These simulations were performed with an enhanced version of the GADGET code that includes a modified hydrodynamics solver, time-step limiter and subgrid treatments of baryonic physics, such as stellar mass loss, element-by-element radiative cooling, star formation and feedback from star formation and black hole accretion. The simulation suite includes runs performed in volumes ranging from 25 to 100 comoving megaparsecs per side, with numerical resolution chosen to marginally resolve the Jeans mass of the gas at the star formation threshold. The free parameters of the subgrid models for feedback are calibrated to the redshift z=0 galaxy stellar mass function, galaxy sizes and black hole mass - stellar mass relation. The simulations have been shown to match a wide range of observations for present-day and higher-redshift galaxies. The raw particle data have been used to link galaxies across redshifts by creating merger trees. The indexing of the tree produces a simple way to connect a galaxy at one redshift to its progenitors at higher redshift and to identify its descendants at lower redshift. In this paper we present a relational database which we are making available for general use. A large number of properties of haloes and galaxies and their merger trees are stored in the database, including stellar masses, star formation rates, metallicities, photometric measurements and mock gri images. Complex queries can be created to explore the evolution of more than 10^5 galaxies, examples of which are provided in appendix. (abridged), Comment: 12 pages, 3 figures + appendices. The simulation data is available at http://www.eaglesim.org/database.php (comments welcome). Paper accepted to AstronomyComputing. Note there is a typo in the published version, Section 4.1, replace 3/2 with 2/3 for velocity dispersion

We calculate the colours and luminosities of redshift z = 0.1 galaxies from the EAGLE simulation suite using the GALAXEV population synthesis models. We take into account obscuration by dust in birth clouds and diffuse ISM using a two-component screen model, following the prescription of Charlot and Fall. We compare models in which the dust optical depth is constant to models where it depends on gas metallicity, gas fraction and orientation. The colours of EAGLE galaxies for the more sophisticated models are in broad agreement with those of observed galaxies. In particular, EAGLE produces a red sequence of passive galaxies and a blue cloud of star forming galaxies, with approximately the correct fraction of galaxies in each population and with g-r colours within 0.1 magnitudes of those observed. Luminosity functions from UV to NIR wavelengths differ from observations at a level comparable to systematic shifts resulting from a choice between Petrosian and Kron photometric apertures. Despite the generally good agreement there are clear discrepancies with observations. The blue cloud of EAGLE galaxies extends to somewhat higher luminosities than in the data, consistent with the modest underestimate of the passive fraction in massive EAGLE galaxies. There is also a moderate excess of bright blue galaxies compared to observations. The overall level of agreement with the observed colour distribution suggests that EAGLE galaxies at z = 0.1 have ages, metallicities and levels of obscuration that are comparable to those of observed galaxies., Comment: 20 pages, 7 figures, submitted to MNRAS

We investigate the abundance of galactic molecular hydrogen (H$_2$) in the "Evolution and Assembly of GaLaxies and their Environments" (EAGLE) cosmological hydrodynamic simulations. We assign H$_2$ masses to gas particles in the simulations in post-processing using two different prescriptions that depend on the local dust-to-gas ratio and the interstellar radiation field. Both result in H$_2$ galaxy mass functions that agree well with observations in the local and high-redshift Universe. The simulations reproduce the observed scaling relations between the mass of H$_2$ and the stellar mass, star formation rate and stellar surface density. Towards high edshifts, galaxies in the simulations display larger H$_2$ mass fractions, and correspondingly lower H$_2$ depletion timescales, also in good agreement with observations. The comoving mass density of H$_2$ in units of the critical density, $\Omega_{\rm H_2}$, peaks at $z\approx 1.2-1.5$, later than the predicted peak of the cosmic star formation rate activity, at $z\approx 2$. This difference stems from the decrease in gas metallicity and increase in interstellar radiation field with redshift, both of which hamper H$_2$ formation. We find that the cosmic H$_2$ budget is dominated by galaxies with $M_{\rm H_2}>10^9\,\rm M_{\odot}$, star formation rates $>10\,\rm M_{\odot}\,\rm yr^{-1}$ and stellar masses $M_{\rm stellar}>10^{10}\,\rm M_{\odot}$, which are readily observable in the optical and near-IR. The match between the H$_2$ properties of galaxies that emerge in the simulations and observations is remarkable, particularly since H$_2$ observations were not used to adjust parameters in EAGLE., Comment: 24 pages and 21 figures (18 pages and 16 figures without appendices). Accepted for publication in MNRAS

We present results from thirteen cosmological simulations that explore the parameter space of the "Evolution and Assembly of GaLaxies and their Environments" (EAGLE) simulation project. Four of the simulations follow the evolution of a periodic cube L = 50 cMpc on a side, and each employs a different subgrid model of the energetic feedback associated with star formation. The relevant parameters were adjusted so that the simulations each reproduce the observed galaxy stellar mass function at z = 0.1. Three of the simulations fail to form disc galaxies as extended as observed, and we show analytically that this is a consequence of numerical radiative losses that reduce the efficiency of stellar feedback in high-density gas. Such losses are greatly reduced in the fourth simulation - the EAGLE reference model - by injecting more energy in higher density gas. This model produces galaxies with the observed size distribution, and also reproduces many galaxy scaling relations. In the remaining nine simulations, a single parameter or process of the reference model was varied at a time. We find that the properties of galaxies with stellar mass <~ M* (the "knee" of the galaxy stellar mass function) are largely governed by feedback associated with star formation, while those of more massive galaxies are also controlled by feedback from accretion onto their central black holes. Both processes must be efficient in order to reproduce the observed galaxy population. In general, simulations that have been calibrated to reproduce the low-redshift galaxy stellar mass function will still not form realistic galaxies, but the additional requirement that galaxy sizes be acceptable leads to agreement with a large range of observables., Comment: Accepted for publication by MNRAS. v2: minor changes from submitted manuscript