Bk. Gibson, ON THE INFLUENCE OF SUPERNOVA REMNANT THERMAL-ENERGY IN POWERING GALACTIC WINDS, Journal of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada, 88(6), 1994, pp. 383-403
The fundamental tenet of the classical supernovae-driven wind model of
elliptical galaxies is that the residual thermal energy of all supern
ovae remnants (SNRs) provides sufficient energy to overcome the bindin
g energy of the remaining interstellar gas, thereby driving a global g
alactic wind. We re-examine model predictions of this epoch of wind ej
ection, t(GW), highlighting a heretofore underappreciated sensitivity
to the adopted remnant thermal energy formalism, and illustrating case
s in which previous work may have substantially overestimated t(GW). A
rguments based upon chemical evolution alone, put forth to reject the
hypothesis of dark matter distributions similar to the luminous compon
ent in spheroids, are shown to be tenuous. Finally, the predicted enri
chment of intracluster gas during the wind phase of cluster elliptical
s, and its relation to the selected SNR interior thermal energy evolut
ionary scheme, is addressed. Despite the success of previous wind mode
ls, our results still call into question the correctness of the simple
analytical approach used thus far, and imply that a more appropriate
technique should be adopted in the future.