The launching of galactic winds from a multiphase ISM

ABSTRACT Galactic outflows are a key agent of galaxy evolution, yet their observed multiphase nature remains difficult to reconcile with theoretical models, which often fail to explain how cold gas survives interactions with hot, fast winds. We present high-resolution three-dimensional hydrodynamic simulations of hot outflows interacting with a multiphase interstellar medium (ISM), parametrized by its cold-gas volume filling fraction $f_v$, depth $L_\mathrm{ISM}$, and clump size $r_{\mathrm{cl}}$. We identify a universal survival criterion $f_v L_\mathrm{ISM}\gtrsim r_{\mathrm{crit}}$ that generalizes the classical single-cloud condition ($r_{\mathrm{cl}}\gt r_{\mathrm{crit}}$) and correctly predicts cold-gas survival across diverse ISM configurations – including scale-free – down to $r_{\mathrm{cl}}/r_{\mathrm{crit}} \sim 10^{-2}$. The surviving cold phase rapidly loses memory of the initial ISM structure and evolves towards a self-similar clump mass spectrum following Zipf’s law ($\mathrm{d}N/\mathrm{d}m \propto m^{-2}$), implying that turbulent mixing and radiative condensation universally shape multiphase outflows. Cold gas assembles into plumes or confined shells of size $\sim \chi r_{\mathrm{cl,min}}$, growing as mass is accreted from the hot phase. The interaction of a laminar wind with a clumpy ISM drives turbulence in both phases, with first-order velocity structure functions following a Kolmogorov scaling and an injection scale set by $L_\mathrm{ISM}$, while velocity dispersions reach $\sigma \sim c_{\mathrm{s,cold}}$. The areal covering fraction of cold gas approaches unity even for $f_v \sim 10^{-3}$, though its volume filling fraction stays low, explaining the ‘misty’ appearance of observed outflows. Together, these results link small-scale cloud–wind interactions to galaxy-scale feedback, and we discuss their implications for interpreting observations and for modelling multiphase galactic winds in larger-scale simulations.