We study the evolution of dust in a cosmological volume using a hydrodynamical simulation in which the dust production is coupled with the MUPPI (MUlti Phase Particle Integrator) sub-resolution model of star formation and feedback. As for the latter, we keep as reference the model setup calibrated previously to match the general properties of Milky Way-like galaxies in zoom-in simulations. However, we suggest that an increase of the star formation efficiency with the local dust-to-gas ratio would better reproduce the observed evolution of the cosmic star formation density. Moreover, the paucity of quenched galaxies at low redshift demands a stronger role of active galactic nucleus feedback. We tune the parameters ruling direct dust production from evolved stars and accretion in the interstellar medium to get scaling relations involving dust, stellar mass and metallicity in good agreement with observations. In low-mass galaxies, the accretion process is inefficient. As a consequence, they remain poorer in silicate and small grains than higher mass ones. We reproduce reasonably well the few available data on the radial distribution of dust outside the galactic region, supporting the assumption that the dust and gas dynamics are well coupled at galactic scales.

Observations suggest that the amount of galactic dust in the Universe decreased by a factor ∼ 2 − 3 during the last ∼ 8 Gyr. However, cosmological models of galaxy evolution usually struggle to explain this decrease. Here we use the semi-analytic model (SAM) L-G 2020 to show that this drop may be reproduced assuming standard prescriptions for dust production and evolution. We extend the SAM with i) a state-of-the-art dust model which adopts the two-size approximation and ii) a new disc instability criterion which triggers bulge and central black hole growth. The model reproduces some fundamental properties of the local galaxy population, such as the fraction of spheroid-dominated galaxies and some scaling relations involving dust. Moreover, the model predicts a galactic dust drop from 𝑧 ∼ 1 → 0, which becomes closer to the observed one when adopting the new treatment of disc instabilities. This result is related to the newly implemented super-massive black hole growth during disc instabilities, which enhances the quenching of massive galaxies. Consequently, these objects feature a lower gas and dust content. We provide a census of the contribution of all the processes affecting the galactic dust content. Accretion is the dominant dust mass growth process. Destruction by supernovae, astration and ejection by winds have all a non-negligible role in decreasing the overall dust content in galaxies below 𝑧 ∼ 1. We also discuss predictions concerning extra-galactic dust, confirming that a sputtering efficiency lower than the canonical one is required to match the few available observations.

Observations suggest that the amount of galactic dust in the Universe decreased by a factor ∼2 − 3 during the last ∼8 Gyr. However, cosmological models of galaxy evolution usually struggle to explain this decrease. Here we use the semi-analytic model (SAM) L-Galaxies2020 to show that this drop may be reproduced assuming standard prescriptions for dust production and evolution. We extend the SAM with i) a state-of-the-art dust model which adopts the two-size approximation and ii) a new disc instability criterion which triggers bulge and central black hole growth. The model reproduces some fundamental properties of the local galaxy population, such as the fraction of spheroid-dominated galaxies and some scaling relations involving dust. Moreover, the model predicts a galactic dust drop from z ∼ 1 → 0, which becomes closer to the observed one when adopting the new treatment of disc instabilities. This result is related to the newly implemented super-massive black hole growth during disc instabilities, which enhances the quenching of massive galaxies. Consequently, these objects feature a lower gas and dust content. We provide a census of the contribution of all the processes affecting the galactic dust content. Accretion is the dominant dust mass growth process. Destruction by supernovae, astration and ejection by winds have all a non-negligible role in decreasing the overall dust content in galaxies below z ∼ 1. We also discuss predictions concerning extra-galactic dust, confirming that a sputtering efficiency lower than the canonical one is required to match the few available observations.