The Origin and Distribution of Cold Gas in the Halo of a Milky Way-Mass
  Galaxy
  We analyze an adaptive mesh refinement hydrodynamic cosmological simulation
of a Milky Way-sized galaxy to study the cold gas in the halo. HI observations
of the Milky Way and other nearby spirals have revealed the presence of such
gas in the form of clouds and other extended structures, which indicates
on-going accretion. We use a high-resolution simulation (136-272 pc throughout)
to study the distribution of cold gas in the halo, compare it with
observations, and examine its origin. The amount (10^8 Msun in HI), covering
fraction, and spatial distribution of the cold halo gas around the simulated
galaxy at z=0 are consistent with existing observations. At z=0 the HI mass
accretion rate onto the disk is 0.2 Msun/yr. We track the histories of the 20
satellites that are detected in HI in the redshift interval 0.5>z>0 and find
that most of them are losing gas, with a median mass loss rate per satellite of
3.1 x 10^{-3} Msun/yr. This stripped gas is a significant component of the HI
gas seen in the simulation. In addition, we see filamentary material coming
into the halo from the IGM at all redshifts. Most of this gas does not make it
directly to the disk, but part of the gas in these structures is able to cool
and form clouds. The metallicity of the gas allows us to distinguish between
filamentary flows and satellite gas. We find that the former accounts for at
least 25-75% of the cold gas in the halo seen at any redshift analyzed here.
Placing constraints on cloud formation mechanisms allows us to better
understand how galaxies accrete gas and fuel star formation at z=0.
