arXiv subjects

Aikaterini Niovi Triantafyllaki

Publications and source records attributed to Aikaterini Niovi Triantafyllaki.

2 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2025

Superbubbles as the source of dynamical friction: gas migration, stellar and dark matter contributions

[Abridged] The gas distribution in galaxies is smooth on large scales, but is usually time-dependent and inhomogeneous on smaller scales. The time-dependence originates from processes such as cloud formation, their collisions, and supernovae (SNe) explosions, which also create inhomogeneities. The inhomogeneities in the matter distribution give rise to variations in the local galactic gravitational potential, which can contribute to dynamically coupling the gas disc to the stellar and the dark matter (DM) components of the galaxy. Specifically, multiple SNe occurring in young stellar clusters give rise to superbubbles (SBs), which modify the local acceleration field and alter the energy and momentum of stars or DM particles traversing them, in broad analogy to the dynamical friction caused by a massive object. Our aim is to quantify how the acceleration field from SBs causes dynamical friction and contributes to the secular evolution of galaxies. In order to assess this, we constructed the time-dependent density modifications to the gas distribution that mimics a SB. By evaluating the acceleration field from these density modifications, we were able to see how the momentum or angular momentum of the gas hosting the SBs changes when stars pass through the SB. Combining the effects of all the stars and SBs, we constructed an empirical approximation formula for the momentum loss in homogeneous and isotropic cases. We find that the rate at which the gas disc loses its specific angular momentum via the above process is up to 4% per Gyr, which translates to under one-half of its original value over the lifetime of the disc. For comparison, the mass transfer rate from SBs is about one order of magnitude less than from gas turbulence, and hence the SB contribution should be included to account for the gas migration rate more accurately than 10%.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2023

Back to the present: A general treatment for the tidal field from the wake of dynamical friction

Dynamical friction can be a valuable tool for inferring dark matter properties that are difficult to constrain by other methods. Most applications of dynamical friction calculations are concerned with the long-term angular momentum loss and orbital decay of the perturber within its host. This, however, assumes knowledge of the unknown initial conditions of the system. We advance an alternative methodology to infer the host properties from the perturber's shape distortions induced by the tides of the wake of dynamical friction, which we refer to as the tidal dynamical friction. As the shape distortions rely on the tidal field that has a predominantly local origin, we present a strategy to find the local wake by integrating the stellar orbits back in time along with the perturber, then removing the perturber's potential and re-integrating them back to the present. This provides perturbed and unperturbed coordinates and hence a change in coordinates, density, and acceleration fields, which yields the back-reaction experienced by the perturber. The method successfully recovers the tidal field of the wake based on a comparison with N-body simulations. We show that similar to the tidal field itself, the noise and randomness of the dynamical friction force due to the finite number of stars is also dominated by regions close to the perturber. Stars near the perturber influence it more but are smaller in number, causing a high variance in the acceleration field. These fluctuations are intrinsic to dynamical friction. We show that a stellar density of $0.0014 {\rm M_\odot\, kpc^{-3}}$ yields an inherent variance of 10% to the dynamical friction. The current method extends the family of dynamical friction methods that allow for the inference of host properties from tidal forces of the wake. It can be applied to specific galaxies, such as Magellanic Clouds, with Gaia data.

astro-ph.GA↗