arXiv subjects

Andrea V. Macciò

Publications and source records attributed to Andrea V. Macciò.

104 records · Page 6Linked to original sources

arXiv2014

Dark MaGICC: the effect of Dark Energy on galaxy formation. Cosmology does matter

We present the Dark MaGICC project, which aims to investigate the effect of Dark Energy (DE) modeling on galaxy formation via hydrodynamical cosmological simulations. Dark MaGICC includes four dynamical Dark Energy scenarios with time varying equations of state, one with a self-interacting Ratra-Peebles model. In each scenario we simulate three galaxies with high resolution using smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH). The baryonic physics model is the same used in the Making Galaxies in a Cosmological Context (MaGICC) project, and we varied only the background cosmology. We find that the Dark Energy parameterization has a surprisingly important impact on galaxy evolution and on structural properties of galaxies at z=0, in striking contrast with predictions from pure Nbody simulations. The different background evolutions can (depending on the behavior of the DE equation of state) either enhance or quench star formation with respect to a LCDM model, at a level similar to the variation of the stellar feedback parameterization, with strong effects on the final galaxy rotation curves. While overall stellar feedback is still the driving force in shaping galaxies, we show that the effect of the Dark Energy parameterization plays a larger role than previously thought, especially at lower redshifts. For this reason, the influence of Dark Energy parametrization on galaxy formation must be taken into account, especially in the era of precision cosmology.

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arXiv2014

Cold stream stability during minor mergers

We use high-resolution Eulerian simulations to study the stability of cold gas flows in a galaxy size dark matter halo (10^12 Msun) at redshift z=2. Our simulations show that a cold stream penetrating a hot gaseous halo is stable against thermal convection and Kelvin-Helmholtz instability. We then investigate the effect of a satellite orbiting the main halo in the plane of the stream. The satellite is able to perturb the stream and to inhibit cold gas accretion towards the center of the halo for 0.5 Gyr. However, if the supply of cold gas at large distances is kept constant, the cold stream is able to re-establish itself after 0.3 Gyr. We conclude that cold streams are very stable against a large variety of internal and external perturbations.

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arXiv2013

MaGICC-WDM: the effects of warm dark matter in hydrodynamical simulations of disc galaxy formation

We study the effect of warm dark matter (WDM) on hydrodynamic simulations of galaxy formation as part of the Making Galaxies in a Cosmological Context (MaGICC) project. We simulate three different galaxies using three WDM candidates of 1, 2 and 5 keV and compare results with pure cold dark matter simulations. WDM slightly reduces star formation and produces less centrally concentrated stellar profiles. These effects are most evident for the 1 keV candidate but almost disappear for $m_{\mathrm{WDM}}>2$ keV. All simulations form similar stellar discs independent of WDM particle mass. In particular, the disc scale length does not change when WDM is considered. The reduced amount of star formation in the case of 1 keV particles is due to the effects of WDM on merging satellites which are on average less concentrated and less gas rich. The altered satellites cause a reduced starburst during mergers because they trigger weaker disc instabilities in the main galaxy. Nevertheless we show that disc galaxy evolution is much more sensitive to stellar feedback than it is to WDM candidate mass. Overall we find that WDM, especially when restricted to current observational constraints ($m_{\mathrm{WDM}}>2$ keV), has a minor impact on disc galaxy formation.

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arXiv2013

The MaGICC volume: reproducing statistical properties of high redshift galaxies

We present a cosmological hydrodynamical simulation of a representative volume of the Universe, as part of the Making Galaxies in a Cosmological Context (MaGICC) project. MaGICC uses a thermal implementation for supernova and early stellar feedback. This work tests the feedback model at lower resolution across a range of galaxy masses, morphologies and merger histories. The simulated sample compares well with observations of high redshift galaxies ($z \ge 2$) including the stellar mass - halo mass ($M_\star - M_h$ ) relation, the Galaxy Stellar Mass Function (GSMF) at low masses ($M_\star \lt 5 \times 10^{10} M_\odot$ ) and the number density evolution of low mass galaxies. The poor match of $M_\star - M_h$ and the GSMF at high masses ($M_\star \ge 5 \times 10^{10} M_\odot$ ) indicates supernova feedback is insufficient to limit star formation in these haloes. At $z = 0$, our model produces too many stars in massive galaxies and slightly underpredicts the stellar mass around $L_\star$ mass galaxy. Altogether our results suggest that early stellar feedback, in conjunction with supernovae feedback, plays a major role in regulating the properties of low mass galaxies at high redshift.

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arXiv2013

The effect of Warm Dark Matter on galaxy properties: constraints from the stellar mass function and the Tully-Fisher relation

In this paper we combine high resolution N-body simulations with a semi analytical model of galaxy formation to study the effects of a possible Warm Dark Matter (WDM) component on the observable properties of galaxies. We compare three WDM models with a dark matter mass of 0.5, 0.75 and 2.0 keV, with the standard Cold Dark Matter case. For a fixed set of parameters describing the baryonic physics the WDM models predict less galaxies at low (stellar) masses, as expected due to the suppression of power on small scales, while no substantial difference is found at the high mass end. However these differences in the stellar mass function, vanish when different set of parameters are used to describe the (largely unknown) galaxy formation processes. We show that is possible to break this degeneracy between DM properties and the parameterization of baryonic physics by combining observations on the stellar mass function with the Tully-Fisher relation (the relation between stellar mass and the rotation velocity at large galactic radii as probed by resolved HI rotation curves). WDM models with a too warm candidate (m<0.75 keV) cannot simultaneously reproduce the stellar mass function and the Tully-Fisher relation. We conclude that accurate measurements of the galaxy stellar mass function and the link between galaxies and dark matter haloes down to the very low-mass end can give very tight constraints on the nature of DM candidates.

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arXiv2012

Numerical hydrodynamic simulations based on semi-analytic galaxy merger trees: method and Milky-Way like galaxies

We present a new approach to study galaxy evolution in a cosmological context. We combine cosmological merger trees and semi-analytic models of galaxy formation to provide the initial conditions for multi-merger hydrodynamic simulations. In this way we exploit the advantages of merger simulations (high resolution and inclusion of the gas physics) and semi-analytic models (cosmological background and low computational cost), and integrate them to create a novel tool. This approach allows us to study the evolution of various galaxy properties, including the treatment of the hot gaseous halo from which gas cools and accretes onto the central disc, which has been neglected in many previous studies. This method shows several advantages over other methods. As only the particles in the regions of interest are included, the run time is much shorter than in traditional cosmological simulations, leading to greater computational efficiency. Using cosmological simulations, we show that multiple mergers are expected to be more common than sequences of isolated mergers, and therefore studies of galaxy mergers should take this into account. In this pilot study, we present our method and illustrate the results of simulating ten Milky Way-like galaxies since z=1. We find good agreement with observations for the total stellar masses, star formation rates, cold gas fractions and disc scale length parameters. We expect that this novel numerical approach will be very useful for pursuing a number of questions pertaining to the transformation of galaxy internal structure through cosmic time.

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arXiv2012

MAGICC haloes: confronting simulations with observations of the circumgalactic medium at z=0

We explore the circumgalactic medium (CGM) of two simulated star-forming galaxies with luminosities L ~ 0.1 and 1 L* generated using the smooth particle hydrodynamic code GASOLINE. These simulations are part of the Making Galaxies In a Cosmological Context (MAGICC) program in which the stellar feedback is tuned to match the stellar mass-halo mass relationship. For comparison, each galaxy was also simulated using a 'lower feedback' (LF) model which has strength comparable to other implementations in the literature. The 'MAGICC feedback' (MF) model has a higher incidence of massive stars and an approximately two times higher energy input per supernova. Apart from the low-mass halo using LF, each galaxy exhibits a metal-enriched CGM that extends to approximately the virial radius. A significant fraction of this gas has been heated in supernova explosions in the disc and subsequently ejected into the CGM where it is predicted to give rise to substantial O VI absorption. The simulations do not yet address the question of what happens to the O VI when the galaxies stop forming stars. Our models also predict a reservoir of cool H I clouds that show strong Lyαabsorption to several hundred kpc. Comparing these models to recent surveys with the Hubble Space Telescope, we find that only the MF models have sufficient O VI and H I gas in the CGM to reproduce the observed distributions. In separate analyses, these same MF models also show better agreement with other galaxy observables (e.g. rotation curves, surface brightness profiles and H I gas distribution). We infer that the CGM is the dominant reservoir of baryons for galaxy haloes.

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arXiv2012

An attractor for the dynamical state of the intracluster medium

Galaxy clusters provide us with important information about the cosmology of our universe. Observations of the X-ray radiation or of the SZ effect allow us to measure the density and temperature of the hot intergalactic medium between the galaxies in a cluster, which then allow us to calculate the total mass of the galaxy cluster. However, no simple connection between the density and the temperature profiles has been identified. Here we use controlled high-resolution numerical simulations to identify a relation between the density and temperature of the gas in equilibrated galaxy clusters. We demonstrate that the temperature-density relation is a real attractor, by showing that a wide range of equilibrated structures all move towards the attractor when perturbed and subsequently allowed to relax. For structures which have undergone sufficient perturbations for this connection to hold, one can therefore extract the mass profile directly from the X-ray intensity profile.

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arXiv2011

What Sets the Sizes of the Faintest Galaxies?

We provide a comprehensive description and offer an explanation for the sizes of the faintest known galaxies in the universe, the dwarf spheroidal (dSph) satellites of the Milky Way and Andromeda. After compiling a consistent data set of half-light radii (r_{1/2}) and luminosities, we describe the size-luminosity relation of dSphs by a log-normal distribution in r_{1/2} with a mean size that varies as a function of luminosity. Accounting for modest number statistics, measurement uncertainties and surface brightness limitations, we find that the size-luminosity relations of the Milky Way and Andromeda dSph populations are statistically indistinguishable, and also very similar: their mean sizes at a given stellar luminosity differ by no more than 30%. In addition, we find that the mean size, slope and scatter of this log-normal size description of Local Group dSphs matches onto the relation of more massive low-concentration galaxies. This suggests that the stellar sizes of dSphs are ultimately related to their overall initial baryonic angular momentum. To test this hypothesis we perform a series of high resolution N-body simulations that we couple with a semi-analytic model of galaxy formation. These predict the same mean size and slope as observed in dSph satellites. At the same time, these models predict that the size-luminosity distributions for satellite galaxies around similar host-halos must be similar providing a natural explanation as to why the size distributions of Milky Way and Andromeda satellites are similar. Although strong rotation is currently not observed in dSphs, this may well be consistent with our angular-momentum-based explanation for their sizes if the disks of these galaxies have become sufficiently stirred through tidal interaction.

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arXiv2011

Interaction between dark matter sub-halos & galactic gaseous disk

We investigate the idea that the interaction of Dark Matter (DM) sub-halos with the gaseous disk of galaxies can be the origin for the observed holes and shells found in their neutral hydrogen (HI) distributions. We use high resolution hydrodynamic simulations to show that pure DM sub-halos impacting a galactic disk are not able to produce holes; on the contrary, they result in high density regions in the disk. However, sub-halos containing a small amount of gas (a few percent of the total DM mass of the sub-halo) are able to displace the gas in the disk and form holes and shells. The size and lifetime of these holes depend on the sub-halo gas mass, density and impact velocity. A DM sub-halo of mass $10^8$ $M_{\odot}$ and a gas mass fraction of $\sim 3$%, is able to create a kpc scale hole, with a lifetime similar to those observed in nearby galaxies. We also register an increase in the star formation rate at the rim of the hole, again in agreement with observations. Even though the properties off these simulated structures resemble those found in observations we find that the number of predicted holes (based on mass and orbital distributions of DM halos derived from cosmological N-body simulations) falls short compared to the observations. Only a handful of holes are produced per Giga year. This leads us to conclude that DM halo impact is not the major channel through which these holes are formed.

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arXiv2011

Non-linear weak lensing forecasts

We investigate the impact of non-linear corrections on dark energy parameter estimation from weak lensing probes. We find that using halofit expressions, suited to LCDM models, implies substantial discrepancies with respect to results directly obtained from N-body simulations, when w(z)\neq-1. Discrepancies appear strong when using models with w'(z=0)>0, as fiducial models; they are however significant even in the neighborhood of LCDM, where neglecting the degrees of freedom associated with the DE state equation can lead to a misestimate of the matter density parameter Ω_m.

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arXiv2011

The Redshift Evolution of LCDM Halo Parameters

We study the mass and redshift dependence of the concentration parameter in Nbody simulations spanning masses from $10^{10} \hMsun$ to $10^{15} \hMsun$ and redshifts from 0 to 2. We present a series of fitting formulas that accurately describe the time evolution of the concentration-mass relation since z=2. Using arguments based on the spherical collapse model we study the behaviour of the scale length of the density profile during the assembly history of haloes, obtaining physical insights on the origin of the observed time evolution of the concentration mass relation. We present preliminary results of the implementation of this model in the prediction of the values of the concentration parameter for different masses and redshifts.

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arXiv2009

A quantitative explanation of the observed population of Milky Way satellite galaxies

We revisit the well known discrepancy between the observed number of Milky Way (MW) dwarf satellite companions and the predicted population of cold dark matter (CDM) sub-halos, in light of the dozen new low luminosity satellites found in SDSS imaging data and our recent calibration of the SDSS satellite detection efficiency, which implies a total population far larger than these dozen discoveries. We combine a dynamical model for the CDM sub-halo population with simple, physically motivated prescriptions for assigning stellar content to each sub-halo, then apply observational selection effects and compare to the current observational census. As expected, models in which the stellar mass is a constant fraction F(Omega_b/Omega_m) of the sub-halo mass M_sat at the time it becomes a satellite fail for any choice of F. However, previously advocated models that invoke suppression of gas accretion after reionization in halos with circular velocity v_c <~ 35 km/s can reproduce the observed satellite counts for -15 < M_V < 0, with F ~ 10^{-3}. Successful models also require strong suppression of star formation BEFORE reionization in halos with v_c <~ 10 km/s; models without pre-reionization suppression predict far too many satellites with -5 < M_V < 0. Our models also reproduce the observed stellar velocity dispersions ~ 5-10 km/s of the SDSS dwarfs given the observed sizes of their stellar distributions, and model satellites have M(<300 pc) ~ 10^7 M_sun as observed even though their present day total halo masses span more than two orders of magnitude. Our modeling shows that natural physical mechanisms acting within the CDM framework can quantitatively explain the properties of the MW satellite population as it is presently known, thus providing a convincing solution to the `missing satellite' problem.

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arXiv2008

The formation of ultra-compact dwarf galaxies and nucleated dwarf galaxies

Ultra compact dwarf galaxies (UCDs) have similar properties as massive globular clusters or the nuclei of nucleated galaxies. Recent observations suggesting a high dark matter content and a steep spatial distribution within groups and clusters provide new clues as to their origins. We perform high-resolution N-body / smoothed particle hydrodynamics simulations designed to elucidate two possible formation mechanisms for these systems: the merging of globular clusters in the centre of a dark matter halo, or the massively stripped remnant of a nucleated galaxy. Both models produce density profiles as well as the half light radii that can fit the observational constraints. However, we show that the first scenario results to UCDs that are underluminous and contain no dark matter. This is because the sinking process ejects most of the dark matter particles from the halo centre. Stripped nuclei give a more promising explanation, especially if the nuclei form via the sinking of gas, funneled down inner galactic bars, since this process enhances the central dark matter content. Even when the entire disk is tidally stripped away, the nucleus stays intact and can remain dark matter dominated even after severe stripping. Total galaxy disruption beyond the nuclei only occurs on certain orbits and depends on the amount of dissipation during nuclei formation. By comparing the total disruption of CDM subhaloes in a cluster potential we demonstrate that this model also leads to the observed spatial distribution of UCDs which can be tested in more detail with larger data sets.

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