Searcharxiv⌕ Search

arXiv subjects

Elliot Y. Davies

Publications and source records attributed to Elliot Y. Davies.

14 recordsLinked to original sources
arXiv2026

Baryon-Accelerated Core Collapse in SIDM Halos and its Imprint on Galactic Disks

The gravitational coupling between dark matter (DM) halos and the baryonic structures they host is one of the most powerful windows into the particle nature of DM. Self-interacting dark matter (SIDM) presents a minimal, well-motivated extension to the dark sector with dramatic consequences for the structure of galaxies and their halos. However, the impact of baryons on SIDM halo evolution and the resulting galactic structure has been underexplored in Milky Way (MW)-size galaxies. In this paper, we demonstrate that the inclusion of a baryonic component in a MW-size galaxy causes accelerated core collapse to begin within the MW's lifetime for a cross section as low as $σ/m = 1 \, \rm{cm}^2/\rm{g}$. We present a suite of $N$-body simulations of cold dark matter and SIDM MW-size galaxies with and without a baryonic component for cross sections $σ/m =[1.0, 2.5, 5.0]$ cm$^2$/g. We find numerically, and semi-analytically, that the presence of a stellar disk and bulge shortens the predicted core collapse timescales from the DM only simulations by a factor of $\sim 40$. Further, as the core collapse begins within the lifetime of the galaxy, the subsequent density increase strengthens the mid-plane restoring force exerted on stellar disk orbits, leading the disk to flare. This work quantifies both directions of the baryon--SIDM coupling: baryons accelerate core collapse in MW-sized halos, and the resulting halo evolution reshapes the disk through thinning and flaring. Both processes open new observational windows into DM.

astro-ph.GA↗
arXiv2026

Galactic Amnesia: The Information Washout of the Milky Way Merger History

The merger history of a galaxy leaves imprints on its present-day stellar chemodynamics, yet dynamical processes progressively erase this record. We ask: how far back in time, and from which observables, can a galaxy's assembly history still be recovered? We provide a quantitative framework to address this question, using Mutual Information normalized by Shannon entropy to measure how much present-day stellar chemodynamics retains about each past merger's stellar mass $M_\star$ and infall time $t_{\rm infall}$. This framework is applied to TNG50 Milky Way -- like galaxies, with comparison to FIRE-2. We find that the gravitational potential and total energy are the most informative and longest-lived tracers of merger properties, highlighting the need for accurately measuring the Milky Way's potential. The information carried by the radial velocity decays to the noise floor within $\sim$5 Gyr, angular momentum carries low information overall with a mass-dependent decay, and chemical abundances retain a flat, low information floor. Information washout depends on three key factors: (1) radial position -- stars in the inner galaxy lose information faster due to shorter orbital times; (2) infall time -- old mergers are largely phase-mixed; and (3) merger mass -- larger mergers sink to the bottom of the potential well via dynamical friction, inducing violent relaxation that erases dynamical information. At each galactocentric radius, we map the observational horizon in the $(M_\star,\; t_{\rm infall})$ plane beyond which past mergers can no longer be recovered from that observable. By recasting merger reconstruction into this quantitative, observable-by-observable map of what is and is not recoverable, our results provide a foundation for interpreting chemodynamical signatures of past mergers and for guiding surveys and modeling toward the observables that maximize merger information recovery.

astro-ph.GA↗
arXiv2026

Formation and Redshift Evolution of Dark Matter Spikes

Dark matter density spikes forming around adiabatically growing black holes can dramatically enhance indirect and direct detection signals. Canonical predictions, however, assume a zero-mass seed in a purely dark matter environment and do not track the long-term dynamical impact of surrounding stars. We present a semi-analytic framework that first generalizes adiabatic spike formation to include finite seed masses, stellar cusps, and non-circular orbits, and then studies the subsequent cosmic evolution by solving coupled Fokker-Planck equations for the dark matter and stellar phase-space distributions, with a heating rate modulated by the cosmic star formation rate. Starting conservatively from canonical Gondolo-Silk spikes and marginalizing over astrophysical uncertainties, we find that stellar gravitational heating drives the inner slope towards $γ_χ\simeq 1.5$ within a few Gyrs (e.g by $z \lesssim 2$ for spikes formed at $z\simeq 10$), yielding overdensities two to four orders of magnitude below canonical expectations but still well above an NFW-like cusp. We provide redshift-dependent benchmarks for the column density and $J$-factor relevant to scattering, decay and annihilation signatures. Any robust interpretation of indirect dark matter signals from galactic nuclei must account for this evolution.

astro-ph.CO↗
arXiv2026

The erasure of Galactic bar resonances by dark matter subhaloes

In the context of increasing appreciation for the coupling between the Galactic bar and the halo, we introduce a new framework using stars trapped in resonance with the bar to probe the Galactic dark matter subhalo population. Since resonant stars occupy a finite width in action space, perturbations from subhaloes can shift a star's actions beyond this width, causing them to circulate out of resonance. Physically, the dark substructure in the Milky Way may dissolve, puff-up, or re-order the resonance features in the stellar halo. To explore the utility of this framework, we treat individual encounters in the impulse approximation and model their cumulative effect as diffusion in the relevant action. The resulting diffusion coefficient allows us to link the survival of resonant populations to the subhalo mass function, whose properties depend on the particle nature of dark matter. Test particle integration validates the impulse treatment for low-mass subhaloes and quantifies its regime of applicability. For a Milky Way-like bar, we find individual subhaloes with $M<10^7$ M$_{\odot}$ have negligible impact on stars in co-rotation resonance, where as the full cold dark matter (CDM) population could erase the resonance over the bar's lifetime. The persistence of resonances therefore implies a suppression of the local subhalo density to less than 1/3 of CDM expectations, consistent with tidal disruptions and previous literature. The narrow widths of higher-order resonances will increase the constraining power of this framework, and therefore motivates searches for bar-resonant halo features in observational data.

astro-ph.GA↗
arXiv2025

Blind source separation of the stellar halo

The stellar halo of the Milky Way comprises an abundance of chemical signatures from accretion events and \textit{in-situ} evolution, that form an interweaving tapestry in kinematic space. To untangle this, we consider the mixtures of chemical information, in a given region of integral of motion space, as a variant of the blind source separation problem using non-negative matrix factorisation (NMF). Specifically, we examine the variation in [Fe/H], [Mg/Fe], and [Al/Fe] distributions of APOGEE DR17 stars across the $(E,L_z)$ plane of the halo. When 2 components are prescribed, the NMF algorithm splits stellar halo into low- and high-energy components in the $(E,L_z)$ plane which approximately correspond to the accreted and \textit{in-situ} halo respectively. We use these components to define a boundary between the \textit{in-situ} and the accreted stellar halo, and calculate their fractional contribution to the stellar halo as a function of energy, galactocentric spherical radius ($r$), height ($z$), and galactocentric cylindrical radius ($R$). Using a stellar halo defined by kinematic cuts, we derive a boundary in $(E,L_z)$ space where the halo transitions from \textit{in-situ} dominated to accretion dominated. Spatially, we find that this transition happens at $(r,z,R) \approx (8.7, 3.0, 8.1)$ kpc. We find that between 34\% to 53\% of the stellar halo's content is of accreted origin. Upon prescribing more components to the NMF model, we find evidence for overlapping chemical evolution sequences. We examine features within these components that resemble known substructures in the halo, such as \textit{Eos} and \textit{Aurora}.

astro-ph.GA↗
arXiv2024

The realm of Aurora. Density distribution of metal-poor giants in the heart of the Galaxy

The innermost portions of the Milky Way's stellar halo have avoided scrutiny until recently. The lack of wide-area survey data, made it difficult to reconstruct an uninterrupted view of the density distribution of the metal-poor stars inside the Solar radius. In this study, we utilize red giant branch (RGB) stars from Gaia, with metallicities estimated using spectro-photometry from Gaia Data Release 3. Accounting for Gaia's selection function, we examine the spatial distribution of metal-poor ([M/H]<-1.3) RGB stars, from the Galactic centre (r~1 kpc) out to beyond the Solar radius (r~18 kpc). Our best-fitting single-component cored power-law model shows a vertical flattening of ~0.5 and a slope -3.4, consistent with previous studies. Motivated by the mounting evidence for two distinct stellar populations in the inner halo, we additionally test a range of two-component models. One of the components models the tidal debris from the Gaia Sausage/Enceladus merger, while the other captures the Aurora population -- stars that predate the Galactic disk formation. Our best-fit two-component model suggests that both populations contribute equally around the Solar radius, but Aurora dominates the inner halo with a steeper power-law index of -4.5, in agreement with the nitrogen-rich star distribution measured by Horta et al. (2021).

astro-ph.GA↗
arXiv2023

Hints of a disrupted binary dwarf galaxy in the Sagittarius stream

In this work, we look for evidence of a non-unity mass ratio binary dwarf galaxy merger in the Sagittarius stream. Simulations of such a merger show that, upon merging with a host, particles from the less-massive galaxy will often mostly be found in the extended stream and less-so in the central remnant. Motivated by these simulations, we use APOGEE DR17 chemical data from approximately 1100 stars in both the Sagittarius remnant and stream to look for evidence of contamination from a second dwarf galaxy. This search is initially justified by the idea that disrupted binary dwarf galaxies provide a possible explanation of the Sagittarius bifurcation, and the location of the massive, chemically peculiar globular cluster NGC 2419 found within the stream of Sagittarius. We separate the Sagittarius data into its remnant and stream and compare the [Mg/Fe] content of the two populations. In particular, we select [Mg/Fe] to search for hints of unique star formation histories among our sample stars. Comparing the stream and remnant populations, we find regions have distinct [Mg/Fe] distributions for fixed [Fe/H], in addition to distinct chemical tracks in [Mg/Fe] -- [Fe/H] abundance space. We show that there are large regions of the tracks for which the probability of the two samples being drawn from the same distribution is very low (p < 0.05). Furthermore, we show that the two tracks can be fit with unique star formation histories using simple, one zone galactic chemical evolution models. While more work must be done to discern whether the hypothesis presented here is true, our work hints at the possibility that Sagittarius may consist of two dwarf galaxy progenitors.

astro-ph.GA↗
arXiv2023

Disrupted dwarf binary merger as the possible origin of NGC 2419 and Sagittarius stream substructure

Using $N$-body simulations, we demonstrate that satellite dwarf galaxy pairs which undergo significant mixing ($\sim 6$ Gyr) can have their respective most bound particles separated great distances upon subsequently merging with a more massive host. This may provide an explanation as to the origin of the complex globular cluster NGC 2149, which is found within the tail of the Sagittarius dwarf spheroidal galaxy, yet separated from its central remnant by over 100 kpc. Dynamical investigations could support the chemical evidence which already points to the NGC 2419 being a nuclear star cluster. Motivated by the distinct nature of NGC 2419, we run a suite of simulations whereby an initial pre-infall merger of two satellites is followed by a post-infall merger of the remnant into a MW-like host potential. We present a striking example from our suite in this work, in which this separation is reproduced by the most bound particles of the two pre-infall satellites. Additionally, this double merger scenario can induce unusual on-sky features in the tidal debris of the post-infall merger, such as clouds, overdensities, and potentially new arms that could resemble the bifurcation observed in Sagittarius.

astro-ph.GA↗
arXiv2023

Stellar halo substructure generated by bar resonances

Using data from the Gaia satellite's Radial Velocity Spectrometer Data Release 3 (RVS, DR3), we find a new and robust feature in the phase space distribution of halo stars. It is a prominent ridge at constant energy and with angular momentum $L_z>0$. We run test particle simulations of a stellar halo-like distribution of particles in a realistic Milky Way potential with a rotating bar. We observe similar structures generated in the simulations from the trapping of particles in resonances with the bar, particularly at the corotation resonance. Many of the orbits trapped at the resonances are halo-like, with large vertical excursions from the disc. The location of the observed structure in energy space is consistent with a bar pattern speed in the range $Ω_\mathrm{b}\approx35-40$ km s$^{-1}$ kpc$^{-1}$. Overall, the effect of the resonances is to give the inner stellar halo a mild, net spin in the direction of the bar's rotation. As the distribution of the angular momentum becomes asymmetric, a population of stars with positive mean $L_z$ and low vertical action is created. The variation of the average rotational velocity of the simulated stellar halo with radius is similar to the behaviour of metal-poor stars in data from the APOGEE survey. Though the effects of bar resonances have long been known in the Galactic disc, this is strong evidence that the bar can drive changes even in the diffuse and extended stellar halo through its resonances.

astro-ph.GA↗
arXiv2023

Stellar halo striations from assumptions of axisymmetry

Motivated by the LMC's impact on the integral of motion space of the stellar halo, we run an $N$-body merger simulation to produce a population of halo-like stars. We subsequently move to a test particle simulation, in which the LMC perturbs this debris. When an axisymmetric potential is assumed for the final snapshot of the $N$-body merger remnant, a series of vertical striations in $(L_z, E)$ space form as the LMC approaches its pericentre. These result from the formation of overdensities in angular momentum owing to a relationship between the precession rate of near radial orbits and the torquing of these orbits by the LMC. This effect is heavily dependent on the shape of the inner potential. If a quadrupole component of the potential is included these striations become significantly less apparent due to the difference in precession rate between the two potentials. The absence of these features in data, and the dramatic change in orbital plane precession rate, discourages the use of an axisymmetric potential for highly eccentric orbits accreted from a massive GSE-like merger. Given the link between appearance of these striations and the shape of the potential, this effect may provide a new method of constraining the axisymmetry of the halo.

astro-ph.GA↗
arXiv2023

Accelerated phase-mixing in the stellar halo due to a rotating bar

In a galaxy merger, the stars tidally stripped from the satellite and accreted onto the host galaxy undergo phase mixing and form finely-grained structures in the phase space. However, these fragile structures may be destroyed in the subsequent galaxy evolution, in particular, by a rotating bar that appears well after the merger is completed. In this work, we investigate the survivability of phase-space structures in the presence of a bar. We find that a bar with amplitude and pattern speed similar to those of the Milky Way would blur and destroy a substantial amount of the substructure that consists of particles with pericentre radii comparable to the bar length. While this appears to be in tension with the recent discovery of phase-space chevrons in \textit{Gaia} DR3 data, the most prominent chevrons in our simulations can still be recovered when applying the same analysis procedure as in observations. Moreover, the smoothing effect is less pronounced in the population of stars whose angular momenta have the opposite sign to the bar pattern speed.

astro-ph.GA↗
arXiv2022

Ironing the folds: The phase space chevrons of a GSE-like merger as a dark matter subhalo detector

Recent work uncovered features in the phase space of the Milky Way's stellar halo which may be attributed to the last major merger. When stellar material from a satellite is accreted onto its host, it phase mixes and appears finely substructured in phase space. For a high-eccentricity merger, this substructure most clearly manifests as numerous wrapping chevrons in $(v_r, r)$ space, corresponding to stripes in $(E, θ_r)$ space. We introduce the idea of using this substructure as an alternative subhalo detector to cold stellar streams. We simulate an N-body merger akin to the GSE and assess the impact of subhaloes on these chevrons. We examine how their deformation depends on the mass, pericentre, and number of subhaloes. To quantify the impact of perturbers, we utilise the appearance of chevrons in $(E, θ_r)$ space to introduce a new quantity -- the ironing parameter. We show that: (1) a single flyby of a massive ($\sim 10^{10}$ M$_{\odot}$) subhalo with pericentre comparable to, or within, the shell's apocentre smooths out the substructure, (2) a single flyby of a low mass ($\lesssim 10^8$ M$_{\odot}$) has negligible effect, (3) multiple flybys of subhalos derived from a subhalo mass function between $10^7-10^{10}$ M$_{\odot}$ cause significant damage if deep within the potential, (4) the effects of known perturbers (e.g. Sagittarius) should be detectable and offer constraints on their initial mass. The sensitivity to the populations of subhaloes suggests that we should be able to place an upper limit on the Milky Way's subhalo mass function.

astro-ph.GA↗
arXiv2022

Energy wrinkles and phase-space folds of the last major merger

Relying on the dramatic increase in the number of stars with full 6D phase-space information provided by the Gaia Data Release 3, we discover unambiguous signatures of phase-mixing in the stellar halo around the Sun. We show that for the stars likely belonging to the last massive merger, the (v_r,r) distribution contains a series of long and thin chevron-like overdensities. These phase-space sub-structures are predicted to emerge following the dissolution of a satellite, when its tidal debris is given time to wind up, thin out and fold. Additionally, the observed energy and angular momentum (E, L_z) distribution appears more prograde at high energies, possibly revealing the original orbital angular momentum of the in-falling galaxy. The energy distribution of the debris is strongly asymmetric with a peak at low E -- which, we surmise, may be evidence of the dwarf's rapid sinking -- and riddled with wrinkles and bumps. If these small-scale energy inhomogeneities have been seeded during or immediately after the interaction with the Milky Way, and are not due to the spatial restriction of our study, then making use of the (v_r,r) chevrons to constrain the time of the merger becomes cumbersome. Nonetheless, we demonstrate that similar phase-space and (E,L_z) sub-structures are present in numerical simulations of galaxy interactions, both in bespoke N-body runs and in cosmological hydrodynamical zoom-in suites. The remnant traces of the progenitor's disruption and the signatures of the on-going phase-mixing discovered here will not only help to constrain the properties of our Galaxy's most important interaction, but also can be used as a novel tool to map out the Milky Way's current gravitational potential and its perturbations.

astro-ph.GA↗
arXiv2020

Robustness of slow contraction to cosmic initial conditions

We present numerical relativity simulations of cosmological scenarios in which the universe is smoothed and flattened by undergoing a phase of slow contraction and test their sensitivity to a wide range of initial conditions. Our numerical scheme enables the variation of all freely specifiable physical quantities that characterize the initial spatial hypersurface, such as the initial shear and spatial curvature contributions as well as the initial field and velocity distributions of the scalar that drives the cosmological evolution. In particular, we include initial conditions that are far outside the perturbative regime of the well-known attractor scaling solution. We complement our numerical results by analytically performing a complete dynamical systems analysis and show that the two approaches yield consistent results.

gr-qc↗