arXiv subjects

Federico Marinacci

Publications and source records attributed to Federico Marinacci.

At least 109 records · Page 6Linked to original sources

arXiv2022

The distinct stellar-to-halo mass relations of satellite and central galaxies: insights from the IllustrisTNG simulations

We study the stellar-to-halo mass relation (SHMR) for central and satellite galaxies with total dynamical masses above 10^10.5 Msun using the suite of cosmological magneto-hydrodynamical simulations IllustrisTNG. In particular, we quantify environmental effects on satellite populations from TNG50, TNG100, and TNG300 located within the virial radius of group- and cluster-like hosts with total masses of 10^12-15.2 Msun. At fixed stellar mass, the satellite SHMR exhibits a distinct shift towards lower dynamical mass compared to the SHMR of centrals. Conversely, at fixed dynamical mass, satellite galaxies appear to have larger stellar-to-total mass fractions than centrals by up to a factor of a few. The systematic deviation from the central SHMR is larger for satellites in more massive hosts, at smaller cluster-centric distances, with earlier infall times, and that inhabit higher local density environments; moreover, it is in place already at early times (z < 2). Systematic environmental effects might contribute to the perceived galaxy-to-galaxy variation in the measured SHMR when galaxies cannot be separated into satellites and centrals. The SHMR of satellites exhibits a larger scatter than centrals, over the whole range of dynamical mass (by up to 0.8 dex). The shift of the satellite SHMR results mostly from tidal stripping of their dark matter, which affects satellites in an outside-in fashion: the departure of the satellite SHMR from the centrals' relation diminishes for measurements of dynamical mass in progressively smaller apertures. Finally, we provide a family of fitting functions for the SHMR predicted by IllustrisTNG.

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arXiv2021

A Comparison of Circumgalactic MgII Absorption between the TNG50 Simulation and the MEGAFLOW Survey

The circumgalactic medium (CGM) contains information on gas flows around galaxies, such as accretion and supernova-driven winds, which are difficult to constrain from observations alone. Here, we use the high-resolution TNG50 cosmological magnetohydrodynamical simulation to study the properties and kinematics of the CGM around star-forming galaxies in $10^{11.5}-10^{12}\;M_{\odot}$ halos at $z\simeq$ 1 using mock MgII absorption lines, which we generate by postprocessing halos to account for photoionization in the presence of a UV background. We find that the MgII gas is a very good tracer of the cold CGM, which is accreting inward at inflow velocities of up to 50 km s$^{-1}$. For sight lines aligned with the galaxy's major axis, we find that MgII absorption lines are kinematically shifted due to the cold CGM's significant corotation at speeds up to 50% of the virial velocity for impact parameters up to 60 kpc. We compare mock MgII spectra to observations from the MusE GAs FLow and Wind (MEGAFLOW) survey of strong MgII absorbers ($\rm{EW}^{2796Å}_{0}>0.5 \; Å$). After matching the equivalent-width (EW) selection, we find that the mock MgII spectra reflect the diversity of observed kinematics and EWs from MEGAFLOW, even though the sight lines probe a very small fraction of the CGM. MgII absorption in higher-mass halos is stronger and broader than in lower-mass halos but has qualitatively similar kinematics. The median-specific angular momentum of the MgII CGM gas in TNG50 is very similar to that of the entire CGM and only differs from non-CGM components of the halo by normalization factors of $\lesssim$ 1 dex.

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arXiv2021

On the formation of massive quiescent galaxies with diverse morphologies in the TNG50 simulation

Observations have shown that the star-formation activity and the morphology of galaxies are closely related, but the underlying physical connection is not well understood. Using the TNG50 simulation, we explore the quenching and the morphological evolution of the 102 massive quiescent galaxies in the mass range of $10.5<\log(M_{\rm stellar}/M_{\odot})<11.5$ selected at $z=0$. The morphology of galaxies is quantified based on their kinematics, and we measure the quenching timescale of individual galaxies directly from star formation history. We show that galaxies tend to be quenched more rapidly if they: (i) are satellites in massive halos, (ii) have lower star-forming gas fractions, or (iii) inject a larger amount of black hole kinetic feedback energy. By following the global evolutionary pathways, we conclude that quiescent discs are mainly disc galaxies that are recently and slowly quenched. Approximately half of the quiescent ellipticals at $z=0$ are rapidly quenched at higher redshifts while still disc-like. While being quiescent, they gradually become more elliptical mostly by disc heating, yet these ellipticals still retain some degree of rotation. The other half of quiescent ellipticals with the most random motion-dominated kinematics build up large spheroidal components before quenching primarily by mergers, or in some cases, misaligned gas accretion. However, the mergers that contribute to morphological transformation do not immediately quench galaxies in many cases. In summary, we find that quenching and morphological transformation are decoupled. We conclude that the TNG black hole feedback -- in combination with the stochastic merger history of galaxies -- leads to a large diversity of quenching timescales and a rich morphological landscape.

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arXiv2021

Weighing the Milky Way and Andromeda with Artificial Intelligence

We present new constraints on the masses of the halos hosting the Milky Way and Andromeda galaxies derived using graph neural networks. Our models, trained on thousands of state-of-the-art hydrodynamic simulations of the CAMELS project, only make use of the positions, velocities and stellar masses of the galaxies belonging to the halos, and are able to perform likelihood-free inference on halo masses while accounting for both cosmological and astrophysical uncertainties. Our constraints are in agreement with estimates from other traditional methods.

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arXiv2021

High and low Sérsic index bulges in Milky Way- and M31-like galaxies: origin and connection to the bar with TNG50

We study bulge formation in MW/M31-like galaxies in a $Λ$-cold dark matter scenario, focusing on the origin of high- and low-Sersic index bulges. For this purpose we use TNG50, a simulation of the IllustrisTNG project that combines a resolution of $\sim 8 \times 10^4 M_{\odot}$ in stellar particles with a cosmological volume 52 cMpc in extent. We parametrize bulge surface brightness profiles by the Sérsic index and the bulge-to-total (B/T) ratio obtained from two-component photometric decompositions. In our sample of 287 MW/M31-like simulated galaxies, $17.1\%$ of photometric bulges exhibit high-Sérsic indices and $82.9\%$ show low-Sérsic indices. We study the impact that the environment, mergers and bars have in shaping the surface brightness profiles. We explore two different definitions for local environment and find no correlation between bulge properties and the environment where they reside. Simulated galaxies with higher Sérsic indices show, on average, a higher fraction of ex-situ stars in their kinematically selected bulges. For this bulge population the last significant merger (total mass ratio $m_{\rm sat}/m_{\rm host} > 0.1$) occurs, on average, at later times. However, a substantial fraction of low-Sérsic index bulges also experience a late significant merger. We find that bars play an important role in the development of the different types of photometric bulges. We show that the fraction of simulated galaxies with strong bars is smaller for the high- than for the low-Sérsic index population, reaching differences of $20\%$ at $z > 1$. Simulated galaxies with high fractions of ex-situ stars in the bulge do not develop strong bars. Conversely, simulated galaxies with long-lived strong bars have bulges with ex-situ fractions, $f_{\rm ex-situ} < 0.2$.

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arXiv2021

The large-scale distribution of ionized metals in IllustrisTNG

We study the intrinsic large-scale distribution and evolution of seven ionized metals in the IllustrisTNG magneto-hydrodynamical cosmological simulation. We focus on the fractions of C\,\textsc{ii}, C\,\textsc{iv}, Mg\,\textsc{ii}, N\,\textsc{v}, Ne\,\textsc{viii}, O\,\textsc{vi}, and Si\,\textsc{iv} in different cosmic web structures (filaments, haloes, and voids) and gas phases (warm-hot intergalactic medium WHIM, hot, diffuse, and condensed gas) from $z=6$ to $z=0$. Our analysis provides a new perspective to the study of the distribution and evolution of baryons across cosmic time while offering new hints in the context of the well-known missing baryons problem. The cosmic web components are here identified using the local comoving dark matter density, which provides a simple but effective way of mapping baryons on large scales. Our results show that C\,\textsc{ii} and Mg\,\textsc{ii} are mostly located in condensed gas inside haloes in high-density and low-temperature star-forming regions ($ρ_{\rm gas}/\barρ_{\rm bar}\gtrsim10^3$, and ${\rm T}\lesssim10^{5}$~K). C\,\textsc{iv} and Si\,\textsc{iv} present similar evolution of their mass fractions in haloes and filaments across cosmic time. In particular, their mass budgets in haloes in condensed phase ($ρ_{\rm gas}/\barρ_{\rm bar}\gtrsim10^3$, and ${\rm T}\lesssim10^{5}$~K) are driven by gas cooling and star formation with a peak at $z\sim2$. Finally, our results confirm that O\,\textsc{vi}, Ne\,\textsc{viii}, and N\,\textsc{v} are good tracers of warm/hot and low-density gas at low redshift ($ρ_{\rm gas}/\barρ_{\rm bar}\lesssim10^3$, and ${\rm T}\gtrsim10^{5}$~K), regions that are likely to contain most of the missing baryons in the local Universe.

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arXiv2021

The physical origins and dominant emission mechanisms of Lyman-alpha halos: results from the TNG50 simulation in comparison to MUSE observations

Extended Lyman-alpha emission is now commonly detected around high redshift galaxies through stacking and even on individual basis. Despite recent observational advances, the physical origin of these Lyman-alpha halos (LAHs), as well as their relationships to galaxies, quasars, circumgalactic gas, and other environmental factors remains unclear. We present results from our new Lyman-alpha full radiative transfer code voroILTIS which runs directly on the unstructured Voronoi tessellation of cosmological hydrodynamical simulations. We make use of the TNG50 simulation and simulate LAHs from redshift $z=2$ to $z=5$, focusing on star-forming galaxies with $8.0 < \log_{10}{(M_\star/\rm{M}_\odot)} < 10.5$. While TNG50 does not directly follow ionizing radiation, it includes an on-the-fly treatment for active galactic nuclei and ultraviolet background radiation with self-shielding, which are important processes impacting the cooling and ionization of the gas. Based on this model, we present the predictions for the stacked radial surface brightness profiles of Ly$α$ as a function of galaxy mass and redshift. Comparison with data from the MUSE UDF at $z>3$ reveals a promising level of agreement. We measure the correlations of LAH size and central brightness with galaxy properties, finding that at the masses of $8.5 \leq \log_{10} \left(M_\star/\rm{M}_\odot\right) \leq 9.5$, physical LAH sizes roughly double from $z=2$ to $z=5$. Finally, we decompose the profiles into contributions from diffuse emission and scattered photons from star-forming regions. In our simulations, we find rescattered photons from star-forming regions to be the major source in observed LAHs. Unexpectedly, we find that the flattening of LAH profiles at large radii becomes dominated by photons originating from other nearby halos rather than diffuse emission itself.

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arXiv2021

Real and counterfeit cores: how feedback expands halos and disrupts tracers of inner gravitational potential in dwarf galaxies

The tension between the diverging density profiles in Lambda Cold Dark Matter ($Λ$CDM) simulations and the constant-density inner regions of observed galaxies is a long-standing challenge known as the `core-cusp' problem. We demonstrate that the \texttt{SMUGGLE} galaxy formation model implemented in the \textsc{Arepo} moving mesh code forms constant-density cores in idealized dwarf galaxies of $M_\star \approx 8 \times 10^7$ M$_{\odot}$ with initially cuspy dark matter halos of $M_{200} \approx 10^{10}$ M$_{\odot}$. Identical initial conditions run with the Springel and Hernquist (2003; SH03) feedback model preserve cuspiness. Literature on the subject has pointed to the low density threshold for star formation, $ρ_\text{th}$, in SH03-like models as an obstacle to baryon-induced core formation. Using a \texttt{SMUGGLE} run with equal $ρ_\text{th}$ to SH03, we demonstrate that core formation can proceed at low density thresholds, indicating that $ρ_\text{th}$ is insufficient on its own to determine whether a galaxy develops a core. We suggest that the ability to resolve a multiphase interstellar medium at sufficiently high densities is a more reliable indicator of core formation than any individual model parameter. In \texttt{SMUGGLE}, core formation is accompanied by large degrees of non-circular motion, with gas rotational velocity profiles that consistently fall below the circular velocity $v_\text{circ} = \sqrt{GM/R}$ out to $\sim 2$ kpc. This may artificially mimic larger core sizes when derived from observable quantities compared to the size measured from the dark matter distribution ($\sim 0.5$ kpc), highlighting the need for careful modeling in the inner regions of dwarfs to infer the true distribution of dark matter.

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arXiv2021

The abundance of satellites around Milky Way- and M31-like galaxies with the TNG50 simulation: a matter of diversity

We study the abundance of satellite galaxies around 198 Milky Way- (MW) and M31-like hosts in TNG50, the final instalment in the IllustrisTNG suite of cosmological magnetohydrodynamical simulations. MW/M31-like analogues are defined as disky galaxies with stellar masses of Mstar = 10^10.5-11.2 Msun in relative isolation at z = 0. By defining satellites as galaxies with Mstar > 5*10^6 Msun within 300 kpc (3D) of their host, we find a remarkable level of diversity and host-to-host scatter across individual host galaxies. The median (16th - 84th percentiles) TNG50 MW/M31-like galaxy hosts a total of 5 (2-11) satellites with Mstar > 5*10^6 Msun, reaching up to Mstar ~ 10^8.5 Msun (10^7.4-9.4 Msun). The abundance of subhaloes with Mdyn > 5*10^7 Msun is larger by a factor of more than 10. The number of all satellites (subhaloes) ever accreted is larger by a factor of 4-5 (3-5) than those surviving to z = 0. Hosts with larger galaxy stellar mass, brighter K-band luminosity, larger total halo mass, and more recent halo assembly typically have a larger number of surviving satellites. The satellite abundances around TNG50 MW/M31-like galaxies are consistent with similar hosts from observational surveys (e.g. SAGA) and previous simulations (e.g. Latte). While the observed MW satellite system falls within the TNG50 scatter across all stellar masses considered, M31 is slightly more satellite-rich than our 1 sigma scatter, possibly due to volume and mass limitations. We find a handful of systems with both a Large and a Small Magellanic Cloud-like satellite. There is no missing satellites problem with TNG50.

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arXiv2021

Quiescent Ultra-diffuse galaxies in the field originating from backsplash orbits

Ultra-diffuse galaxies (UDGs) are the lowest-surface brightness galaxies known, with typical stellar masses of dwarf galaxies but sizes similar to larger galaxies like the Milky Way. The reason for their extended sizes is debated, with suggested internal processes like angular momentum, feedback or mergers versus external mechanisms or a combination of both. Observationally, we know that UDGs are red and quiescent in groups and clusters while their counterparts in the field are blue and star-forming. This dichotomy suggests environmental effects as main culprit. However, this scenario is challenged by recent observations of isolated quiescent UDGs in the field. Here we use $Λ$CDM cosmological hydrodynamical simulation to show that isolated quenched UDGs are formed as backsplash galaxies that were once satellites of another galactic, group or cluster halo but are today a few Mpc away from them. These interactions, albeit brief, remove the gas and tidally strip the outskirts of the dark matter haloes of the now quenched seemingly-isolated UDGs, which are born as star-forming field UDGs occupying dwarf-mass dark matter haloes. Quiescent UDGs may therefore be found in non-negligible numbers in filaments and voids, bearing the mark of past interactions as stripped outer haloes devoid of dark matter and gas compared to dwarfs with similar stellar content.

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arXiv2021

Determining the full satellite population of a Milky Way-mass halo in a highly resolved cosmological hydrodynamic simulation

We investigate the formation of the satellite galaxy population of a Milky Way-mass halo in a very highly resolved magneto-hydrodynamic cosmological zoom-in simulation (baryonic mass resolution $m_b =$ 800 $\rm M_{\odot}$). We show that the properties of the central star-forming galaxy, such as the radial stellar surface density profile and star formation history, are: i) robust to stochastic variations associated with the so-called ``Butterfly Effect''; and ii) well converged over 3.5 orders of magnitude in mass resolution. We find that there are approximately five times as many satellite galaxies at this high resolution compared to a standard ($m_b\sim 10^{4-5}\, \rm M_{\odot}$) resolution simulation of the same system. This is primarily because 2/3rds of the high resolution satellites do not form at standard resolution. A smaller fraction (1/6th) of the satellites present at high resolution form and disrupt at standard resolution; these objects are preferentially low-mass satellites on intermediate- to low-eccentricity orbits with impact parameters $\lesssim 30$ kpc. As a result, the radial distribution of satellites becomes substantially more centrally concentrated at higher resolution, in better agreement with recent observations of satellites around Milky Way-mass haloes. Finally, we show that our galaxy formation model successfully forms ultra-faint galaxies and reproduces the stellar velocity dispersion, half-light radii, and $V$-band luminosities of observed Milky Way and Local Group dwarf galaxies across 6 orders of magnitude in luminosity ($10^3$-$10^{9}$ $\rm L_{\odot}$).

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arXiv2021

The Supersonic Project: SIGOs, a Proposed Progenitor to Globular Clusters, and their Connections to Gravitational Wave Anisotropies

Supersonically Induced Gas Objects (SIGOs), are structures with little to no dark matter component predicted to exist in regions of the Universe with large relative velocities between baryons and dark matter at the time of recombination. They have been suggested to be the progenitors of present-day globular clusters. Using simulations, SIGOs have been studied on small scales (around 2 Mpc), where these relative velocities are coherent. However, it is challenging to study SIGOs using simulations on large scales due to the varying relative velocities at scales larger than a few Mpc. Here, we study SIGO abundances semi-analytically: using perturbation theory, we predict the number density of SIGOs analytically, and compare these results to small-box numerical simulations. We use the agreement between the numerical and analytic calculations to extrapolate the large-scale variation of SIGO abundances over different stream velocities. As a result, we predict similar large-scale variations of objects with high gas densities before reionization that could possibly be observed by JWST. If indeed SIGOs are progenitors of globular clusters, then we expect a similar variation of globular cluster abundances over large scales. Significantly, we find that the expected number density of SIGOs is consistent with observed globular cluster number densities. As a proof-of-concept, and because globular clusters were proposed to be natural formation sites for gravitational wave sources from binary black hole (BBH) mergers, we show that SIGOs should imprint an anisotropy on the gravitational wave signal on the sky, consistent with SIGOs' distribution.

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arXiv2021

Quenched fractions in the IllustrisTNG simulations: comparison with observations and other theoretical models

We make an in-depth comparison of the IllustrisTNG simulations with observational data on the quenched fractions of central and satellite galaxies, for $M_*=10^{9-12}M_{\odot}$ at $0\leq z\leq3$. We study how analysis methodologies and observational effects impact this comparison. This includes measurement choices -- aperture, quenched definition, star formation rate (SFR) indicator timescale -- as well as observational uncertainties and sample selection issues: projection effects, satellite/central misclassification, and host mass distribution sampling. The definition used to separate quenched and star-forming galaxies produces differences of up to 70 (30)$\%$ for centrals (satellites) $>\sim 10^{10.5} M_{\odot}$. Increasing the aperture within which SFR is measured can suppress the quenched fractions by up to $\sim50\%$, particularly at $z\gtrsim2$. Proper consideration of the stellar and host mass distributions is crucial: naive comparisons to volume-limited samples from simulations lead to misinterpretation of the quenched fractions as a function of $z$ by up to 20$\%$. Including observational uncertainties to theoretical values of $M_*$ and SFR changes the quenched fraction values and their trend and/or slope with mass. Taking projected rather than 3D distances for satellites decreases the quenched fractions by up to 10$\%$ due to field contamination. Comparing with data, TNG produces quenched fractions broadly consistent with observations. TNG predicts quenched fractions up to $\sim80-90\%$ for centrals at $z\leq2-3$, in line with recent observations, and notably higher than other theoretical models. The quantitative agreement of TNG and SDSS for satellite quenched fractions in groups and clusters depends strongly on the galaxy and host mass range. Our mock comparison between TNG and SDSS highlights the importance of properly accounting for observational effects and biases.

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arXiv2021

Satellites Around Milky Way Analogs: Tension in the Number and Fraction of Quiescent Satellites Seen in Observations Versus Simulations

We compare the star-forming properties of satellites around Milky Way (MW) analogs from the Stage~II release of the Satellites Around Galactic Analogs Survey (SAGA-II) to those from the APOSTLE and Auriga cosmological zoom-in simulation suites. We use archival GALEX UV imaging as a star-formation indicator for the SAGA-II sample and derive star-formation rates (SFRs) to compare with those from APOSTLE and Auriga. We compare our detection rates from the NUV and FUV bands to the SAGA-II H$α$ detections and find that they are broadly consistent with over $85\%$ of observed satellites detected in all three tracers. We apply the same spatial selection criteria used around SAGA-II hosts to select satellites around the MW-like hosts in APOSTLE and Auriga. We find very good overall agreement in the derived SFRs for the star-forming satellites as well as the number of star-forming satellites per host in observed and simulated samples. However, the number and fraction of quenched satellites in the SAGA-II sample are significantly lower than those in APOSTLE and Auriga below a stellar mass of $M_*\sim10^{8}\,M_{\odot}$, even when the SAGA-II incompleteness and interloper corrections are included. This discrepancy is robust with respect to the resolution of the simulations and persists when alternative star-formation tracers are employed. We posit that this disagreement is not readily explained by vagaries in the observed or simulated samples considered here, suggesting a genuine discrepancy that may inform the physics of satellite populations around MW analogs.

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arXiv2021

Inferring the Morphology of Stellar Distribution in TNG50: Twisted and Twisted-Stretched shapes

We investigate the morphology of the stellar distribution in a sample of Milky Way (MW) like galaxies in the TNG50 simulation. Using a local in shell iterative method (LSIM) as the main approach, we explicitly show evidence of twisting (in about 52% of halos) and stretching (in 48% of them) in the real space. This is matched with the re-orientation observed in the eigenvectors of the inertia tensor and gives us a clear picture of having a re-oriented stellar distribution. We make a comparison between the shape profile of dark matter (DM) halo and stellar distribution and quite remarkably see that their radial profiles are fairly close, especially at small galactocentric radii where the stellar disk is located. This implies that the DM halo is somewhat aligned with stars in response to the baryonic potential. The level of alignment mostly decreases away from the center. We study the impact of substructures in the orbital circularity parameter. It is demonstrated that in some cases, far away substructures are counter-rotating compared with the central stars and may flip the sign of total angular momentum and thus the orbital circularity parameter. Truncating them above 150 kpc, however, retains the disky structure of the galaxy as per initial selection. Including the impact of substructures in the shape of stars, we explicitly show that their contribution is subdominant. Overlaying our theoretical results to the observational constraints from previous literature, we establish fair agreement.

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arXiv2021

Revisiting the tension between fast bars and the $Λ$CDM paradigm

The pattern speed with which galactic bars rotate is intimately linked to the amount of dark matter in the inner regions of their host galaxies. In particular, dark matter haloes act to slow down bars via torques exerted through dynamical friction. Observational studies of barred galaxies tend to find that bars rotate fast, while hydrodynamical cosmological simulations of galaxy formation and evolution in the $Λ$CDM framework have previously found that bars slow down excessively. This has led to a growing tension between fast bars and the $Λ$CDM cosmological paradigm. In this study we revisit this issue, using the Auriga suite of high resolution, magneto-hydrodynamical cosmological zoom-in simulations of galaxy formation and evolution in the $Λ$CDM framework, finding that bars remain fast down to $z=0$. In Auriga, bars form in galaxies that have higher stellar-to-dark matter ratios and are more baryon-dominated than in previous cosmological simulations; this suggests that in order for bars to remain fast, massive spiral galaxies must lie above the commonly used abundance matching relation. While this reduces the aforementioned tension between the rotation speed of bars and $Λ$CDM, it accentuates the recently reported discrepancy between the dynamically inferred stellar-to-dark matter ratios of massive spirals and those inferred from abundance matching. Our results highlight the potential of using bar dynamics to constrain models of galaxy formation and evolution.

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arXiv2021

Properties of the ionized CGM and IGM: a comparison of galaxy formation models via the Sunyaev-Zel'dovich effect

We present a comparison of the physical properties of the ionized gas in the circumgalactic (CGM) and intergalactic (IGM) media at $z\sim0$ between observations and four cosmological hydrodynamical simulations: Illustris, TNG300 of the IllustrisTNG project, EAGLE, and one of the Magneticum simulations. For the observational data, we use the gas properties that are inferred from cross-correlating the Sunyaev-Zel'dovich effect (SZE) from the {\it Planck} CMB maps with the haloes and the large-scale structure reconstructed from Sloan Digital Sky Survey data. Both the observational and simulation results indicate that the integrated gas pressure in haloes deviates from the self-similar case, showing that feedback impacts haloes with $M_{500}\sim 10^{12-13}\,{\rm M_\odot}$. The simulations predict that more than half the baryons are displaced from haloes, while the gas fraction inferred from our observational data roughly equals the cosmic baryon fraction throughout the $M_{500}\sim 10^{12-14.5}\,{\rm M_\odot}$ halo mass range. All simulations tested here predict that the mean gas temperature in haloes is about the virial temperature, while that inferred from the SZE is up to one order of magnitude lower than that from the simulations (and also from X-ray observations). While a remarkable agreement is found for the average properties of the IGM between the observation and some simulations, we show that their dependence on the large-scale tidal field can break the degeneracy between models that show similar predictions otherwise. Finally, we show that the gas pressure and the electron density profiles from simulations are not well described by a generalized NFW (GNFW) profile. Instead, we present a new model with a mass-dependent shape that fits the profiles accurately.

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arXiv2021

Velocity-dependent J-factors for annihilation radiation from cosmological simulations

We determine the dark matter pair-wise relative velocity distribution in a set of Milky Way-like halos in the Auriga and APOSTLE simulations. Focusing on the smooth halo component, the relative velocity distribution is well-described by a Maxwell-Boltzmann distribution over nearly all radii in the halo. We explore the implications for velocity-dependent dark matter annihilation, focusing on four models which scale as different powers of the relative velocity: Sommerfeld, s-wave, p-wave, and d-wave models. We show that the J-factors scale as the moments of the relative velocity distribution, and that the halo-to-halo scatter is largest for d-wave, and smallest for Sommerfeld models. The J-factor is strongly correlated with the dark matter density in the halo, and is very weakly correlated with the velocity dispersion. This implies that if the dark matter density in the Milky Way can be robustly determined, one can accurately predict the dark matter annihilation signal, without the need to identify the dark matter velocity distribution in the Galaxy.

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