arXiv subjects

Harry Desmond

Publications and source records attributed to Harry Desmond.

102 records · Page 6Linked to original sources

arXiv2018

The Fifth Force in the Local Cosmic Web

Extensions of the standard models of particle physics and cosmology often lead to long-range fifth forces with properties dependent on gravitational environment. Fifth forces on astrophysical scales are best studied in the cosmic web where perturbation theory breaks down. We present constraints on chameleon- and symmetron-screened fifth forces with Yukawa coupling and megaparsec range -- as well as unscreened fifth forces with differential coupling to galactic mass components -- by searching for the displacements they predict between galaxies' stars and gas. Taking data from the Alfalfa HI survey, identifying galaxies' gravitational environments with the maps of Desmond et al. (2018a) and forward-modelling with a Bayesian likelihood framework, we set upper bounds on fifth-force strength relative to Newtonian gravity from $ΔG/G_N < \text{few} \: \times 10^{-4}$ for range $λ_C = 50$ Mpc, to $ΔG/G_N \lesssim 0.1$ for $λ_C = 500$ kpc. In $f(R)$ gravity this requires $f_{R0} < \text{few} \: \times \: 10^{-8}$. The analogous bounds without screening are $ΔG/G_N < \text{few} \: \times 10^{-4}$ and $ΔG/G_N < \text{few} \times 10^{-3}$. These are the tightest and among the only fifth-force constraints on galaxy scales. We show how our results may be strengthened with future survey data and identify the key features of an observational programme for furthering fifth-force tests beyond the Solar System.

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arXiv2018

The Tight Empirical Relation between Dark Matter Halo Mass and Flat Rotation Velocity for Late-Type Galaxies

We present a new empirical relation between galaxy dark matter halo mass (${\rm M_{halo}}$) and the velocity along the flat portion of the rotation curve (${\rm V_{flat}}$), derived from 120 late-type galaxies from the SPARC database. The orthogonal scatter in this relation is comparable to the observed scatter in the baryonic Tully-Fisher relation (BTFR), indicating a tight coupling between total halo mass and galaxy kinematics at $r\ll R_{\rm vir}$. The small vertical scatter in the relation makes it an extremely competitive estimator of total halo mass. We demonstrate that this conclusion holds true for different priors on $M_*/L_{[3.6μ]}$ that give a tight BTFR, but requires that the halo density profile follows DC14 rather than NFW. We provide additional relations between ${\rm M_{halo}}$ and other velocity definitions at smaller galactic radii (i.e. ${\rm V_{2.2}}$, ${\rm V_{eff}}$, and ${\rm V_{max}}$) which can be useful for estimating halo masses from kinematic surveys, providing an alternative to abundance matching. Furthermore, we constrain the dark matter analog of the Radial Acceleration Relation and also find its scatter to be small, demonstrating the fine balance between baryons and dark matter in their contribution to galaxy kinematics.

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arXiv2018

Fifth force constraints from galaxy warps

Intra-galaxy signals contain a wealth of information on fundamental physics, both the dark sector and the nature of gravity. While so far largely unexplored, such probes are set to rise dramatically in importance as upcoming surveys provide data of unprecedented quantity and quality on galaxy structure and dynamics. In this paper, we use warping of stellar disks to test the chameleon- or symmetron-screened fifth forces which generically arise when new fields couple to matter. We take r-band images of mostly late-type galaxies from the Nasa Sloan Atlas and develop an automated algorithm to quantify the degree of U-shaped warping they exhibit. We then forward-model the warp signal as a function of fifth-force strength $ΔG/G_N$ and range $λ_C$, and the gravitational environments and internal properties of the galaxies, including full propagation of the non-Gaussian uncertainties. Convolving this fifth-force likelihood function with a Gaussian describing astrophysical and observational noise and then constraining $ΔG/G_N$ and $λ_C$ by Markov Chain Monte Carlo, we find the overall likelihood to be significant increased ($Δ\log(\mathcal{L}) \simeq 20$) by adding a screened fifth force with $λ_C \simeq 2$ Mpc, $ΔG/G_N \simeq 0.01$. The variation of $Δ\log(\mathcal{L})$ with $λ_C$ is quantitatively as expected from the correlation of the magnitude of the fifth-force field with the force's range, and a similar model without screening achieves no increase in likelihood over the General Relativistic case $ΔG=0$. Although these results are in good agreement with a previous analysis of the same model using offsets between galaxies' stellar and gas mass centroids (Desmond et al. 2018), we caution that the effects of confounding baryonic and dark matter physics must be thoroughly investigated for the results of the inference to be unambiguous.

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arXiv2018

Fifth force constraints from the separation of galaxy mass components

One of the most common consequences of extensions to the standard models of particle physics or cosmology is the emergence of a fifth force. While generic fifth forces are tightly constrained at Solar System scales and below, they may escape detection by means of a screening mechanism which effectively removes them in dense environments. We constrain the strength $ΔG/G_N$ and range $λ_C$ of a chameleon- or symmetron-screened fifth force with Yukawa coupling -- as well as an unscreened fifth force with differential coupling to galactic mass components -- by searching for the displacement it predicts between galaxies' stellar and gas mass centroids. Taking data from the Alfalfa HI survey, identifying galaxies' gravitational environments with the maps of Desmond et al. (2018a) and forward-modelling with a Bayesian likelihood framework, we find $6.6σ$ evidence for $ΔG>0$ at $λ_C \simeq 2$ Mpc, with $ΔG/G_N = 0.025$ at maximum-likelihood. A similar fifth-force model without screening gives no increase in likelihood over the case $ΔG = 0$ for any $λ_C$. Although we validate these results by several methods, we do not claim screened modified gravity to provide the only possible explanation for the signal: this would require knowing that "galaxy formation" physics could not be responsible. We show also the results of a more conservative -- though less well motivated -- noise model which yields only upper limits on $ΔG/G_N$, ranging from $\sim10^{-1}$ for $λ_C \simeq 0.5$ Mpc to $\sim \: \text{few} \times 10^{-4}$ at $λ_C \simeq 50$ Mpc. We show how these constraints may be improved by future galaxy surveys and identify the key features of an observational programme for directly constraining fifth forces on galactic scales. This paper provides a complete description of the analysis summarised in Desmond et al. (2018b).

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arXiv2018

Stellar Feedback and the Energy Budget of Late-Type Galaxies: Missing Baryons and Core Creation

In a $Λ$CDM cosmology, galaxy formation is a globally inefficient process: it is often the case that far fewer baryons are observed in galaxy disks than expected from the cosmic baryon fraction. The location of these "missing baryons" is unclear. By fitting halo profiles to the rotation curves of galaxies in the SPARC data set, we measure the "missing baryon" mass for individual late-type systems. Assuming that haloes initially accrete the cosmological baryon fraction, we show that the maximum energy available from supernovae is typically not enough to completely eject these "missing baryons" from a halo, but it is often sufficient to heat them to the virial temperature. The energy available from supernovae has the same scaling with galaxy mass as the energy needed to heat or eject the "missing baryons", indicating that the coupling efficiency of the feedback to the ISM may be constant with galaxy virial mass. We further find that the energy available from supernova feedback is always enough to convert a primordial cusp into a core and has magnitude consistent with what is required to heat the "missing baryons" to the virial temperature. Taking a census of the baryon content of galaxies with ${\rm 10^9<M_{vir}/M_{\odot}<10^{12}}$ reveals that $\sim86\%$ of baryons are likely to be in a hot phase surrounding the galaxies and possibly observable in the X-ray, $\sim7\%$ are in the form of cold gas, and $\sim7\%$ are in stars.

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arXiv2017

Reconstructing the gravitational field of the local universe

Tests of gravity at the galaxy scale are in their infancy. As a first step to systematically uncovering the gravitational significance of galaxies, we map three fundamental gravitational variables -- the Newtonian potential, acceleration and curvature -- over the galaxy environments of the local universe to a distance of approximately 200 Mpc. Our method combines the contributions from galaxies in an all-sky redshift survey, halos from an N-body simulation hosting low-luminosity objects, and linear and quasi-linear modes of the density field. We use the ranges of these variables to determine the extent to which galaxies expand the scope of generic tests of gravity and are capable of constraining specific classes of model for which they have special significance. Finally, we investigate the improvements afforded by upcoming galaxy surveys.

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arXiv2017

The scatter, residual correlations and curvature of the SPARC baryonic Tully-Fisher relation

In recent work, Lelli et al. (2016) argue that the tightness of the baryonic Tully-Fisher relation (BTFR) of the SPARC galaxy sample, and the weakness of the correlation of its residuals with effective radius, pose challenges to LCDM cosmology. In this Letter we calculate the statistical significance of these results in the framework of halo abundance matching, which imposes a canonical galaxy-halo connection. Taking full account of sample variance among SPARC-like realisations of the parent halo population, we find the scatter in the predicted BTFR to be 3.6 sigma too high, but the correlation of its residuals with galaxy size to be naturally weak. Further, we find abundance matching to generate BTFR curvature in 3.0 sigma disagreement with the data, and a fraction of galaxies with non-flat rotation curves somewhat larger than observed.

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arXiv2017

On the galaxy-halo connection in the EAGLE simulation

Empirical models of galaxy formation require assumptions about the correlations between galaxy and halo properties. These may be calibrated against observations or inferred from physical models such as hydrodynamical simulations. In this Letter, we use the EAGLE simulation to investigate the correlation of galaxy size with halo properties. We motivate this analysis by noting that the common assumption of angular momentum partition between baryons and dark matter in rotationally supported galaxies overpredicts both the spread in the stellar mass-size relation and the anticorrelation of size and velocity residuals, indicating a problem with the galaxy-halo connection it implies. We find the EAGLE galaxy population to perform significantly better on both statistics, and trace this success to the weakness of the correlations of galaxy size with halo mass, concentration and spin at fixed stellar mass. Using these correlations in empirical models will enable fine-grained aspects of galaxy scalings to be matched.

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arXiv2016

A statistical investigation of the mass discrepancy-acceleration relation

We use the mass discrepancy-acceleration relation (the correlation between the ratio of total-to-visible mass and acceleration in galaxies; MDAR) to test the galaxy-halo connection. We analyse the MDAR using a set of 16 statistics that quantify its four most important features: its shape, its scatter, the presence of a "characteristic acceleration scale," and the correlation of its residuals with other galaxy properties. We construct an empirical framework for the galaxy-halo connection in LCDM to generate predictions for these statistics, starting with conventional correlations (halo abundance matching; AM) and introducing more where required. Comparing to the SPARC data, we find that: 1) the approximate shape of the MDAR is readily reproduced by AM, and there is no evidence that the acceleration at which dark matter becomes negligible has less spread in the data than in AM mocks; 2) even under conservative assumptions, AM significantly overpredicts the scatter in the relation and its normalisation at low acceleration, and furthermore positions dark matter too close to galaxies' centres on average; 3) the MDAR affords 2 sigma evidence for an anticorrelation of galaxy size and Hubble type with halo mass or concentration at fixed stellar mass. Our analysis lays the groundwork for a bottom-up determination of the galaxy-halo connection from relations such as the MDAR, provides concrete statistical tests for specific galaxy formation models, and brings into sharper focus the relative evidence accorded by galaxy kinematics to LCDM and modified gravity alternatives.

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arXiv2016

The Faber-Jackson relation and Fundamental Plane from halo abundance matching

The Fundamental Plane (FP) describes the relation between the stellar mass, size, and velocity dispersion of elliptical galaxies; the Faber-Jackson relation (FJR) is its projection onto {mass, velocity} space. In this work we redeploy and expand the framework of Desmond & Wechsler (2015) to ask whether abundance matching-based LCDM models that have shown success in matching the spatial distribution of galaxies are also capable of explaining key properties of the FJR and FP, including their scatter. Within our framework, agreement with the normalisation of the FJR requires haloes to expand in response to disc formation. We find that the tilt of the FP may be explained by a combination of the observed non-homology in galaxy structure and the variation in mass-to-light ratio produced by abundance matching with a universal initial mass function (IMF), provided that the anisotropy of stellar motions is taken into account. However, the predicted scatter around the FP is considerably increased by situating galaxies in cosmologically-motivated haloes due to variations in halo properties at fixed stellar mass, and appears to exceed that of the data. This implies that additional correlations between galaxy and halo variables may be required to fully reconcile these models with elliptical galaxy scaling relations.

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arXiv2015

The Tully-Fisher and mass-size relations from halo abundance matching

The Tully-Fisher relation (TFR) expresses the connection between rotating galaxies and the dark matter haloes they inhabit, and therefore contains a wealth of information about galaxy formation. We construct a general framework to investigate whether models based on halo abundance matching are able to reproduce the observed stellar mass TFR and mass-size relation (MSR), and use the data to constrain galaxy formation parameters. Our model tests a range of plausible scenarios, differing in the response of haloes to disc formation, the relative angular momentum of baryons and dark matter, the impact of selection effects, and the abundance matching parameters. We show that agreement with the observed TFR puts an upper limit on the scatter between galaxy and halo properties, requires weak or reversed halo contraction, and favours selection effects that preferentially eliminate fast-rotating galaxies. The MSR constrains the ratio of the disc to halo specific angular momentum to be approximately in the range 0.6-1.2. We identify and quantify two problems that models of this nature face. (1) They predict too large an intrinsic scatter for the MSR, and (2) they predict too strong an anticorrelation between the TFR and MSR residuals. We argue that resolving these problems requires introducing a correlation between stellar surface density and enclosed dark matter mass. Finally, we explore the expected difference between the TFRs of central and satellite galaxies, finding that in the favoured models this difference should be detectable in a sample of ~700 galaxies.

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arXiv2012

The baryonic Tully-Fisher Relation predicted by cold dark matter cosmogony

Providing a theoretical basis for the baryonic Tully-Fisher Relation (BTFR; baryonic mass vs rotational velocity in spiral galaxies) in the LCDM paradigm has proved problematic. Simple calculations suggest too low a slope and too high a scatter, and recent semi-analytic models and numerical galaxy simulations typically fail to reproduce some aspects of the relation. Furthermore, the assumptions underlying one model are often inconsistent with those behind another. This paper aims to develop a rigorous prediction for the BTFR in the context of LCDM, using only a priori expected effects and relations, a minimum of theoretical assumptions, and no free parameters. The robustness of the relation to changes in key galactic parameters will be explored. I adopt a modular approach, taking each of the stand alone galaxy relations necessary for constructing the BTFR from up-to-date numerical simulations of dark halos. These relations -- and their expected scatter -- are used to describe model spirals with a range of masses, resulting in a band in the space of the BTFR that represents the current best guess for the LCDM prediction. Consistent treatment of expected LCDM effects goes a large way towards reconciling the naive slope-3 LCDM prediction with the data, especially in the range 10^9 M_sun < M_bar < 10^11 M_sun. The theoretical BTFR becomes significantly curved at M_bar > 10^11 M_sun, but this is difficult to test observationally due to the scarcity of extremely high mass spirals. Low mass gas-rich galaxies have systematically lower rotational velocity than the LCDM prediction, although the relation used to describe baryon mass fractions must be extrapolated in this regime. The fact that the BTFR slope derived here is significantly greater than in early predictions is a direct consequence of a corresponding increase in the expected sensitivity of baryon mass fraction to total halo mass.

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