arXiv subjects

Isaac Shlosman

Publications and source records attributed to Isaac Shlosman.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

arXiv2010

Dissecting Galaxy Formation: II. Comparing Substructure in Pure Dark Matter and Baryonic Models

We compare the substructure evolution in pure dark matter (DM) halos with those in the presence of baryons (PDM and BDM). The prime halos have been analyzed by Romano-Diaz et al (2009). Models have been evolved from identical initial conditions using Constrained Realizations, including star formation and feedback. A comprehensive catalog of subhalos has been compiled and properties of subhalos analyzed in the mass range of 10^8 Mo - 10^11 Mo. We find that subhalo mass functions are consistent with a single power law, M_sbh^{alpha}, but detect a nonnegligible shift between these functions, alpha -0.86 for the PDM, and -0.98 for the BDM. Overall, alpha const. in time with variations of +-15%. Second, we find that the radial mass distribution of subhalos can be approximated by a power law, R^{gamma} with a steepening around the radius of a maximal circular velocity, Rvmax, in the prime halos. Gamma ~-1.5 for the PDM and -1 for the BDM, inside Rvmax, and is steeper outside. We detect little spatial bias between the subhalo populations and the DM of the main halos. The subhalo population exhibits much less triaxiality with baryons, in tandem with the prime halo. Finally, we find that, counter-intuitively, the BDM population is depleted at a faster rate than the PDM one within the central 30kpc of the prime. Although the baryons provide a substantial glue to the subhalos, the main halos exhibit the same trend. This assures a more efficient tidal disruption of the BDM subhalos. This effect can be reversed for a more efficient feedback from stellar evolution and supermassive black holes, which will expel baryons from the center and decrease the concentration of the prime halo. We compare our results with via Lactea and Aquarius simulations and other published results.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2009

Dark Matter Halos and Evolution of Bars in Disk Galaxies: Collisionless Models Revisited

We construct and evolve families of steady-state models of stellar disks embedded in live DM halos, in order to study the dynamical and secular phases of bar evolution. These models are tested against those published in the literature in order to extend them and include the gaseous component in the follow up paper. We are interested in the angular momentum (J) redistribution in the disk-halo system. We confirm the previous results and quantify for the first time the dual role that the DM halos play in the bar evolution: more centrally concentrated halos dilute the dynamical processes, such as spontaneous bar instability and vertical buckling instability, and slowdown the J transfer, while facilitating it in the secular phase. Within the corotation radius (Rcr), the disk J remains nearly constant, as long as Rcr stays within the disk -- a sign that the lost J to the outer disk and the halo is being compensated by an influx of fresh J due to the outward motion of Rcr. This is feasible as long as the bar slowdown dominates the loss of J inside Rcr. We find that in some models the bar pattern speed stalls for prolonged time periods when Rcr is located outside the disk. This phenomenon appears concurrent with the near absence of J transfer between the disk and the halo. Furthermore, we confirm that stellar bars generally display the corotation to bar size ratios in the range of ~1-1.4, but only between the times of the first buckling and Rcr leaving the disk. The corotation-to-disk size ratio emerges as an important dynamic discriminator between various stages of barred disk evolution. Finally, we analyze a number of correlations between the basic parameters of a barred disk and a halo, some already reported in the literature and some new.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2009

Dissecting Galaxy Formation: I. Comparison Between Pure Dark Matter and Baryonic Models

We compare assembly of DM halos with and without baryons, within the context of cosmological evolution in the LCDM WMAP3 Universe (baryons+DM, BDM model, and pure DM, PDM model). In representative PDM and BDM models we find that baryons contribute decisively to the evolution of the central region, leading to an isothermal DM cusp, and to a flat DM density core -- the result of heating by dynamical friction of the substructure during a quiescent evolution epoch. This process ablates the cold gas from an embedded disk, cutting the star formation rate by ~10, and heats up the spheroidal gas and stellar components, triggering their expansion. The substructure is more resilient in the presence of baryons. The disk which formed from inside-out as gas dominated, is transformed into an intermediate Hubble type by z ~ 2 and to an early type by z ~ 0.5, based on its gas contents and spheroidal-to-disk stellar mass ratio. Only a relatively small ~20% fraction of DM particles in PDM and BDM models are bound within the radius of maximal circular velocity in the halo -- most of the DM particles perform larger radial excursions. We also find that the fraction of baryons within the halo virial radius somewhat increases during the major mergers and decreases during the minor mergers. The net effect appears to be negligible. While the substructure is being tidally-disrupted, mixing of its debris in the halo is not efficient and becomes even less so with z. The streamers formed after z ~ 1 survive largely to the present time -- an important implication for embedded disk evolution.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2009

Angular Momentum Transfer and Lack of Fragmentation in Self-Gravitating Accretion Flows

Rapid inflows associated with early galaxy formation lead to the accumulation of self-gravitating gas in the centers of proto-galaxies. Such gas accumulations are prone to non-axisymmetric instabilities, as in the well-known Maclaurin sequence of rotating ellipsoids, which are accompanied by a catastrophic loss of angular momentum (J). Self-gravitating gas is also intuitively associated with star formation. However, recent simulations of the infall process display highly turbulent continuous flows. We propose that J-transfer, which enables the inflow, also suppresses fragmentation. Inefficient J loss by the gas leads to decay of turbulence, triggering global instabilities and renewed turbulence driving. Flow regulated in this way is stable against fragmentation, whilst staying close to the instability threshold for bar formation -- thick self-gravitating disks are prone to global instabilities before they become unstable locally. On smaller scales, the fraction of gravitationally unstable matter swept up by shocks in such a flow is a small and decreasing function of the Mach number. We conclude counterintuitively that gas able to cool down to a small fraction of its virial temperature will not fragment as it collapses. This provides a venue for supermassive black holes to form via direct infall, without the intermediary stage of forming a star cluster. Some black holes could have formed or grown in massive halos at low redshifts. Thus the fragmentation is intimately related to J redistribution within the system: it is less dependent on the molecular and metal cooling but is conditioned by the ability of the flow to develop virial, supersonic turbulence.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2009

Dark Matter Substructure, Filaments and Assembling Disks

We review some general properties of assembling galactic dark matter (DM) halos which have a direct effect on the baryon dynamics. Specifically, we focus on the mutual dynamical feedback between baryons and DM which influence disk formation and evolution, by comparing models with and without baryons evolved from identical initial conditions. Baryons are found to be capable of modifying the DM density profiles of inner halos, leading to isothermal profiles rather than the NFW cusps. Those can be leveled off by the subsequent dynamical friction of the subhalos at lower redshifts. Furthermore, subhalos appear efficient in triggering galactic bars and ablating cold gas from the disks, and therefore quenching of star formation there.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2008

Galactic Bars in Cosmological Context

Galactic disks can form in asymmetric potentials of the assembling dark matter (DM) halos, giving rise to the first generation of gas-rich bars. Properties of these bars differ from canonical bars analyzed so far. Moreover, rapid disk growth is associated with the influx of clumpy DM and baryons along the large-scale filaments. Subsequent interactions between this substructure and the disk can trigger generations of bars, which can explain their ubiquity in the Universe. I provide a brief summary of such bar properties and argue that they fit naturally within the broad cosmological context of a hierarchical buildup of structure in the universe.

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arXiv2008

Anatomy of the Bar Instability in Cuspy Dark Matter Halos

We examine the bar instability in galactic models with an exponential disk and a cuspy dark matter (DM) halo with a Navarro-Frenk-White (NFW) cosmological density profile. We construct equilibrium models from a 3-integral composite distribution function that are subject to the bar instability. We generate a sequence of models with a range of mass resolution from 1.8K to 18M particles in the disk and 10K to 100M particles in the halo along with a multi-mass model with an effective resolution of ~10^10 particles. We describe how mass resolution affects the bar instability, including its linear growth phase, the buckling instability, pattern speed decay through the resonant transfer of angular momentum to the DM halo, and the possible destruction of the halo cusp. Our higher resolution simulations show a converging spectrum of discrete resonance interactions between the bar and DM halo orbits. As the pattern speed decays, orbital resonances sweep through most of the DM halo phase space and widely distribute angular momentum among the halo particles. The halo does not develop a flat density core and preserves the cusp, except in the region dominated by gravitational softening. The formation of the bar increases the central stellar density and the DM is compressed adiabatically increasing the halo central density by 1.7X. Overall, the evolution of the bar displays a convergent behavior for halo particle numbers between 1M and 10M particles, when comparing bar growth, pattern speed evolution, the DM halo density profile and a nonlinear analysis of the orbital resonances. Higher resolution simulations clearly illustrate the importance of discrete resonances in transporting the angular momentum from the bar to the halo.

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arXiv2008

Disk Evolution and Bar Triggering Driven by Interactions with Dark Matter Substructure

We study formation and evolution of bar-disk systems in fully self-consistent cosmological simulations of galaxy formation in the LCDM WMAP3 Universe. In a representative model we find that the first generation of bars form in response to the asymmetric dark matter (DM) distribution (i.e., DM filament) and quickly decay. Subsequent bar generations form and are destroyed during the major merger epoch permeated by interactions with a DM substructure (subhalos). A long-lived bar is triggered by a tide from a subhalo and survives for ~10 Gyr. The evolution of this bar is followed during the subsequent numerous minor mergers and interactions with the substructure. Together with intrinsic factors, these interactions largely determine the stellar bar evolution. The bar strength and its pattern speed anticorrelate, except during interactions and when the secondary (nuclear) bar is present. For about 5 Gyr bar pattern speed increases substantially despite the loss of angular momentum to stars and cuspy DM halo. We analyze the evolution of stellar populations in the bar-disk and relate them to the underlying dynamics. While the bar is made mainly of an intermediate age, ~5-6 Gyr, disk stars at z=0, a secondary nuclear bar which surfaces at z~0.1 is made of younger, ~1-3 Gyr stars.

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arXiv2008

Erasing Dark Matter Cusps in Cosmological Galactic Halos with Baryons

We study the central dark matter (DM) cusp evolution in cosmological galactic halos. Models with and without baryons (baryons+DM, hereafter BDM model, and pure DM, PDM model, respectively) are advanced from identical initial conditions. The DM cusp properties are contrasted by a direct comparison of pure DM and baryonic models. We find a divergent evolution between the PDM and BDM models within the inner ~10 kpc region. The PDM model forms a R^{-1} cusp as expected, while the DM in the BDM model forms a larger isothermal cusp R^{-2} instead. The isothermal cusp is stable until z~1 when it gradually levels off. This leveling proceeds from inside out and the final density slope is shallower than -1 within the central 3 kpc (i.e., expected size of the R^{-1} cusp), tending to a flat core within ~2 kpc. This effect cannot be explained by a finite resolution of our code which produces only a 5% difference between the gravitationally softened force and the exact Newtonian force of point masses at 1 kpc from the center. Neither is it related to the energy feedback from stellar evolution or angular momentum transfer from the bar. Instead it can be associated with the action of DM+baryon subhalos heating up the cusp region via dynamical friction and forcing the DM in the cusp to flow out and to `cool' down. The process described here is not limited to low z and can be efficient at intermediate and even high z.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2008

Bars in Cuspy Dark Halos

We examine the bar instability in models with an exponential disk and a cuspy NFW-like dark matter (DM) halo inspired by cosmological simulations. Bar evolution is studied as a function of numerical resolution in a sequence of models spanning 10K to 100M DM particles - including a multi-mass model with an effective resolution of 10G. The goal is to find convergence in dynamical behaviour. We characterize the bar growth, the buckling instability, pattern speed decay through resonant transfer of angular momentum, and possible destruction of the DM halo cusp. Overall, most characteristics converge in behaviour in detail for halos containing more than 10M particles. Notably, the formation of the bar does not destroy the density cusp in this case. These higher resolution simulations clearly illustrate the importance of discrete resonances in transporting angular momentum from the bar to the halo.

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arXiv2007

Dark Matter Halos: Velocity Anisotropy -- Density Slope Relation

Dark matter (DM) halos formed in CDM cosmologies seem to be characterized by a power law phase-space density profile. The density of the DM halos is often fitted by the NFW profile but a better fit is provided by the Sersic fitting formula. These relations are empirically derived from cosmological simulations of structure formation but have not yet been explained on a first principle basis. Here we solve the Jeans equation under the assumption of a spherical DM halo in dynamical equilibrium, that obeys a power law phase space density and either the NFW-like or the Sersic density profile. We then calculate the velocity anisotropy, beta(r), analytically. Our main result is that for the NFW-like profile the beta - gamma relation is not a linear one (where gamma is the logarithmic derivative of the density rho[r]). The shape of beta(r) depends mostly on the ratio of the gravitational to kinetic energy within the NFW scale radius R_s. For the Sersic profile a linear beta - gamma relation is recovered, and in particular for the Sersic index of n = 6.0 case the linear fit of Hansen & Moore is reproduced. Our main result is that the phase-space density power law, the Sersic density form and the linear beta - gamma dependence constitute a consistent set of relations which obey the spherical Jeans equation and as such provide the framework for the dynamical modeling of DM halos.

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arXiv2007

Disk-Halo Interplay in Galaxy Evolution

Some aspects of disk-halo interactions for models of in and out of equilibrium disk galaxies are reviewed. Specifically, we focus on disk-halo resonant interaction without and in the presence of a gas component. Another issue is the disk growth within an assembling triaxial dark matter halo. We argue that while the triaxiality is the result of the merger process and the radial orbit instability, it is the developing chaos that damps the first generation of bars and washes out the halo prolateness. This chaos is triggered by the gravitational quadrupole interaction(s) in the system and supported by a number of other processes which are characteristic of baryons.

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arXiv2007

Structure Formation Inside Triaxial Dark Matter Halos: Galactic Disks, Bulges and Bars

We investigate the formation and evolution of galactic disks immersed in assembling live DM halos. Disk/halo components have been evolved from the cosmological initial conditions and represent the collapse of an isolated density perturbation. The baryons include gas (which participates in star formation [SF]) and stars. The feedback from the stellar energy release onto the ISM has been implemented. We find that (1) The growing triaxial halo figure tumbling is insignificant and the angular momentum (J) is channeled into the internal circulation; (2) Density response of the disk is out of phase with the DM, thus diluting the inner halo flatness and washing out its prolateness; (3) The total J is neathly conserved, even in models accounting for feedback; (4) The specific J for the DM is nearly constant, while that for baryons is decreasing; (5) Early stage of disk formation resembles the cat's cradle -- a small amorphous disk fueled via radial string patterns; (6) The initially puffed up gas component in the disk thins when the SF rate drops below ~5 Mo/yr; (7) About 40%-60% of the baryons remain outside the SF region; (8) Rotation curves appear to be flat and account for the observed disk/halo contributions; (9) A range of bulge-dominated to bulgeless disks was obtained; Lower density threshold for SF leads to a smaller, thicker disk; Gravitational softening in the gas has a substantial effect on various aspects of galaxy evolution and mimics a number of intrinsic processes within the ISM; (10) The models are characterized by an extensive bar-forming activity; (11) Nuclear bars, dynamically coupled and decoupled form in response to the gas inflow along the primary bars.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2007

Evolution of Phase-Space Density in Dark Matter Halos

The evolution of the phase-space density profile in dark matter (DM) halos is investigated by means of constrained simulations, designed to control the merging history of a given DM halo. Halos evolve through a series of quiescent phases of a slow accretion intermitted by violent events of major mergers. In the quiescent phases the density of the halo closely follows the NFW profile and the phase-space density profile, Q(r), is given by the Taylor & Navarro power law, r^{-beta}, where beta ~ 1.9 and stays remarkably stable over the Hubble time. Expressing the phase-space density by the NFW parameters, Q(r)=Qs (r/Rs)^{-beta}, the evolution of Q is determined by Qs. We have found that the effective mass surface density within Rs, Sigma_s = rhos Rs, remains constant throughout the evolution of a given DM halo along the main branch of its merging tree. This invariance entails that Qs ~ Rs^{-5/2} and Q(r) ~ Sigma_s^{-1/2} Rs^{-5/2} (r/ Rs)^{-beta}. It follows that the phase-space density remains constant, in the sense of Qs=const., in the quiescent phases and it decreases as Rs^{-5/2} in the violent ones. The physical origin of the NFW density profile and the phase-space density power law is still unknown. Yet, the numerical experiments show that halos recover these relations after the violent phases. The major mergers drive Rs to increase and Qs to decrease discontinuously while keeping Qs Rs^{5/2} = const. The virial equilibrium in the quiescent phases implies that a DM halos evolves along a sequence of NFW profiles with constant energy per unit volume (i.e., pressure) within Rs.

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arXiv2007

Induced Nested Galactic Bars Inside Assembling Dark Matter Halos

We investigate the formation and evolution of nested bar systems in disk galaxies in a cosmological setting by following the development of an isolated dark matter (DM) and baryon density perturbation. The disks form within the assembling triaxial DM halos and the feedback from the stellar evolution is accounted for in terms of supernovae and OB stellar winds. Focusing on a representative model, we show the formation of an oval disk and of a first generation of nested bars with characteristic sub-kpc and a few kpc sizes. The system evolves through successive dynamical couplings and decouplings, forcing the gas inwards and settles in a state of resonant coupling. The inflow rate can support a broad range of activity within the central kpc, from quasar- to Seyfert-types, supplemented by a vigorous star formation as a by-product. The initial bar formation is triggered in response to the tidal torques from the triaxial DM halo, which acts as a finite perturbation. This first generation of bars does not survive for more than 4--5 Gyr: by that time the secondary bar has totally dissolved, while the primary one has very substantially weakened, reduced to a fat oval. This evolution is largely due to chaos introduced by the interaction of the multiple non-axisymmetric components.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2007

Gas Feedback on Stellar Bar Evolution

We analyze evolution of live disk-halo systems in the presence of various gas fractions, f_gas less than 8% in the disk. We addressed the issue of angular momentum (J) transfer from the gas to the bar and its effect on the bar evolution. We find that the weakening of the bar, reported in the literature, is not related to the J-exchange with the gas, but is caused by the vertical buckling instability in the gas-poor disks and by a steep heating of a stellar velocity dispersion by the central mass concentration (CMC) in the gas-rich disks. The gas has a profound effect on the onset of the buckling -- larger f_gas brings it forth due to the more massive CMCs. The former process leads to the well-known formation of the peanut-shaped bulges, while the latter results in the formation of progressively more elliptical bulges, for larger f_gas. The subsequent (secular) evolution of the bar differs -- the gas-poor models exhibit a growing bar while gas-rich models show a declining bar whose vertical swelling is driven by a secular resonance heating. The border line between the gas-poor and -rich models lies at f_gas ~ 3% in our models, but is model-dependent and will be affected by additional processes, like star formation and feedback from stellar evolution. The overall effect of the gas on the evolution of the bar is not in a direct J transfer to the stars, but in the loss of J by the gas and its influx to the center that increases the CMC. The more massive CMC damps the vertical buckling instability and depopulates orbits responsible for the appearance of peanut-shaped bulges. The action of resonant and non-resonant processes in gas-poor and gas-rich disks leads to a converging evolution in the vertical extent of the bar and its stellar dispersion velocities, and to a diverging evolution in the bulge properties.

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arXiv2006

Building Galactic Disks in Triaxial Dark Matter Halos

We review our recent work on the formation and evolution of disks with in triaxial dark matter (DM) halos by means of numerical simulations, including star formation and feedback from stellar evolution. The growing disks are strongly in fluenced by shapes of DM halos and modify them in turn. Disk parameters are in a broad agreement with those in the local universe. Gas-rich stellar bars grow in tandem with the disk and facilitate the angular momentum redistribution in the system and radial gas inflow. Nested bars appear to form as a by-product. Interactions between various non-axisymmetric components -- bars, disks and halos lead to decay of bars or washing out of ellipticity in the inner halo.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2006

Evolution of Characteristic Quantities for Dark Matter Halo Density Profiles

We investigate the effect of an assembly history on the evolution of dark matter (DM) halos of 10^{12} Msun/h using Constrained Realizations of random Gaussian fields. Five different realizations of a DM halo with distinct merging histories were constructed and evolved. Our main results are: A halo evolves via a sequence of quiescent phases of a slow mass accretion intermitted by violent episodes of major mergers. In the quiescent phases, the density is well fitted by an NFW profile, the inner scale radius Rs and the mass enclosed within it remain constant, and the virial radius (Rvir) grows linearly with the expansion parameter "a". Within each quiescent phase the concentration parameter ("c") scales as "a", and the mass accretion history (Mvir) is well described by the Tasitsiomi etal. fitting formula. In the violent phases the halos are not in a virial equilibrium and both Rs and Rvir grow discontinuously. The violent episodes drive the halos from one NFW dynamical equilibrium to another. The final structure of a halo, including "c", depends on the degree of violence of the major mergers and on their number. Next, we find a distinct difference between the behavior of various NFW parameters taken as averages over an ensemble of halos and those of individual halos. Moreover, the simple scaling relations c--Mvir do not apply to the entire evolution of individual halos, and so is the common notion that late forming halos are less concentrated than early forming ones. The entire evolution of the halo cannot be fitted by single analytical expressions.

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