arXiv subjects

P. Cataldi

Publications and source records attributed to P. Cataldi.

3 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Halo Occupation Distribution estimation performance for LSST data

Upcoming imaging surveys, such as the Vera C. Rubin Observatory Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST), will enable high signal-to-noise measurements of galaxy clustering. The halo occupation distribution (HOD) is a widely used framework to describe the connection between galaxies and dark matter haloes, playing a key role in evaluating models of galaxy formation and constraining cosmological parameters. Consequently, developing robust methods for estimating this statistic is crucial to fully exploit data from current and future galaxy surveys. The main goal of this project is to extend a background subtraction method to estimate the HOD with more photometry-based information in preparation for the clustering analysis of the upcoming LSST data and to enable the study of the HOD with significantly improved statistical power. We evaluate the performance of the method using a mock galaxy redshift survey constructed from the cosmoDC2 catalogue. We implement an extension of the background subtraction technique to utilize information from photometric galaxy surveys. To identify the centres of galaxy groups, we implement an iterative centroiding approach (Central Galaxy Finder). We evaluate the impact of each step in our pipeline, including group size estimation from luminosity and purity, and completeness on group identification, along with the influence of observational systematics such as the use of photometric redshifts and halo mass uncertainties. We demonstrate the validity of the proposed method using a mock galaxy catalogue, recovering the HOD from cosmoDC2 over the absolute magnitude range $M_r = -20.0$ to $-17.0$ and halo masses up to $10^{15}\, \mathrm{M_\odot}$. We present key performance metrics to quantify the precision and reliability of the group finder and the resulting HOD measurements.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2025

Galaxy sizes and compactness at Cosmic Dawn

The James Webb Space Telescope has found an unexpected population of high-mass galaxies ($\log (M^\star / {\rm M} _\odot) \gtrsim 10$) with extremely small effective radii ($\sim 100\,\rm pc$) at $z \gtrsim 6$. Also, the existence of an unusual size--mass relation has been claimed. These observations are only partially reproduced by current models, and the physics responsible for the observed relations is still under debate. We expect to unveil the formation channels of the observed compact galaxies. We analyse 7605 snapshots for 169 galaxies of the state-of-the-art cosmological simulation suite FirstLight. We find that galaxies undergo an expansion--compaction--re-expansion process. This process operates in a specific mass range; compaction starts at $\log (M^\star_ {\rm on} / {\rm M}_\odot) \sim 8.5$ and ends at $\log (M^\star_{\rm off} / \mathrm{M}_\odot) \sim 9.5$. In between these masses, the size--mass relation becomes inverted, with a negative slope. The physical mechanism driving this process in our simulations involves a self-reinforced inflow of gas from the outer regions, that triggers a strong, localised starburst at the centre (within $1\, {\rm kpc}$). This contraction continues until conditions favour star formation in a broader area, and the normal inside-out growth pattern resumes. We present evidence for the existence of a universal wet compaction operating at Cosmic Dawn. This mechanism is driven by spherical accretion triggered by the change of the state of the central matter of galaxies, from dark matter- to baryon-dominated. We also propose an analytical expression for the infall process, suitable for use in semi-analytic models. Contrary to low-redshift galaxies, in high-redshift systems compaction ends without gas depletion and star-formation quenching.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2020

Baryons Shaping Dark Matter Haloes

In this work we aim at investigating the effects of baryons on the dark matter (DM) haloes structure, focusing on the correlation between the presence and importance of stellar discs and the halo shapes. We study the properties of a subsample of DM haloes from Fenix and EAGLE cosmological simulations. We inspect the central regions of haloes in the mass range [10.9 - 992.3] x 10^{10} Msun at z=0, comparing the hydrodynamic runs and their dark matter only (DMo) counterparts. Our results indicate that baryons have a significant impact on the shape of the inner halo, mainly within ~ 20 percent of the virial radius. We find haloes to be more spherical when hosting baryons. While the impact of baryons depends on the mass of the haloes, we also find a trend with morphology which suggests that the way baryons are assembled is also relevant in agreement with previous works. Our findings also indicate that disc galaxies preferentially form in haloes whose DMo counterparts were originally more spherical and with stronger velocity anisotropy. The presence of baryons alter the orbital structure of the DM particles of the haloes, which show a decrease in their velocity anisotropy, towards more tangentially biased orbits. This relative decrease is weaker in the case of disc-dominated galaxies. Our results point out to a cosmological connection between the final morphology of galaxies and the intrinsic properties of their DM haloes, which gets reinforce by the growth of the discs.

astro-ph.GA↗