arXiv subjects

Paolo Salucci

Publications and source records attributed to Paolo Salucci.

At least 73 records · Page 4Linked to original sources

arXiv2008

The Impact of Simulations in Cosmology and Galaxy Formation A summary of the Workshop NOVICOSMO 2008

In the study of the process of cosmic structure formation numerical simulations are crucial tools to interface observational data to theoretical models and to investigate issues otherwise unexplored. Enormous advances have been achieved in the last years thanks to the availability of sophisticated codes, now allowing to tackle the problem of cosmic structure formation and subsequent evolution by covering larger and larger dynamical ranges. Moreover, computational cosmology is the ideal interpretative framework for the overwhelming amount of new data from extragalactic surveys and from large sample of individual objects. The Workshop Novicosmo 2008 "The Impact of Simulations in Cosmology and Galaxy Formation' held in SISSA was aimed at providing the state-of-the-art on the latest numerical simulations in Cosmology and in Galaxy Formation. Particular emphasis was given to the implementation of new physical processes in simulation codes, to the comparison between different codes and numerical schemes and how to use best supercomputing facilities of the next generation. Finally, the impact on our knowledge on the Physics of the Universe brought by this new channel of investigation has also been focused. The Workshop was divided in three sections corresponding (roughly) to three main areas of study: Reionization and Intergalactic medium; Dark and Luminous matter in galaxies; Clusters of galaxies and Large scale Structures. This paper will provide i) a short resume' of the scientific results of the Workshop ii) the complete list of the talks and the instructions on how to retrieve the .pdf of the related (powerpoint) presentations iii) a brief presentation of the associated Exhibition "Space Art"

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arXiv2008

The Disk Mass of Spiral Galaxies

We derive the disk masses of 18 spiral galaxies of different luminosity and Hubble Type, both by mass modelling their rotation curves and by fitting their SED with spectro-photometric models. The good agreement of the estimates obtained from these two different methods allows us to quantify the reliability of their performance and to derive very accurate stellar mass-to-light ratio vs color (and stellar mass) relationships.

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arXiv2008

Analysis of Rotation Curves in the Framework of the Gravitational Suppression Model

We present an analysis of suitable rotation curves (RCs) of eight galaxies, aimed at checking the consistency and universality of the gravitational suppression (GraS) hypothesis, a phenomenological model for a new interaction between dark matter and baryons. Motivated by the puzzle of the core versus cusp distribution of dark matter in the center of halos, this hypothesis claims to reconcile the predictions from N-body Λcold dark matter simulations with kinematic observations. The GraS model improves the kinematic fitting residuals, but the mass parameters are unphysical and put the theory in difficulty.

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arXiv2007

The mass distribution in Spiral galaxies

In the past years a wealth of observations has allowed us to unravel the structural properties of the Dark and Luminous mass distribution in spirals. As result, it has been found that their rotation curves follow, out their virial radius, an Universal function (URC) made by two terms: one due to the gravitational potential of a Freeman stellar disk and the other due to that of a dark halo. The importance of the latter is found to decrease with galaxy mass. Individual objects reveal in detail that dark halos have a density core, whose size correlates with its central value. These properties will guide $Λ$CDM Cosmology to evolve to match the challenge that observations presently pose.

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arXiv2007

Analysis of Rotation Curves in the framework of R^n gravity

We present an analysis of a devised sample of Rotation Curves (RCs), aimed at checking the consequences of a modified f(R) gravity on galactic scales. Originally motivated by the the dark energy mystery, this theory may serve as a possibility of explaining the observed non-Keplerian profiles of galactic RCs in terms of a break-down of the Einstein General Relativity. We show that in general the power-law f(R) version could fit well the observations with reasonable values for the mass model parameters, encouraging further investigation on R^n gravity from both observational and theoretical points of view.

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arXiv2007

LambdaCDM Halo Density Profiles: where do actual halos converge to NFW ones?

Aims. We present an analysis of 37 high-quality extended rotation curves that highlights the existence of a new discrepancy (or a new aspect of an old discrepancy) between the density profiles predicted by the Lambda Cold Dark Matter (LambdaCDM) theory and the actual distribution of dark matter in galaxies. Methods. We compare the predicted face-value density vs. enclosed mass relationship, at large distances, to the observational data at the last measured radii of the rotation curves and in two whole rotation curves of high quality. A further analysis is performed by studying a relation, inbuilt in LambdaCDM, that links at radius R, the enclosed halo mass M(R) and its density rho(R) in a way that is independent of the mass of the virialised object. Results. We find that the predicted density vs. enclosed mass relationship has a systematic offset with respect to the observational data. In test case extended rotation curves, at their last measured point, the predicted NFW densities are up to a factor 3 lower than those derived from the kinematics. Moreover, the abovementioned relation, inbuilt in LambdaCDM, does not hold for the objects of our sample. Such a new outer discrepancy is different and maybe complementary with respect to the core/cusp issue, for which the NFW densities turn out to be higher than those observed and it seems to imply a global mass rearrangement of a pristine NFW-LambdaCDM halo.

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arXiv2006

The Radial Tully-Fisher relation for spiral galaxies I

We find a new Tully-Fisher-like relation for spiral galaxies holding at different galactocentric radii. This Radial Tully-Fisher (RTF) relation allows us to investigate the distribution of matter in the optical regions of spiral galaxies. This relation, applied to three different samples of rotation curves of spiral galaxies, directly proves that: 1) the rotation velocity of spirals is a good measure of their gravitational potential and both the RC's amplitudes and profiles are well predicted by galaxy luminosity 2) the existence of a dark component, less concentrated than the luminous one, and 3) a scaling law, according to which, inside the disk optical size: $ M_{dark}/M_{lum} = 0.5 (L_B/10^{11}L_{B\odot})^{-0.7}$.

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arXiv2006

Testing MOND with Local Group spiral galaxies

The rotation curves and the relative mass distributions of the two nearby Local Group spiral galaxies, M31 and M33, show discrepancies with Modified Newtonian dynamic (MOND) predictions. In M33 the discrepancy lies in the kinematics of the outermost regions. It can be alleviated by adopting tilted ring models compatible with the 21-cm datacube but different from the one that best fits the data. In M31 MOND fails to fit the falling part of the rotation curve at intermediate radii, before the curve flattens out in the outermost regions. Newtonian dynamics in a framework of a stellar disc embedded in a dark halo can explain the complex rotation curve profiles of these two galaxies, while MOND has some difficulties. However, given the present uncertainties in the kinematics of these nearby galaxies, we cannot address the success or failure of MOND theory in a definite way. More sensitive and extended observations around the critical regions, suggested by MOND fits discussed in this paper, may lead to a definite conclusion.

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arXiv2006

Angular Momentum Transfer in Dark Matter Halos: Erasing the Cusp

We propose that angular momentum transfer from the baryons to the Dark Matter (DM) during the early stages of galaxy formation can flatten the halo inner density profile and modify the halo dynamics. We compute the phase-space distribution function of DM halos, that corresponds to the density and anisotropy profiles obtained from N-body simulations in the concordance cosmology. We then describe an injection of angular momentum into the halo by modifying the distribution function, and show that the system evolves into a new equilibrium configuration; the latter features a constant central density and a tangentially-dominated anisotropy profile in the inner regions, while the structure is nearly unchanged beyond 10% of the virial radius. Then we propose a toy model to account for such a halo evolution, based on the angular momentum exchange due to dynamical friction; at the epoch of galaxy formation this is efficiently exerted by the DM onto the gas clouds spiralling down the potential well. The comparison between the angular momentum profile gained by the halo through dynamical friction and that provided by the perturbed distribution function reveals a surprising similarity, hinting at the reliability of the process.

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arXiv2005

Measuring the Spin of Spiral Galaxies

We compute the angular momentum, the spin parameter and the related distribution function for Dark Matter halos hosting a spiral galaxy. We base on scaling laws, inferred from observations, that link the properties of the galaxy to those of the host halo; we further assume that the Dark Matter has the same total specific angular momentum of the baryons. Our main results are: (i) we find that the gas component of the disk significantly contributes to the total angular momentum of the system; (ii) by adopting for the Dark Matter the observationally supported Burkert profile, we compute the total angular momentum of the disk and its correlation with the rotation velocity; (iii) we find that the distribution function of the spin parameter $λ$ peaks at a value of about 0.03, consistent with a no-major-merger scenario for the late evolution of spiral galaxies.

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arXiv2005

The Distribution of Dark Matter in Spirals

In the past years a wealth of observations allowed to unravel the structural properties of the Dark Matter Halos around spirals. First, their rotation curves follow an Universal profile (URC) that can be described in terms of an exponential thin stellar disk and a dark halo with a constant density core, whose relative importance increases with galaxy luminosity. Careful studies of individual objects reveal that dark halos have a core, whose size $r_0$ correlates with the central density $ρ_0$. These properties are in serious discrepancy with the cuspy density distribution predicted by N-body simulations in collisionless $Λ$CDM Cosmology.

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arXiv2004

Fine-tuning in the rotation curves of spirals and the uniqueness of their mass modelling

We construct a generic mass model of a disk galaxy by combining the usual two mass components, an exponential thin stellar disk and a dark halo for which we alternatively assume one of the two most common mass distributions. We construct its generic rotation curve, with two free parameters linked to its shape and one to its amplitude, namely the halo characteristic scale lenght, the fractional amount of Dark Matter and the total mass at one disk scale lenght. We find that there is no need of a fine-tuning in the above parameters to produce smooth, featureless rotation curves like the ones actually observed. The rotation curves obtained from different mass distributions are significanlty affected by the variation of the parameters, and show substantial difference in their slope; however, they do not feature irregularities marking the transition from a disk-dominated to a halo-dominated regime. On the other hand we show, by direct analysis of a large number of plausible and different mass models, that an observed rotation curve fulfilling well defined quality requirements can be uniquely and properly decomposed in its dark and luminous components; through a suitable mass modelling together with a maximum-likelihood fitting method, in fact, the disentangling of the mass components is accomplished with a very high resolution.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2003

The Distribution of Dark Matter in Galaxies: the Core Radius Issue

I review the up-to-date status on the properties of the Dark Matter density distribution around Galaxies. The rotation curves of spirals all conform to a same Universal profile which can be uniquely decomposed as the sum of an exponential thin stellar disk and a dark halo with a flat density core. From dwarfs to giants galaxies, the halos embedding the stellar component feature a constant density region of size $r_0$ and value $ρ_0$, which are inversely correlated. The fine structure of dark halos in the region of the stellar disk has been derived for a number of low--luminosity disk galaxies: the halo circular velocity increases almost linearly with radius out to the edge of the stellar disk, implying, up there, an almost constant dark matter density. This sets a serious discrepancy between the cuspy density distribution predicted by N-body simulations of $Λ$CDM cosmology, and those actually detected around galaxies. The small scatter around the Fundamental Plane (FP) of elliptical galaxies constraints the distribution of dark and luminous matter in these systems. The measured central velocity dispersion $σ_0$ in the FP is linked to both photometric and dynamical properties of luminous and dark matter. As a consequence, the well-known features of the FP imply that, inside the effective radius $R_e$, the stellar spheroid must dominate over the dark matter, in contrast with $Λ$CDM predictions.

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arXiv2002

The Fundamental Plane of Ellipticals: I. The Dark Matter Connection

We show that the small scatter around the Fundamental Plane (FP) of massive elliptical galaxies can be used to derive important properties of their dark and luminous matter. The central velocity dispersion sigma_0, appearing in (e.g.) the Fundamental Plane, is linked to photometric, dynamical and geometrical properties of (luminous and dark) matter. We find that, inside the effective radius R_e, the matter traced by the light must largely dominate over the dark matter (DM), in order to keep the ellipticals close enough to the FP. This recalls analogous findings for spiral galaxies. In particular we also find that cuspy DM distributions, as predicted by numerical simulations in Lambda CDM cosmology, are unable to explain the very existence of the FP; in fact, according to this theory, the structural properties of dark and luminous matter are so interwoven that a curved surface is predicted in the log-space (sigma_0, R_e, L), rather than a plane. In order to agree with the FP, CDM halos must have concentrations parameters in the range of 5-9 (i.e. values significantly lower than the current predictions). Assuming a more heuristic approach and allowing for cored DM halos, we find that the small intrinsic scatter of the FP yields to i) an average value for the dark-to-light-traced mass ratio inside the length-scale of light R_e of about 0.3, ii) a mass-to-light ratio of the matter traced by the light increasing with spheroid luminosity as L^(0.2) in Gunn-r band, with a value of 5.3 at L = 2.7 x 10^{10} L_{sol}.

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arXiv2000

The Distribution of Dark Matter in Galaxies: Constant-Density Dark Halos Envelop the Stellar Disks

In this paper we review the main and the most recent evidence for the presence of a core radius in the distribution of the dark matter around spiral galaxies. Their rotation curves, coadded according to the galaxy luminosity, conform to an Universal profile which can be represented as the sum of an exponential thin disk term plus a spherical halo term with a flat density core. From dwarfs to giants, these halos feature a constant density region of size r_0 and core density rho_0 related by rho_0= 4.5 10^{-2} (r_0/kpc)^{-2/3}M_sol pc^{-3}. At the highest masses rho_0 decreases exponentially, with r_0 revealing a lack of objects with disk masses > 10^{11}M_sol and central densities > 1.5 10^{-2}(r_0/kpc)^{-3} M_sol pc^{-3}, which implies a maximum mass of ~2 10^{12} M_sol for halos hosting spirals. The fine structure of dark matter halos is obtained from the kinematics of a number of suitable low-luminosity disk galaxies. The inferred halo circular velocity increases linearly with radius out to the edge of the stellar disk, implying a constant dark halo density over the entire disk region. The structural properties of halos around normal spirals are similar to those around dwarf and low surface brightness galaxies; nevertheless they provide far more substantial evidence of the discrepancy between the mass distributions predicted in the Cold Dark Matter scenario and those actually detected around galaxies.

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arXiv2000

The mass distribution in the innermost regions of Spiral Galaxies

We use high-spatial resolution ($\sim 100 pc$) rotation curves of 83 spiral galaxies to investigate the mass distribution of their innermost kpc. We show that, {\it in this region}, the luminous matter completely accounts for the gravitational potential and no dark component is required. The derived I-band disk mass-to-light ratios agree well with those obtained from population synthesis models and correlate with color in a similar way. We find strict upper limits of $\sim 10^7 M_\odot$ for the masses of compact bodies at the center of spirals, ruling out that these systems host the remnants of the quasar activity.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2000

The constant density region of the dark halos of spiral galaxies

From the kinematics of 137 spirals we find that the DM halo density profiles are self-similar at least out to R_opt and show core radii much larger that the corresponding disk scale-lenghts. The luminous regions of spirals consist of stellar disks embedded in dark halos with roughly constant density. With respect to previous work, the present evidence is obtained by means of a robust method and for a large and complete sample of normal spirals.

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arXiv2000

The Dark and Luminous Matter coupling in the formation of spheroids: a SPH investigation

Using N-body/hydrodynamical simulations which include prescriptions for Star Formation, Feed-Back and Chemical Evolution, we explore the interaction between baryons and Dark Matter at galactic scale. The N-body simulations are performed using a Tree-SPH code that follows the evolution of individual DM halos inside which stars form from cooling gas, and evolve delivering in the interstellar medium mass, metals, and energy. We examine the formation and evolution of a giant and a dwarf elliptical galaxy of total mass 10^12 and 10^9 solar masses, respectively. Starting from an initial density profile like the universal Navarro profile in the inner region, baryons sink towards the center due to cooling energy losses. At the end of the collapse, the innermost part (1/20 of the halo size) of the galaxy is baryon-dominated, whereas the outer regions are DM dominated. The Star Formation proceeds at much faster speed in the giant galaxy where a spheroid of 8 \times 10^10 solar masses is formed in 2 Gyr, with respect to the dwarf galaxy where the spheroid of 2 \times 10^7 solar masses is formed in 4 Gyr. For the two objects the final distribution of stars is well fitted by a Hernquist profile with effective radii of r_e = 30 kpc, and 2.8 kpc, respectively. The dark-to-luminous tarnsition radius r_IBD occurs roughly at 1 r_e, as in real ellipticals. The DM halo density evolution is non-adiabatic and does not lead to a core radius.

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