arXiv subjects

Sofia A. Cora

Publications and source records attributed to Sofia A. Cora.

14 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2021

Tracking the orbit of unresolved subhalos for semi-analytic models

We present a model to track the orbital evolution of "unresolved subhaloes" (USHs) in cosmological simulations. USHs are subhaloes that are no longer distinguished by halo finders as self-bound overdensities within their larger host system due to limited mass resolution. These subhaloes would host "orphan galaxies" in semi-analytic models of galaxy formation and evolution (SAMs). Predicting the evolution of the phase-space components of USHs is crucial for the adequate modelling of environmental processes, interactions and mergers implemented in SAMs that affect the baryonic properties of orphan satellites. Our model takes into account dynamical friction drag, mass loss by tidal stripping and merger with the host halo, involving three free parameters. To calibrate this model, we consider two DM-only simulations of different mass resolution (MultiDark simulations). The simulation with higher-mass resolution ({\sc smdpl}; $ m_{\rm DM} = 9.6 \times 10^7 ~ h^{-1}\,\mathrm{M_{\odot}}$) provides information about subhaloes that are not resolved in the lower-mass resolution one ({\sc mdpl2}; $ m_{\rm DM} = 1.5 \times 10^9 ~ h^{-1}\,\mathrm{M_{\odot}}$); the orbit of those USHs is tracked by our model. We use as constraining functions the subhalo mass function (SHMF) and the two-point correlation function (2PCF) obtained from {\sc smdpl}, being the latter a novel aspect of our approach. While the SHMF fails to put tight constraints on the efficiency of dynamical friction and the merger condition, the addition of clustering information helps to specify the parameters of the model related to the spatial distribution of subhaloes. Our model allows to achieve good convergence between the results of simulations of different mass resolution, with a precision better than 10 per cent for both SHMF and 2PCF.

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arXiv2017

Cosmic CARNage I: on the calibration of galaxy formation models

We present a comparison of nine galaxy formation models, eight semi-analytical and one halo occupation distribution model, run on the same underlying cold dark matter simulation (cosmological box of co-moving width 125$h^{-1}$ Mpc, with a dark-matter particle mass of $1.24\times 10^9 h^{-1}$ Msun) and the same merger trees. While their free parameters have been calibrated to the same observational data sets using two approaches, they nevertheless retain some 'memory' of any previous calibration that served as the starting point (especially for the manually-tuned models). For the first calibration, models reproduce the observed z = 0 galaxy stellar mass function (SMF) within 3-σ. The second calibration extended the observational data to include the z = 2 SMF alongside the z~0 star formation rate function, cold gas mass and the black hole-bulge mass relation. Encapsulating the observed evolution of the SMF from z = 2 to z = 0 is found to be very hard within the context of the physics currently included in the models. We finally use our calibrated models to study the evolution of the stellar-to-halo mass (SHM) ratio. For all models we find that the peak value of the SHM relation decreases with redshift. However, the trends seen for the evolution of the peak position as well as the mean scatter in the SHM relation are rather weak and strongly model dependent. Both the calibration data sets and model results are publicly available.

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arXiv2017

MultiDark-Galaxies: data release and first results

We present the public release of the MultiDark-Galaxies: three distinct galaxy catalogues derived from one of the Planck cosmology MultiDark simulations (i.e. MDPL2, with a volume of (1 Gpc/$h$)$^{3}$ and mass resolution of $1.5 \times 10^{9} M_{\odot}/h$) by applying the semi-analytic models GALACTICUS, SAG, and SAGE to it. We compare the three models and their conformity with observational data for a selection of fundamental properties of galaxies like stellar mass function, star formation rate, cold gas fractions, and metallicities - noting that they sometimes perform differently reflecting model designs and calibrations. We have further selected galaxy subsamples of the catalogues by number densities in stellar mass, cold gas mass, and star formation rate in order to study the clustering statistics of galaxies. We show that despite different treatment of orphan galaxies, i.e. galaxies that lost their dark-matter host halo due to the finite mass resolution of the N-body simulation or tidal stripping, the clustering signal is comparable, and reproduces the observations in all three models - in particular when selecting samples based upon stellar mass. Our catalogues provide a powerful tool to study galaxy formation within a volume comparable to those probed by on-going and future photometric and redshift surveys. All model data consisting of a range of galaxy properties - including broad-band SDSS magnitudes - are publicly available.

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arXiv2017

nIFTy Cosmology: the clustering consistency of galaxy formation models

We present a clustering comparison of 12 galaxy formation models (including Semi-Analytic Models (SAMs) and Halo Occupation Distribution (HOD) models) all run on halo catalogues and merger trees extracted from a single ΛCDM N-body simulation. We compare the results of the measurements of the mean halo occupation numbers, the radial distribution of galaxies in haloes and the 2-Point Correlation Functions (2PCF). We also study the implications of the different treatments of orphan (galaxies not assigned to any dark matter subhalo) and non-orphan galaxies in these measurements. Our main result is that the galaxy formation models generally agree in their clustering predictions but they disagree significantly between HOD and SAMs for the orphan satellites. Although there is a very good agreement between the models on the 2PCF of central galaxies, the scatter between the models when orphan satellites are included can be larger than a factor of 2 for scales smaller than 1 Mpc/h. We also show that galaxy formation models that do not include orphan satellite galaxies have a significantly lower 2PCF on small scales, consistent with previous studies. Finally, we show that the 2PCF of orphan satellites is remarkably different between SAMs and HOD models. Orphan satellites in SAMs present a higher clustering than in HOD models because they tend to occupy more massive haloes. We conclude that orphan satellites have an important role on galaxy clustering and they are the main cause of the differences in the clustering between HOD models and SAMs.

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arXiv2015

nIFTy Cosmology: Comparison of Galaxy Formation Models

We present a comparison of 14 galaxy formation models: 12 different semi-analytical models and 2 halo-occupation distribution models for galaxy formation based upon the same cosmological simulation and merger tree information derived from it. The participating codes have proven to be very successful in their own right but they have all been calibrated independently using various observational data sets, stellar models, and merger trees. In this paper we apply them without recalibration and this leads to a wide variety of predictions for the stellar mass function, specific star formation rates, stellar-to- halo mass ratios, and the abundance of orphan galaxies. The scatter is much larger than seen in previous comparison studies primarily because the codes have been used outside of their native environment within which they are well tested and calibrated. The purpose of the `nIFTy comparison of galaxy formation models' is to bring together as many different galaxy formation modellers as possible and to investigate a common approach to model calibration. This paper provides a unified description for all participating models and presents the initial, uncalibrated comparison as a baseline for our future studies where we will develop a common calibration framework and address the extent to which that reduces the scatter in the model predictions seen here.

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arXiv2011

The Color-Magnitude Relation of Cluster Galaxies: Observations and Model Predictions

We investigate the origin of the color-magnitude relation (CMR) observed in cluster galaxies by using a combination of cosmological N-body/SPH simulations of galaxy clusters, and a semi-analaytic model of galaxy formation (Lagos, Cora & Padilla 2008). Simulated results are compared with the photometric properties of early-type galaxies in the Antlia cluster (Smith Castelli et al. 2008). The good agreement obtained between observations and simulations allows us to use the information provided by the model for unveiling the physical processes that yield the tigh observed CMR.

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arXiv2011

Modeling the Color Magnitude Relation for Galaxy Clusters

We investigate the origin of the colour-magnitude relation (CMR) observed in cluster galaxies by using a combination of a cosmological N-body simulation of a cluster of galaxies and a semi-analytic model of galaxy formation. The departure of galaxies in the bright end of the CMR with respect to the trend denoted by less luminous galaxies could be explained by the influence of minor mergers

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arXiv2011

The Bright End of the Colour-Magnitude Relation

We investigate the origin of the colour-magnitude relation (CMR) followed by early-type cluster galaxies by using a combination of cosmological N-body simulations of cluster of galaxies and a semi-analytic model of galaxy formation (Lagos, Cora & Padilla 2008). Results show good agreement between the general trend of the simulated and observed CMR. However, in many clusters, the most luminous galaxies depart from the linear fit to observed data displaying almost constant colours. With the aim of understanding this behaviour, we analyze the dependence with redshift of the stellar mass contributed to each galaxy by different processes, i.e., quiescent star formation, and starburst during major/minor and wet/dry mergers, and disk instability events. The evolution of the metallicity of the stellar component, contributed by each of these processes, is also investigated. We find that the major contribution of stellar mass at low redshift is due to minor dry merger events, being the metallicity of the stellar mass accreted during this process quite low. Thus, minor dry merger events seem to increase the mass of the more luminous galaxies without changing their colours.

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arXiv2011

Host galaxy-active galactic nucleus alignments in the SDSS-DR7

We determine the intrinsic shapes and orientations of 27,450 type I and II active galactic nucleus (AGN) galaxies in the spectroscopic sample of the SDSS DR7, by studying the distribution of projected axis ratios of AGN hosts. Our aim is to study possible alignments between the AGN and host galaxy systems (e.g. the accretion disc and the galaxy angular momentum) and the effect of dust obscuration geometry on the AGN type. We define control samples of non-AGN galaxies that mimic the morphology, colour, luminosity and concentration distributions of the AGN population, taking into account the effects of dust extinction and reddening. Assuming that AGN galaxies have the same underlying three-dimensional shape distribution as their corresponding control samples, we find that the spiral and elliptical type I AGN populations are strongly skewed toward face-on galaxies, while ellipticals and spirals type II AGN are skewed toward edge-on orientations. These findings rule out random orientations for AGN hosts at high confidence for type I spirals (delta chi^2~230) and type II ellipticals (delta chi^2~15), while the signal for type I ellipticals and type II spirals is weaker (delta chi^2~3 and delta chi^2~6, respectively). We obtain a much stronger tendency for the type II spirals to be edge-on when just high [OIII] equivalent width (EW) AGN are considered, suggesting that >20% of low [OIII] EW edge-on type II AGN may be missing from the optical sample. Galactic dust absorption of the broad-line region alone cannot explain the observed inclination angle and projected axis ratio distributions of type I and II Seyfert types, implying that obscuration by a small-scale circumnuclear torus is necessary. These results favour a scenario in which the angular momentum of the material which feeds the black hole retains a memory of its original gas source at least to some small, non-negligible degree.

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arXiv2009

Cosmic queuing: galaxy satellites, building blocks and the hierarchical clustering paradigm

We study the properties of building blocks (BBs, i.e. accreted satellites) and surviving satellites of present-day galaxies using the SAG semi-analytic model of galaxy formation in the context of a concordance Lambda Cold Dark Matter (LCDM) cosmology. We consider large numbers of DM halo merger trees spanning a wide range of masses (~1x10^10 - 2.14x10^15 Msun). We find higher metallicities for BBs with respect to surviving satellites, an effect produced by the same processes behind the build-up of the mass-metallicity relation. We prove that these metallicity differences arise from the higher peak height in the density fluctuation field occupied by BBs and central galaxies which have collapsed into a single object earlier than surviving satellites. BBs start to form stars earlier, during the peak of the merger activity in LCDM, and build-up half of their final stellar mass (measured at the moment of disruption) up to four times faster than surviving satellites. Surviving satellites keep increasing their stellar masses rather quiescently down to z~1. The difference between the metallicities of satellites, BBs and central galaxies depends on the host DM halo mass, in a way that can be used as a further test for the concordance cosmology.

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arXiv2009

Black hole spin and radio loudness in a LCDM universe

We use a combination of a cosmological N-body simulation of the concordance Lambda cold dark matter (LCDM) paradigm and a semi-analytic model of galaxy formation to investigate the spin development of central supermassive black holes (BHs) and its relation to the BH host galaxy properties. In order to compute BH spins, we use the alpha-model of Shakura & Sunyaev and consider the King et al. warped disc alignment criterion. The orientation of the accretion disc is inferred from the angular momentum of the source of accreted material, which bears a close relationship to the large-scale structure in the simulation. We find that the final BH spin depends almost exclusively on the accretion history and only weakly on the warped disc alignment. The main mechanisms of BH spin-up are found to be gas cooling processes and disc instabilities, a result that is only partially compatible with Monte-Carlo models where the main spin-up mechanisms are major mergers and disc instabilities; the latter results are reproduced when implementing randomly oriented accretion discs in our model. Regarding the BH population, we find that more massive BHs, which are hosted by massive ellipticals, have higher spin values than less-massive BHs, hosted by spiral galaxies. We analyse whether gas accretion rates and BH spins can be used as tracers of the radio loudness of active galactic nuclei (AGN). We find that the current observational indications of an increasing trend of radio-loud AGN fractions with stellar and BH mass can be easily obtained when placing lower limits on the BH spin, with a minimum influence from limits on the accretion rates; a model with random accretion disc orientations is unable to reproduce this trend. (ABRIDGED)

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arXiv2008

Non-thermal processes in the cluster of galaxies Abell 3376

We model the high-energy emission that results from the interaction of relativistic particles with photons and matter in the cluster of galaxies Abell 3376. The presence of relativistic particles is inferred from the recently found radio relics in this cluster, being one of the most prominent examples of double opposite, giant ringlike radio structures. Assuming that diffusive shock acceleration takes place in the cluster regions where radio relics are observed, we calculate the spectral energy distribution resulting from the most relevant non-thermal processes, which are synchrotron radiation, inverse Compton scattering, relativistic Bremsstrahlung, and inelastic proton-proton collisions. In the context of our model, the major radiative component at high energies is inverse Compton scattering, which could reach luminosities L ~ 9x10^{41} erg/s in the energy range between ~ 1 MeV and 10 TeV. Hadronic interactions would yield a minor contribution to the overall non-thermal emission, but would dominate at ultra-high energies. The cluster Abell 3376 might be detectable at gamma-rays by HESS, GLAST satellite and future planned Cherenkov arrays.

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arXiv2008

Effects of AGN feedback on LCDM galaxies

We study the effects of Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) feedback on the formation and evolution of galaxies in a semi-analytic model of galaxy formation. This model is an improved version of the one described by Cora (2006), which now considers the growth of black holes (BHs) as driven by (i) gas accretion during merger-driven starbursts and mergers with other BHs, (ii) accretion during starbursts triggered by disc instabilities, and (iii) accretion of gas cooled from quasi-hydrostatic hot gas haloes. It is assumed that feedback from AGN operates in the later case. The model has been calibrated in order to reproduce observational correlations between BH mass and mass, velocity dispersion, and absolute magnitudes of the galaxy bulge. AGN feedback has a strong impact on reducing or even suppressing gas cooling, an effect that becomes important at lower redshifts. This phenomenon helps to reproduce the observed galaxy luminosity function (LF) in the optical and near IR bands at z=0, and the cosmic star formation rate and stellar mass functions over a wide redshift range (0 1, which are mostly early-type and have older and redder stellar populations than lower mass galaxies, reproducing the observed bimodality in the galaxy colour distribution, and the morphological fractions. The evolution of the optical QSO LF is also reproduced, provided that the presence of a significant fraction of obscured QSOs is assumed. We explore the effects of AGN feedback during starbursts and new recent prescriptions for dynamical friction time-scales. (ABRIDGED)

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arXiv2006

Metal Enrichment of the ICM: a 3-D Picture of Chemical and Dynamical Properties

We develop a model for the metal enrichment of the intracluster medium (ICM) that combines a cosmological non-radiative hydrodynamical N-Body/SPH simulation of a cluster of galaxies, and a semi-analytic model of galaxy formation. The novel feature of our hybrid model is that the chemical properties of the diffuse gas in the underlying simulation are dynamically and consistently generated from stars in the galaxies. We follow the production of several chemical elements, provided by low- and intermediate-mass stars, core collapse and type Ia supernovae. We analyse the spatial distribution of metals in the ICM, investigate the way in which the chemical enrichment proceeds, and use iron emissivity as a tracer of gas motions. Fe and O radial abundance profiles are enhanced in the inner 100 h^-1 kpc in the last Gyr because of the convergence of enriched gas clumps to the cluster centre. Our results support a scenario in which part of the central intracluster gas comes from gas clumps that, in the redshift range of z~0.2 to ~0.5, have been enriched to solar values and are at large distances from the cluster centre (from ~1 to ~6 h^-1 Mpc) moving at very high velocities (from ~1300 to ~2500 km s^-1). The turbulent gas motions within the cluster, originated in the inhomogeneous gas infall during the cluster assembly, are manifested in emission-weighted velocity maps as gradients that can be as large as ~1000 km s^-1 over distances of a few hundred kpc. Gradients of this magnitude are also seen in velocity distributions along sightlines through the cluster centre. Doppler shifting and broadening suffered by the Fe K 6.7 keV emission line along such sightlines could be used to probe these gas large-scale motions when they are produced within an area characterised by high iron line emissivity.

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