Subscribe to the gold package and get unlimited access to Shamra Academy
Register a new userDwarf galaxies in CDM and SIDM with baryons: observational probes of the nature of dark matter
220
0
0.0
(
0
)
Authors
Mark Vogelsberger
Ask ChatGPT about the research
No Arabic abstract
We present the first cosmological simulations of dwarf galaxies, which include dark matter self-interactions and baryons. We study two dwarf galaxies within cold dark matter, and four different elastic self-interacting scenarios with constant and velocity-dependent cross sections, motivated by a new force in the hidden dark matter sector. Our highest resolution simulation has a baryonic mass resolution of $1.8times 10^2,{rm M}_odot$ and a gravitational softening length of $34,{rm pc}$ at $z=0$. In this first study we focus on the regime of mostly isolated dwarf galaxies with halo masses $sim10^{10},{rm M}_odot$ where dark matter dynamically dominates even at sub-kpc scales. We find that while the global properties of galaxies of this scale are minimally affected by allowed self-interactions, their internal structures change significantly if the cross section is large enough within the inner sub-kpc region. In these dark-matter-dominated systems, self-scattering ties the shape of the stellar distribution to that of the dark matter distribution. In particular, we find that the stellar core radius is closely related to the dark matter core radius generated by self-interactions. Dark matter collisions lead to dwarf galaxies with larger stellar cores and smaller stellar central densities compared to the cold dark matter case. The central metallicity within $1,{rm kpc}$ is also larger by up to $sim 15%$ in the former case. We conclude that the mass distribution, and characteristics of the central stars in dwarf galaxies can potentially be used to probe the self-interacting nature of dark matter.
rate research
Read More
We present a suite of FIRE-2 cosmological zoom-in simulations of isolated field dwarf galaxies, all with masses of $M_mathrm{halo} approx 10^{10},$M$_odot$ at $z=0$, across a range of dark matter models. For the first time, we compare how both self-interacting dark matter (SIDM) and/or warm dark matter (WDM) models affect the assembly histories as well as the central density structure in fully hydrodynamical simulations of dwarfs. Dwarfs with smaller stellar half-mass radii (r$_{1/2}<500$ pc) have lower $sigma_star/V_mathrm{max}$ ratios, reinforcing the idea that smaller dwarfs may reside in halos that are more massive than is naively expected. The majority of dwarfs simulated with self-interactions actually experience contraction of their inner density profiles with the addition of baryons relative to the cores produced in dark-matter-only runs, though the simulated dwarfs are always less centrally dense than in $Lambda$CDM. The V$_{1/2}-$r$_{1/2}$ relation across all simulations is generally consistent with observations of Local Field dwarfs, though compact objects such as Tucana provide a unique challenge. Spatially-resolved rotation curves in the central regions ($<400$ pc) of small dwarfs could provide a way to distinguish between CDM, WDM, and SIDM, however: at the masses probed in this simulation suite, cored density profiles in dwarfs with small r$_{1/2}$ values can only originate from dark matter self-interactions.
Over the past five years, searches in Sloan Digital Sky Survey data have more than doubled the number of known dwarf satellite galaxies of the Milky Way, and have revealed a population of ultra-faint galaxies with luminosities smaller than typical globular clusters, L ~ 1000 Lsun. These systems are the faintest, most dark matter dominated, and most metal poor galaxies in the universe. Completeness corrections suggest that we are poised on the edge of a vast discovery space in galaxy phenomenology, with hundreds more of these extreme galaxies to be discovered as future instruments hunt for the low-luminosity threshold of galaxy formation. Dark matter dominated dwarfs of this kind probe the small-scale power-spectrum, provide the most stringent limits on the phase-space packing of dark matter, and offer a particularly useful target for dark matter indirect detection experiments. Full use of dwarfs as dark matter laboratories will require synergy between deep, large-area photometric searches; spectroscopic and astrometric follow-up with next-generation optical telescopes; and subsequent observations with gamma-ray telescopes for dark matter indirect detection.
We use the Evolution and Assembly of GaLaxies and their Environments ( EAGLE ) suite of hydrodynamical cosmological simulations to measure offsets between the centres of stellar and dark matter components of galaxies. We find that the vast majority (>95%) of the simulated galaxies display an offset smaller than the gravitational softening length of the simulations (Plummer-equivalent $epsilon = 700$ pc), both for field galaxies and satellites in clusters and groups. We also find no systematic trailing or leading of the dark matter along a galaxys direction of motion. The offsets are consistent with being randomly drawn from a Maxwellian distribution with $sigma leq 196$ pc. Since astrophysical effects produce no feasible analogues for the $1.62^{+0.47}_{-0.49}$ kpc offset recently observed in Abell 3827, the observational result is in tension with the collisionless cold dark matter model assumed in our simulations.
We present cosmological hydrodynamical simulations of the formation of dwarf galaxies in a representative sample of haloes extracted from the Millennium-II Simulation. Our six haloes have a z = 0 mass of ~10^10 solar masses and show different mass assembly histories which are reflected in different star formation histories. We find final stellar masses in the range 5 x 10^7 - 10^8 solar masses, consistent with other published simulations of galaxy formation in similar mass haloes. Our final objects have structures and stellar populations consistent with dwarf elliptical and dwarf irregular galaxies. However, in a Lambda CDM universe, 10^10 solar mass haloes must typically contain galaxies with much lower stellar mass than our simulated objects if they are to match observed galaxy abundances. The dwarf galaxies formed in our own and all other current hydrodynamical simulations are more than an order of magnitude more luminous than expected for haloes of this mass. We discuss the significance and possible implications of this result.
We present BAHAMAS-SIDM, the first large-volume, (400/h Mpc)^3, cosmological simulations including both self-interacting dark matter (SIDM) and baryonic physics. These simulations are important for two primary reasons: 1) they include the effects of baryons on the dark matter distribution 2) the baryon particles can be used to make mock observables that can be compared directly with observations. As is well known, SIDM haloes are systematically less dense in their centres, and rounder, than CDM haloes. Here we find that that these changes are not reflected in the distribution of gas or stars within galaxy clusters, or in their X-ray luminosities. However, gravitational lensing observables can discriminate between DM models, and we present a menu of tests that future surveys could use to measure the SIDM interaction strength. We ray-trace our simulated galaxy clusters to produce strong lensing maps. Including baryons boosts the lensing strength of clusters that produce no critical curves in SIDM-only simulations. Comparing the Einstein radii of our simulated clusters with those observed in the CLASH survey, we find that at velocities around 1000 km/s an SIDM cross-section of sigma/m > 1 cm^2/g is likely incompatible with observed cluster lensing.
Log in to be able to interact and post comments
comments
Fetching comments
Sign in to be able to follow your search criteria
