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Register a new userOn the persistence of two small-scale problems in {Lambda}CDM
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We investigate the degree to which the inclusion of baryonic physics can overcome two long-standing problems of the standard cosmological model on galaxy scales: (i) the problem of satellite planes around Local Group galaxies, and (ii) the too big to fail problem. By comparing dissipational and dissipationless simulations, we find no indication that the addition of baryonic physics results in more flattened satellite distributions around Milky-Way-like systems. Recent claims to the contrary are shown to derive in part from a non-standard metric for the degree of flattening, which ignores the satellites radial positions. If the full 3D positions of the satellite galaxies are considered, none of the simulations we analyse reproduce the observed flattening nor the observed degree of kinematic coherence of the Milky Way satellite system. Our results are consistent with the expectation that baryonic physics should have little or no influence on the structure of satellite systems on scales of hundreds of kiloparsecs. Claims that the too big to fail problem can be resolved by the addition of baryonic physics are also shown to be problematic.
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The dark energy plus cold dark matter ($Lambda$CDM) cosmological model has been a demonstrably successful framework for predicting and explaining the large-scale structure of Universe and its evolution with time. Yet on length scales smaller than $sim 1$ Mpc and mass scales smaller than $sim 10^{11} M_{odot}$, the theory faces a number of challenges. For example, the observed cores of many dark-matter dominated galaxies are both less dense and less cuspy than naively predicted in $Lambda$CDM. The number of small galaxies and dwarf satellites in the Local Group is also far below the predicted count of low-mass dark matter halos and subhalos within similar volumes. These issues underlie the most well-documented problems with $Lambda$CDM: Cusp/Core, Missing Satellites, and Too-Big-to-Fail. The key question is whether a better understanding of baryon physics, dark matter physics, or both will be required to meet these challenges. Other anomalies, including the observed planar and orbital configurations of Local Group satellites and the tight baryonic/dark matter scaling relations obeyed by the galaxy population, have been less thoroughly explored in the context of $Lambda$CDM theory. Future surveys to discover faint, distant dwarf galaxies and to precisely measure their masses and density structure hold promising avenues for testing possible solutions to the small-scale challenges going forward. Observational programs to constrain or discover and characterize the number of truly dark low-mass halos are among the most important, and achievable, goals in this field over then next decade. These efforts will either further verify the $Lambda$CDM paradigm or demand a substantial revision in our understanding of the nature of dark matter.
The dwarf galaxy NGC 3109 is receding 105 km/s faster than expected in a $Lambda$CDM timing argument analysis of the Local Group and external galaxy groups within 8 Mpc (Banik & Zhao 2018). If this few-body model accurately represents long-range interactions in $Lambda$CDM, this high velocity suggests that NGC 3109 is a backsplash galaxy that was once within the virial radius of the Milky Way and was slingshot out of it. Here, we use the Illustris TNG300 cosmological hydrodynamical simulation and its merger tree to identify backsplash galaxies. We find that backsplashers as massive ($geq 4.0 times 10^{10} M_odot$) and distant ($geq 1.2$ Mpc) as NGC 3109 are extremely rare, with none having also gained energy during the interaction with their previous host. This is likely due to dynamical friction. Since we identified 13225 host galaxies similar to the Milky Way or M31, we conclude that postulating NGC 3109 is a backsplash galaxy causes $>3.96sigma$ tension with the expected distribution of backsplashers in $Lambda$CDM. We show that the dark matter only version of TNG300 yields much the same result, demonstrating its robustness to how the baryonic physics is modelled. If instead NGC 3109 is not a backsplasher, consistency with $Lambda$CDM would require the 3D timing argument analysis to be off by 105 km/s for this rather isolated dwarf, which we argue is unlikely. We discuss a possible alternative scenario for NGC 3109 and the Local Group satellite planes in the context of MOND, where the Milky Way and M31 had a past close flyby $7-10$ Gyr ago.
We study the radial acceleration relation (RAR) between the total ($a_{rm tot}$) and baryonic ($a_{rm bary}$) centripetal acceleration profiles of central galaxies in the cold dark matter (CDM) paradigm. We analytically show that the RAR is intimately connected with the physics of the quasi-adiabatic relaxation of dark matter in the presence of baryons in deep potential wells. This cleanly demonstrates how the mean RAR and its scatter emerge in the low-acceleration regime ($10^{-12},{rm m,s}^{-2}lesssim a_{rm bary}lesssim10^{-10},{rm m,s}^{-2}$) from an interplay between baryonic feedback processes and the distribution of CDM in dark halos. Our framework allows us to go further and study both higher and lower accelerations in detail, using analytical approximations and a realistic mock catalog of $sim342,000$ low-redshift central galaxies with $M_rleq-19$. We show that, while the RAR in the baryon-dominated, high-acceleration regime ($a_{rm bary}gtrsim10^{-10},{rm m,s}^{-2}$) is very sensitive to details of the relaxation physics, a simple `baryonification prescription matching the relaxation results of hydrodynamical CDM simulations is remarkably successful in reproducing the observed RAR without any tuning. And in the (currently unobserved) ultra-low-acceleration regime ($a_{rm bary}lesssim 10^{-12},{rm m,s}^{-2}$), the RAR is sensitive to the abundance of diffuse gas in the halo outskirts, with our default model predicting a distinctive break from a simple power-law-like relation for HI-deficient, diffuse gas-rich centrals. Our mocks also show that the RAR provides more robust, testable predictions of the $Lambda$CDM paradigm at galactic scales, with implications for alternative gravity theories, than the baryonic Tully-Fisher relation.
We examine the origin of the mass discrepancy--radial acceleration relation (MDAR) of disk galaxies. This is a tight empirical correlation between the disk centripetal acceleration and that expected from the baryonic component. The MDAR holds for most radii probed by disk kinematic tracers, regardless of galaxy mass or surface brightness. The relation has two characteristic accelerations; $a_0$, above which all galaxies are baryon-dominated; and $a_{rm min}$, an effective minimum aceleration probed by kinematic tracers in isolated galaxies. We use a simple model to show that these trends arise naturally in $Lambda$CDM. This is because: (i) disk galaxies in $Lambda$CDM form at the centre of dark matter haloes spanning a relatively narrow range of virial mass; (ii) cold dark matter halo acceleration profiles are self-similar and have a broad maximum at the centre, reaching values bracketed precisely by $a_{rm min}$ and $a_0$ in that mass range; and (iii) halo mass and galaxy size scale relatively tightly with the baryonic mass of a galaxy in any successful $Lambda$CDM galaxy formation model. Explaining the MDAR in $Lambda$CDM does not require modifications to the cuspy inner mass profiles of dark haloes, although these may help to understand the detailed rotation curves of some dwarf galaxies and the origin of extreme outliers from the main relation. The MDAR is just a reflection of the self-similar nature of cold dark matter haloes and of the physical scales introduced by the galaxy formation process.
We present a detailed analysis of the influence of the environment and of the environmental history on quenching star formation in central and satellite galaxies in the local Universe. We take advantage of publicly available galaxy catalogues obtained from applying a galaxy formation model to the Millennium simulation. In addition to halo mass, we consider the local density of galaxies within various fixed scales. Comparing our model predictions to observational data (SDSS), we demonstrate that the models are failing to reproduce the observed density dependence of the quiescent galaxy fraction in several aspects: for most of the stellar mass ranges and densities explored, models cannot reproduce the observed similar behaviour of centrals and satellites, they slightly under-estimate the quiescent fraction of centrals and significantly over-estimate that of satellites. We show that in the models, the density dependence of the quiescent central galaxies is caused by a fraction of backsplash centrals which have been satellites in the past (and were thus suffering from environmental processes). Turning to satellite galaxies, the density dependence of their quiescent fractions reflects a dependence on the time spent orbiting within a parent halo of a particular mass, correlating strongly with halo mass and distance from the halo centre. Comparisons with observational estimates suggest relatively long gas consumption time scales of roughly 5 Gyr in low mass satellite galaxies. The quenching time scales decrease with increasing satellite stellar mass. Overall, a change in modelling both internal processes (star formation and feedback) and environmental processes (e.g. making them dependent on dynamical friction time-scales and preventing the re-accretion of gas onto backsplash galaxies) is required for improving currently used galaxy formation models.
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