We derive the stellar-to-halo mass relations, SHMR, of local blue and red central galaxies separately, as well as the fraction of halos hosting blue/red central galaxies. We find that: 1) the SHMR of central galaxies is segregated by color, with blue
centrals having a SHMR above the one of red centrals; at logMh~12, the Ms/Mh ratio of the blue centrals is ~0.05, which is ~1.7 times larger than the value of red centrals. 2) The intrinsic scatters of the SHMRs of red and blue centrals are ~0.14 and ~0.11dex, respectively. The intrinsic scatter of the average SHMR of all central galaxies changes from ~0.20dex to ~0.14dex in the 11.3<logMh<15 range. 3) The fraction of halos hosting blue centrals at Mh=1E11Msun is 87%, but at 2x1E12Msun decays to ~20%, approaching to a few per cents at higher masses. The characteristic mass at which this fraction is the same for blue and red galaxies is Mh~7x1E11Msun. Our results suggest that the SHMR of central galaxies at large masses is shaped by halo mass quenching (likely through shock virial heating and AGN feedback), but group richness also plays an important role: central galaxies living in less dense environments quenched their star formation later or did not quench it yet. At low masses, processes that delay star formation without invoking too strong supernova-driven outflows could explain the high Ms/Mh ratios of blue centrals as compared to those of the scarce red centrals.
In order to attain a statistical description of the evolution of cosmic density fluctuations in agreement with results from the numerical simulations, we introduce a probability conditional formalism (CF) based on an inventory of isolated overdense r
egions in a density random field. This formalism is a useful tool for describing at the same time the mass function (MF) of dark haloes, their mass aggregation histories (MAHs) and merging rates (MRs). The CF focuses on virialized regions in a self-consistent way rather than in mass elements, and it offers an economical description for a variety of random fields. Within the framework of the CF, we confirm that, for a Gaussian field, it is not possible to reproduce at the same time the MF, MAH, and MR of haloes, both for a constant and moving barrier. Then, we develop an inductive method for constraining the cumulative conditional probability from a given halo MF description, and thus, using the CF, we calculate the halo MAHs and MRs. By applying this method to the MF measured in numerical simulations by Tinker et al. 2008, we find that a reasonable solution, justified by a mass conservation argument, is obtained if ones introduce a rescaling -increment by ~30% - of the virial mass used in simulations and a (slight) deviation from Gaussianity. Thus, both the MAH and MR obtained by a Monte Carlo merger tree agree now with the predictions of numerical simulations. We discuss on the necessity of rescaling the virial mass in simulations when comparing with analytical approaches on the ground of the matter not accounted as part of the halos and the halo mass limit due to numerical. Our analysis supports the presence of a diffuse dark matter component that is not taken into account in the measured halo MFs inasmuch as it is not part of the collapsed structures.
(Abridged) By means of high-resolution cosmological simulations in the context of the LCDM scenario, the specific star formation rate (SSFR=SFR/Ms, Ms is the stellar mass)--Ms and stellar mass fraction (Fs=Ms/Mh, Mh is the halo mass)--Ms relations of
low-mass galaxies (2.5< Mh/10^10 Msun <50 at redshift z=0) at different epochs are predicted. The Hydrodynamics ART code was used and some variations of the sub-grid parameters were explored. Most of simulated galaxies, specially those with the highest resolutions, have significant disk components and their structural and dynamical properties are in reasonable agreement with observations of sub-M* field galaxies. However, the SSFRs are 5-10 times smaller than the averages of several (compiled and homogenized here) observational determinations for field blue/star-forming galaxies at z<0.3 (at low masses, most of observed field galaxies are actually blue/star-forming). This inconsistency seems to remain even at z~1.5 though less drastic. The Fs of simulated galaxies increases with Mh as semi-empirical inferences show, but in absolute values the former are ~5-10 times larger than the latter at z=0; this difference increases probably to larger factors at z~1-1.5. The inconsistencies reported here imply that simulated low-mass galaxies (0.2<Ms/10^9 Msun <30 at z=0) assembled their stellar masses much earlier than observations suggest. This confirms the predictions previously found by means of LCDM-based models of disk galaxy formation and evolution for isolated low-mass galaxies (Firmani & Avila-Reese 2010), and highlight that our implementation of astrophysics into simulations and models are still lacking vital ingredients.
The emerging empirical picture of galaxy stellar mass (Ms) assembly shows that galaxy population buildup proceeds from top to down in Ms. By connecting galaxies to LCDM halos and their histories, individual (average) Ms growth tracks can be inferred.
These tracks show that massive galaxies assembled their Ms the earlier the more massive the halo, and that less massive galaxies are yet actively growing in Ms, the more active the less massive is the halo. The predicted star formation rates as a function of mass and the downsizing of the typical mass that separate active galaxies from the passive ones agree with direct observational determinations. This implies that the LCDM scenario is consistent with these observations. The challenge is now to understand the baryonic physics that drives the significant and systematical shift of the stellar mass assembly of galaxies from the mass assembly of their corresponding halos (from halo upsizing to galaxy downsizing).
By means of the abundance matching technique, we infer the local stellar and baryonic mass-halo mass (Ms-Mh and Mb-Mh) relation for central blue and red galaxies separately in the mass range Ms~10^8.5-10^12.0 Msun. The observational inputs are the SD
SS central blue and red Galaxy Stellar Mass Functions reported in Yang et al. 2009, and the measured local gas mass-Ms relations for blue and red galaxies. For the Halo Mass Function associated to central blue galaxies, the distinct LCDM one is used and set up to exclude: (i) the observed group/cluster mass function (blue galaxies are rare as centers of groups/clusters), and (ii) halos with a central major merger at resdshifts z<0.8 (dry late major mergers destroy the disks of blue galaxies). For red galaxies, we take the complement of this function to the total. The obtained mean Ms-Mh and Mb-Mh relations of central blue and red galaxies do not differ significantly from the respective relations for all central galaxies. For Mh>10^11.5 Msun, the Mss of red galaxies tend to be higher than those of blue ones for a given Mh, the difference not being larger than 1.7. For Mh<10^11.5 Msun, this trend is inverted. For blue (red) galaxies: (a) the maximum value of fs=Ms/Mh is 0.021^{+0.016}_{-0.009} (0.034{+0.026}_{-0.015}) and it is attained atlog(Mh/Msun)~12.0 (log(Mh/Msun)~11.9); (b) fspropto Mh (fspropto Mh^3) at the low-mass end while at the high-mass end, fspropto Mh^-0.4 (fspropto Mh^-0.6). The baryon mass fractions, fb=Mb/Mh, of blue and red galaxies reach maximum values of fb=0.028^{+0.018}_{-0.011} and fb=0.034^{+0.025}_{-0.014}, respectively. For Mh<10^11.3 Msun, a much steeper dependence of fb on Mh is obtained for the red galaxies than for the blue ones. We discuss on the differences found in the fs-Mh and fb-Mh relations between blue and red galaxies in the light of of semi-empirical galaxy models.
We explore how the slopes and scatters of the scaling relations of disk galaxies (Vm-L[-M], R-L[-M], and Vm-R) do change when moving from B to K bands and to stellar and baryonic quantities. For our compiled sample of 76 normal, non-interacting high
and low surface brightness galaxies, we find some changes, which evidence evolution effects, mainly related to gas infall and star formation (SF). We also explore correlations among the (B-K) color, stellar mass fraction fs, mass M (luminosity L), and surface density (SB), as well as correlations among the residuals of the scaling relations. Some of our findings are: (i) the scale length Rb is a third parameter in the baryonic TF relation and the residuals of this relation follow a trend (slope ~-0.15) with the residuals of the Rb-Mb relation; for the stellar and K band cases, R is not anymore a third parameter and the mentioned trend disappears; (ii) among the TFRs, the B-band TFR is the most scattered; in this case, the color is a third parameter; (iii) the LSB galaxies break some observed trends, which suggest a threshold in the gas surface density Sg, below which the SF becomes independent of the gas infall rate and Sg. Our results are interpreted and discussed in the light of LCDM-based models of galaxy evolution. The models explain not only the baryonic scaling relations, but also most of the processes responsible for the observed changes in the slopes, scatters, and correlations among the residuals when changing to stellar and luminous quantities. The baryon fraction is required to be smaller than 0.05 on average. We detect some potential difficulties for the models: the observed color-M and surface density-M correlations are steeper, and the intrinsic scatter in the baryonic TFR is smaller than those predicted. [abridged]
We report a series of high-resolution cosmological N-body simulations designed to explore the formation and properties of dark matter halos with masses close to the damping scale of the primordial power spectrum of density fluctuations. We further in
vestigate the effect that the addition of a random component, v_rms, into the particle velocity field has on the structure of halos. We adopted as a fiducial model the Lambda Warm Dark Matter cosmology with a non-thermal sterile neutrino mass of 0.5 keV. The filtering mass corresponds then to M_f = 2.6x10^12 M_sun/h. Halos of masses close to M_f were simulated with several million of particles. The results show that, on one hand, the inner density slope of these halos (at radii <~0.02 the virial radius Rvir) is systematically steeper than the one corresponding to the NFW fit or to the CDM counterpart. On the other hand, the overall density profile (radii larger than 0.02Rvir) is less curved and less concentrated than the NFW fit, with an outer slope shallower than -3. For simulations with v_rms, the inner halo density profiles flatten significantly at radii smaller than 2-3 kpc/h (<~0.010-0.015Rvir). A constant density core is not detected in our simulations, with the exception of one halo for which the flat core radius is ~1 kpc/h. Nevertheless, if ``cored density profiles are used to fit the halo profiles, the inferred core radii are ~0.1-0.8 kpc/h, in rough agreement with theoretical predictions based on phase-space constrains, and on dynamical models of warm gravitational collapse. A reduction of v_rms by a factor of 3 produces a modest decrease in core radii, less than a factor of 1.5. We discuss the extension of our results into several contexts, for example, to the structure of the cold DM micro-halos at the damping scale of this model.
