An assessment of the "too big to fail" problem for field dwarf galaxies in view of baryonic feedback effects

Recent studies have established that extreme dwarf galaxies – whether satellites or field objects – suffer from the so called “too big to fail” (TBTF) problem. Put simply, the TBTF problem consists of the fact that it is difficult to explain both the measured kinematics of dwarfs and their observed number density within the lambda cold dark matter (?CDM) framework. The most popular proposed solutions to the problem involve baryonic feedback processes. For example, reionization and baryon depletion can decrease the abundance of halos that are expected to host dwarf galaxies. Moreover, feedback related to star formation can alter the dark matter density profile in the central regions of low-mass halos. In this article we assess the TBTF problem for field dwarfs, taking explicitly into account the baryonic effects mentioned above. We find that 1) reionization feedback cannot resolve the TBTF problem on its own, because the halos in question are too massive to be affected by it; and that 2) the degree to which profile modification can be invoked as a solution to the TBTF problem depends on the radius at which galactic kinematics are measured. Based on a literature sample of ~90 dwarfs with interferometric observations in the 21 cm line of atomic hydrogen (HI), we conclude that the TBTF problem persists despite baryonic effects. However, the preceding statement assumes that the sample under consideration is representative of the general population of field dwarfs. In addition, the unexplained excess of dwarf galaxies in ?CDM could be as small as a factor of ? 1.8, given the current uncertainties in the measurement of the galactic velocity function. Both of these caveats highlight the importance of upcoming uniform surveys with HI interferometers for advancing our understanding of the issue

A new astrophysical solution to the Too Big To Fail problem: Insights from the MORIA simulations

Aims. We test whether or not realistic analysis techniques of advanced hydrodynamical simulations can alleviate the Too Big To Fail problem (TBTF) for late-type galaxies. TBTF states that isolated dwarf galaxy kinematics imply that dwarfs live in halos with lower mass than is expected in a A cold dark matter universe. Furthermore, we want to identify the physical mechanisms that are responsible for this observed tension between theory and observations. Methods. We use the MORIA suite of dwarf galaxy simulations to investigate whether observational effects are involved in TBTF for late-type field dwarf galaxies. To this end, we create synthetic radio data cubes of the simulated MORIA galaxies and analyse their HI kinematics as if they were real, observed galaxies. Results. We find that for low-mass galaxies, the circular velocity profile inferred from spatially resolved HI kinematics often underestimates the true circular velocity profile, as derived directly from the enclosed mass. Fitting the HI kinematics of MORIA dwarfs with a theoretical halo profile results in a systematic underestimate of the mass of their host halos. We attribute this effect to the fact that the interstellar medium of a low-mass late-type dwarf is continuously stirred by supernova explosions into a vertically puffed-up, turbulent state to the extent that the rotation velocity of the gas is simply no longer a good tracer of the underlying gravitational force field. If this holds true for real dwarf galaxies as well, it implies that they inhabit more massive dark matter halos than would be inferred from their kinematics, solving TBTF for late-type field dwarf galaxies

From light to baryonic mass: the effect of the stellar mass-to-light ratio on the Baryonic Tully-Fisher relation

In this paper, we investigate the statistical properties of the Baryonic Tully-Fisher relation (BTFr) for a sample of 32 galaxies with accurate distances based on n Cepheids and/or TRGB stars. We make use of homogeneously analysed photometry in 18 bands ranging from the far-ultraviolet to 160 μm, allowing us to investigate the effect of the inferred stellar mass-to-light ratio (ϒ⋆) on the statistical properties of the BTFr. Stellar masses of our sample galaxies are derived with four different methods based on full SED fitting, studies of stellar dynamics, near-infrared colours, and the assumption of the same Υ[3.6]⋆ for all galaxies. In addition, we use high-quality, resolved H I kinematics to study the BTFr based on three kinematic measures: Wi50 from the global H I profile, and Vmax and Vflat from the rotation curve. We find the intrinsic perpendicular scatter, or tightness, of our BTFr to be σ⊥ = 0.026 ± 0.013 dex, consistent with the intrinsic tightness of the 3.6 μm luminosity-based Tully-Fisher relation (TFr). However, we find the slope of the BTFr to be 2.99 ± 0.2 instead of 3.7 ± 0.1 for the luminosity-based TFr at 3.6 μm. We use our BTFr to place important observational constraints on theoretical models of galaxy formation and evolution by making comparisons with theoretical predictions based on either the Λ cold dark matter framework or modified Newtonian dynamics.AB acknowledges financial support from the CNES (Centre National d’Etudes Spatiales – France). EP is supported by a NOVA postdoctoral fellowship of the Netherlands Research School for Astronomy (NOVA). MV acknowledges the Netherlands Foundation for Scientific Research support through VICI grant 016.130.338. We acknowledge the Leids Kerkhoven–Bosscha Fonds (LKBF) for travel support. We acknowledge financial support from the DAGAL network from the People Programme (Marie Curie Actions) of the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme FP7/2007-2013/ under REA grant agreement number PITNGA-2011-289313. We thank Elisabete da Cunha for making the MAGPHYS SED-fitting code publicly available

The same with less: the cosmic web of warm versus cold dark matter dwarf galaxies

We explore fundamental properties of the distribution of low-mass dark matter haloes within the cosmic web using warm dark matter (WDM) and cold dark matter (CDM) cosmological simulations. Using self-abundance-matched mock galaxy catalogues, we show that the distribution of dwarf galaxies in a WDM universe, wherein low-mass halo formation is heavily suppressed, is nearly indistinguishable to that of a CDM universe whose low mass haloes are not seen because galaxy formation is suppressed below some threshold halo mass. However, if the scatter between dwarf galaxy luminosity and halo properties is large enough, low-mass CDM haloes would sometimes host relatively bright galaxies thereby populating CDM voids with the occasional isolated galaxy and reducing the numbers of completely empty voids. Otherwise, without high mass to light scatter, all mock galaxy clustering statistics that we consider - the auto correlation function, the numbers and radial profiles of satellites, the numbers of isolated galaxies, and the probability distribution function of small voids - are nearly identical in CDM and WDM. WDM voids are neither larger nor emptier than CDM voids, when constructed from abundance-matched halo catalogues. It is thus a challenge to determine whether the CDM problem of the overabundance of small haloes with respect to the number density of observed dwarf galaxies has a cosmological solution or an astrophysical solution. However, some clues about the dark matter particle and the scatter between the properties of dwarf galaxies and their dark matter halo hosts might be found in the cosmic web of galaxies in future surveys of the local volume

Role of Sterile Neutrino Warm Dark Matter in Rhenium and Tritium Beta Decays

Sterile neutrinos with mass in the range of one to a few keV are important as extensions of the Standard Model of particle physics and are serious dark matter (DM) candidates. This DM mass scale (warm DM) is in agreement with both cosmological and galactic observations. We study the role of a keV sterile neutrino through its mixing with a light active neutrino in Rhenium 187 and Tritium beta decays. We pinpoint the energy spectrum of the beta particle, 0 < T_e < (Q_{beta} - m_s), as the region where a sterile neutrino could be detected and where its mass m_s could be measured. This energy region is at least 1 keV away rom the region suitable to measure the mass of the light active neutrino, located near the endpoint Q_{beta} . The emission of a keV sterile neutrino in a beta decay could show up as a small kink in the spectrum of the emitted beta particle. With this in view, we perform a careful calculation of the Rhenium and Tritium beta spectra and estimate the size of this perturbation by means of the dimensionless ratio R of the sterile neutrino to the active neutrino contributions. We comment on the possibility of searching for sterile neutrino signatures in two experiments which are currently running at present, MARE and KATRIN, focused on the Rhenium 187 and Tritium beta decays respectively.Comment: 16 pages, 10 figures. Version to appear in Nucl. Phys. B. Results and conclusions unchange

Warm Dark Matter from keVins

We propose a simple model for Warm Dark Matter (WDM) in which two fermions are added to the Standard Model: (quasi-) stable "keVins" (keV inert fermions) which account for WDM and their unstable brothers, the "GeVins" (GeV inert fermions), both of which carry zero electric charge and lepton number, and are (approximately) "inert", in the sense that their only interactions are via suppressed couplings to the Z. We consider scenarios in which stable keVins are thermally produced and their abundance is subsequently diluted by entropy production from the decays of the heavier unstable GeVins. This mechanism could be implemented in a wide variety of models, including E_6 inspired supersymmetric models or models involving sterile neutrinos.Comment: 32 pages, 9 figures, 2 table

Resolve and eco: the halo mass-dependent shape of galaxy stellar and baryonic mass functions

In this work, we present galaxy stellar and baryonic (stars plus cold gas) mass functions (SMF and BMF) and their halo mass dependence for two volume-limited data sets. The first, RESOLVE-B, coincides with the Stripe 82 footprint and is extremely complete down to baryonic mass Mbary ∼ 10^9.1 M⊙, probing the gas-rich dwarf regime below Mbary ∼ 10^10 M⊙. The second, ECO, covers a ~40× larger volume (containing RESOLVE-A) and is complete to Mbary ~10^9.4 M⊙. To construct the SMF and BMF we implement a new “cross-bin sampling” technique with Monte Carlo sampling from the full likelihood distributions of stellar or baryonic mass. Our SMFs exhibit the “plateau” feature starting below Mstar ~10^10 M⊙ that has been described in prior work. However, the BMF fills in this feature and rises as a straight power law below ~10^10 M⊙, as gas-dominated galaxies become the majority of the population. Nonetheless, the low-mass slope of the BMF is not as steep as that of the theoretical dark matter halo MF. Moreover, we assign group halo masses by abundance matching, finding that the SMF and BMF separated into four physically motivated halo mass regimes reveal complex structure underlying the simple shape of the overall MFs. In particular, the satellite MFs are depressed below the central galaxy MF “humps” in groups with mass < 10^13.5 M⊙ yet rise steeply in clusters. Our results suggest that satellite destruction and/or stripping are active from the point of nascent group formation. We show that the key role of groups in shaping MFs enables reconstruction of a given survey’s SMF or BMF based on its group halo mass distribution

A White Paper on keV Sterile Neutrino Dark Matter

We present a comprehensive review of keV-scale sterile neutrino Dark Matter,collecting views and insights from all disciplines involved - cosmology,astrophysics, nuclear, and particle physics - in each case viewed from boththeoretical and experimental/observational perspectives. After reviewing therole of active neutrinos in particle physics, astrophysics, and cosmology, wefocus on sterile neutrinos in the context of the Dark Matter puzzle. Here, wefirst review the physics motivation for sterile neutrino Dark Matter, based onchallenges and tensions in purely cold Dark Matter scenarios. We then round outthe discussion by critically summarizing all known constraints on sterileneutrino Dark Matter arising from astrophysical observations, laboratoryexperiments, and theoretical considerations. In this context, we provide abalanced discourse on the possibly positive signal from X-ray observations.Another focus of the paper concerns the construction of particle physicsmodels, aiming to explain how sterile neutrinos of keV-scale masses could arisein concrete settings beyond the Standard Model of elementary particle physics.The paper ends with an extensive review of current and future astrophysical andlaboratory searches, highlighting new ideas and their experimental challenges,as well as future perspectives for the discovery of sterile neutrinos