The cosmological origin of the Tully-Fisher relation

We use high-resolution cosmological simulations that include the effects of gasdynamics and star formation to investigate the origin of the Tully-Fisher relation in the standard Cold Dark Matter cosmogony. Luminosities are computed for each model galaxy using their full star formation histories and the latest spectrophotometric models. We find that at z=0 the stellar mass of model galaxies is proportional to the total baryonic mass within the virial radius of their surrounding halos. Circular velocity then correlates tightly with the total luminosity of the galaxy, reflecting the equivalence between mass and circular velocity of systems identified in a cosmological context. The slope of the relation steepens slightly from the red to the blue bandpasses, and is in fairly good agreement with observations. Its scatter is small, decreasing from \~0.45 mag in the U-band to ~0.34 mag in the K-band. The particular cosmological model we explore here seems unable to account for the zero-point of the correlation. Model galaxies are too faint at z=0 (by about two magnitudes) if the circular velocity at the edge of the luminous galaxy is used as an estimator of the rotation speed. The Tully-Fisher relation is brighter in the past, by about ~0.7 magnitudes in the B-band at z=1, at odds with recent observations of z~1 galaxies. We conclude that the slope and tightness of the Tully-Fisher relation can be naturally explained in hierarchical models but that its normalization and evolution depend strongly on the star formation algorithm chosen and on the cosmological parameters that determine the universal baryon fraction and the time of assembly of galaxies of different mass.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures included, submitted to ApJ (Letters

Simulations of galaxy formation in a Λ cold dark matter universe : I : dynamical and photometric properties of a simulated disk galaxy.

We present a detailed analysis of the dynamical and photometric properties of a disk galaxy simulated in the cold dark matter (CDM) cosmogony. The galaxy is assembled through a number of high-redshift mergers followed by a period of quiescent accretion after z1 that lead to the formation of two distinct dynamical components: a spheroid of mostly old stars and a rotationally supported disk of younger stars. The surface brightness profile is very well approximated by the superposition of an R1/4 spheroid and an exponential disk. Each photometric component contributes a similar fraction of the total luminosity of the system, although less than a quarter of the stars form after the last merger episode at z1. In the optical bands the surface brightness profile is remarkably similar to that of Sab galaxy UGC 615, but the simulated galaxy rotates significantly faster and has a declining rotation curve dominated by the spheroid near the center. The decline in circular velocity is at odds with observation and results from the high concentration of the dark matter and baryonic components, as well as from the relatively high mass-to-light ratio of the stars in the simulation. The simulated galaxy lies 1 mag off the I-band Tully-Fisher relation of late-type spirals but seems to be in reasonable agreement with Tully-Fisher data on S0 galaxies. In agreement with previous simulation work, the angular momentum of the luminous component is an order of magnitude lower than that of late-type spirals of similar rotation speed. This again reflects the dominance of the slowly rotating, dense spheroidal component, to which most discrepancies with observation may be traced. On its own, the disk component has properties rather similar to those of late-type spirals: its luminosity, its exponential scale length, and its colors are all comparable to those of galaxy disks of similar rotation speed. This suggests that a different form of feedback than adopted here is required to inhibit the efficient collapse and cooling of gas at high redshift that leads to the formation of the spheroid. Reconciling, without fine-tuning, the properties of disk galaxies with the early collapse and high merging rates characteristic of hierarchical scenarios such as CDM remains a challenging, yet so far elusive, proposition

Disk Galaxy Formation in a LambdaCDM Universe

We describe hydrodynamical simulations of galaxy formation in a Lambda cold dark matter (CDM) cosmology performed using a subresolution model for star formation and feedback in a multiphase interstellar medium (ISM). In particular, we demonstrate the formation of a well-resolved disk galaxy. The surface brightness profile of the galaxy is exponential, with a B-band central surface brightness of 21.0 mag arcsec^-2 and a scale-length of R_d = 2.0 h^-1 kpc. We find no evidence for a significant bulge component. The simulated galaxy falls within the I-band Tully-Fisher relation, with an absolute magnitude of I = -21.2 and a peak stellar rotation velocity of V_rot=121.3 km s^-1. While the total specific angular momentum of the stars in the galaxy agrees with observations, the angular momentum in the inner regions appears to be low by a factor of ~2. The star formation rate of the galaxy peaks at ~7 M_sun yr^-1 between redshifts z=2-4, with the mean stellar age decreasing from \~10 Gyrs in the outer regions of the disk to ~7.5 Gyrs in the center, indicating that the disk did not simply form inside-out. The stars exhibit a metallicity gradient from 0.7 Z_sun at the edge of the disk to 1.3 Z_sun in the center. Using a suite of idealized galaxy formation simulations with different models for the ISM, we show that the effective pressure support provided by star formation and feedback in our multiphase model is instrumental in allowing the formation of large, stable disk galaxies. If ISM gas is instead modeled with an isothermal equation of state, or if star formation is suppressed entirely, growing gaseous disks quickly violate the Toomre stability criterion and undergo catastrophic fragmentation.Comment: 14 pages, 12 figures, LaTex (emulateapj.cls), submitted to ApJ, high resolution images available at http://www-cfa.harvard.edu/~brobertson/papers/galaxy

Gas-Rich Companions of Isolated Galaxies

We have used the VLA to search for gaseous remnants of the galaxy formation process around six extremely isolated galaxies. We found two distinct HI clouds around each of two galaxies in our sample (UGC 9762 & UGC 11124). These clouds are rotating and appear to have optical counterparts, strongly implying that they are typical dwarf galaxies. The companions are currently weakly interacting with the primary galaxy, but have short dynamical friction timescales (~1 Gyr) suggesting that these triple galaxy systems will shortly collapse into one massive galaxy. Given that the companions are consistent with being in circular rotation about the primary galaxy, and that they have small relative masses, the resulting merger will be a minor one. The companions do, however, contain enough gas that the merger will represent a significant infusion of fuel to drive future star formation, bar formation, or central activity, while building up the mass of the disk thus making these systems important pieces of the galaxy formation and evolution process.Comment: Corrected dynamical friction calculation error. Revised discussion & conclusions. 7 pages, 4 tables, 6 figures, to appear in May 1999 Astronomical Journa

Consequences of short range interactions between dark matter and protons in galaxy clusters

Protons gain energy in short range collisions with heavier dark matter particles (DMPs) of comparable velocity dispersion. We examine the conditions under which the heating of baryons by scattering off DMPs can offset radiative cooling in the cores of galaxy clusters. Collisions with a constant cross section independent of the relative velocity of the colliding particles, cannot produce stable thermal balance. In this case, avoiding an unrealistic increase of the central temperatures yields the upper bound on the cross-section, \sigma_xp<10^-25 cm^2 (m_x/m_p), where m_x and m_p are the DMP and proton mass, respectively. A stable balance, however, can be achieved for a power law dependence on the relative velocity, V, of the form \sigma_xp \propto V^a with a<-3. An advantage of this heating mechanism is that it preserves the metal gradients observed in clusters.Comment: 7 pages, new calculations include

Dark-Halo Cusp: Asymptotic Convergence

We propose a model for how the buildup of dark halos by merging satellites produces a characteristic inner cusp, of a density profile \rho \prop r^-a with a -> a_as > 1, as seen in cosmological N-body simulations of hierarchical clustering scenarios. Dekel, Devor & Hetzroni (2003) argue that a flat core of a<1 exerts tidal compression which prevents local deposit of satellite material; the satellite sinks intact into the halo center thus causing a rapid steepening to a>1. Using merger N-body simulations, we learn that this cusp is stable under a sequence of mergers, and derive a practical tidal mass-transfer recipe in regions where the local slope of the halo profile is a>1. According to this recipe, the ratio of mean densities of halo and initial satellite within the tidal radius equals a given function psi(a), which is significantly smaller than unity (compared to being 1 according to crude resonance criteria) and is a decreasing function of a. This decrease makes the tidal mass transfer relatively more efficient at larger a, which means steepening when a is small and flattening when a is large, thus causing converges to a stable solution. Given this mass-transfer recipe, linear perturbation analysis, supported by toy simulations, shows that a sequence of cosmological mergers with homologous satellites slowly leads to a fixed-point cusp with an asymptotic slope a_as>1. The slope depends only weakly on the fluctuation power spectrum, in agreement with cosmological simulations. During a long interim period the profile has an NFW-like shape, with a cusp of 1<a<a_as. Thus, a cusp is enforced if enough compact satellite remnants make it intact into the inner halo. In order to maintain a flat core, satellites must be disrupted outside the core, possibly as a result of a modest puffing up due to baryonic feedback.Comment: 37 pages, Latex, aastex.cls, revised, ApJ, 588, in pres

Dark Halo and Disk Galaxy Scaling Laws in Hierarchical Universes

We use cosmological N-body/gasdynamical simulations that include star formation and feedback to examine the proposal that scaling laws between the total luminosity, rotation speed, and angular momentum of disk galaxies reflect analogous correlations between the structural parameters of their surrounding dark matter halos. The numerical experiments follow the formation of galaxy-sized halos in two Cold Dark Matter dominated universes: the standard Omega=1 CDM scenario and the currently popular LCDM model. We find that the slope and scatter of the I-band Tully-Fisher relation are well reproduced in the simulations, although not, as proposed in recent work, as a result of the cosmological equivalence between halo mass and circular velocity: large systematic variations in the fraction of baryons that collapse to form galaxies and in the ratio between halo and disk circular velocities are observed in our numerical experiments. The Tully-Fisher slope and scatter are recovered in this model as a direct result of the dynamical response of the halo to the assembly of the luminous component of the galaxy. We conclude that models that neglect the self-gravity of the disk and its influence on the detailed structure of the halo cannot be used to derive meaningful estimates of the scatter or slope of the Tully-Fisher relation. Our models fail, however, to match the zero-point of the Tully-Fisher relation, as well as that of the relation linking disk rotation speed and angular momentum. These failures can be traced, respectively, to the excessive central concentration of dark halos formed in the Cold Dark Matter cosmogonies we explore and to the formation of galaxy disks as the final outcome of a sequence of merger events. (abridged)Comment: submitted to The Astrophysical Journa

Constraining supersymmetry from the satellite experiments

In this paper we study the detectability of $\gamma$-rays from dark matter annihilation in the subhalos of the Milky Way by the satellite-based experiments, EGRET and GLAST. We work in the frame of supersymmetric extension of the standard model and assume the lightest neutralino being the dark matter particles. Based on the N-body simulation of the evolution of dark matter subhalos we first calculate the average intensity distribution of this new class of $\gamma$-ray sources by neutralino annihilation. It is possible to detect these $\gamma$-ray sources by EGRET and GLAST. Conversely, if these sources are not detected the nature of the dark matter particls will be constrained by these experiments, which, however, depending on the uncertainties of the subhalo profile.Comment: 19 pages, 5 gigures; references added, more discussions adde