140 research outputs found
Estimating the Mass of the Local Group using Machine Learning Applied to Numerical Simulations
We revisit the estimation of the combined mass of the Milky Way and Andromeda
(M31), which dominate the mass of the Local Group. We make use of an ensemble
of 30,190 halo pairs from the Small MultiDark simulation, assuming a
CDM (Cosmological Constant with Cold Dark Matter) cosmology, to
investigate the relationship between the bound mass and parameters
characterising the orbit of the binary and their local environment with the aid
of machine learning methods (artificial neural networks, ANN). Results from the
ANN are most successful when information about the velocity shear is provided,
which demonstrates the flexibility of machine learning to model physical
phenomena and readily incorporate new information as it becomes available. The
resulting estimate for the Local Group mass, when shear information is
included, is , with an error of from the 68% uncertainty in observables, and a 68% confidence
interval of from the intrinsic scatter
from the differences between the model and simulation masses. We also consider
a recently reported large transverse velocity of M31 relative to the Milky Way,
and produce an alternative mass estimate of . Although different methods predict similar values for the most
likely mass of the LG, application of ANN compared to the Timing Argument
reduces the scatter in the log mass by over half when tested on samples from
the simulation.Comment: 20 pages, 6 figures, 5 table
The spin alignment of galaxies with the large-scale tidal field in hydrodynamic simulations
The correlation between the spins of dark matter halos and the large-scale
structure (LSS) has been studied in great detail over a large redshift range,
while investigations of galaxies are still incomplete. Motivated by this point,
we use the state-of-the-art hydrodynamic simulation, Illustris-1, to
investigate mainly the spin--LSS correlation of galaxies at redshift of .
We mainly find that the spins of low-mass, blue, oblate galaxies are
preferentially aligned with the slowest collapsing direction () of the
large-scale tidal field, while massive, red, prolate galaxy spins tend to be
perpendicular to . The transition from a parallel to a perpendicular trend
occurs at in the stellar mass, in the g-r
color, and in triaxiality. The transition stellar mass decreases with
increasing redshifts. The alignment was found to be primarily correlated with
the galaxy stellar mass. Our results are consistent with previous studies both
in N-body simulations and observations. Our study also fills the vacancy in the
study of the galaxy spin--LSS correlation at using hydrodynamical
simulations and also provides important insight to understand the formation and
evolution of galaxy angular momentum.Comment: 9 pages, 6 figures, 1 table. Accepted for publication in ApJ, match
the proof versio
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