Re-examining the Too-Big-To-Fail Problem for Dark Matter Haloes with Central Density Cores

Recent studies found the densities of dark matter (DM) subhaloes which surround nearby dwarf spheroidal galaxies (dSphs) to be significantly lower than those of the most massive subhaloes expected around Milky Way sized galaxies in cosmological simulations, the so called "too-big-to-fail" (TBTF) problem. A caveat of previous work has been that dark substructures were assumed to contain steep density cusps in the center of DM haloes even though the central density structure of DM haloes is still under debate. In this study, we re-examine the TBTF problem for models of DM density structure with cores or shallowed cusps. Our analysis demonstrates that the TBTF problem is alleviated as the logarithmic slope of the central cusp becomes shallower. We find that the TBTF problem is avoided if the central cusps of DM haloes surrounding dSphs are shallower than $r^{-0.6}$.Comment: 8 pages, 5 figures, accepted for publication in MNRA

The Core-Cusp Problem in Cold Dark Matter Halos and Supernova Feedback: Effects of Oscillation

This study investigates the dynamical response of dark matter (DM) halos to recurrent starbursts in forming less-massive galaxies to solve the core-cusp problem. The gas, which is heated by supernova feedback after a starburst, expands and the star formation then terminates. This expanding gas loses energy by radiative cooling and then falls back toward the galactic center. Subsequently, the starburst is enhanced again. This cycle of expansion and contraction of the interstellar gas leads to a repetitive change in the gravitational potential of the gas. The resonance between DM particles and the density wave excited by the oscillating potential plays a key role in understanding the physical mechanism of the cusp-core transition of DM halos. DM halos effectively gain kinetic energy from the baryon potential through the energy transfer driven by the resonance between the particles and density waves. We determine that the critical condition for the cusp-core transition is such that the oscillation period of the gas potential is approximately the same as the local dynamical time of DM halos. We present the resultant core radius of a DM halo after the cusp-core transition induced by the resonance by using the conventional mass density profile predicted by the cold dark matter models. Moreover, we verify the analytical model by using $N$-body simulations, and the results validate the resonance model.Comment: 12 pages, 12 figures, 3 table

Formation of dense filaments induced by runaway supermassive black holes

A narrow linear object extending $\sim 60$kpc from the centre of a galaxy at redshift $z \sim 1$ has been recently discovered and interpreted as a shocked gas filament forming stars. The host galaxy presents an irregular morphology, implying recent merger events. Supposing that each of the progenitor galaxies has a central supermassive black hole (SMBH) and the SMBHs are accumulated at the centre of the merger remnant, a fraction of them can be ejected from the galaxy with a high velocity due to interactions between SMBHs. When such a runaway SMBH (RSMBH) passes through the circumgalactic medium (CGM), converging flows are induced along the RSMBH path, and star formation could be ignited eventually. We find that the CGM temperature prior to the RSMBH perturbation should be below the peak temperature in the cooling function to trigger filament formation. While the gas is heated up temporarily due to compression, the cooling efficiency increases, and gas accumulation becomes allowed along the path. When the CGM density is sufficiently high, the gas can cool down and develop a dense filament by $z = 1$. The mass and velocity of the RSMBH determine the scale of the filament formation. Hydrodynamical simulations validate the analytical expectations. Therefore, we conclude that the perturbation by RSMBHs is a viable channel for forming the observed linear object. We also expect the CGM around the linear object to be warm ($T < 2 \times 10^5$ K) and dense ($n > 2 \times 10^{-5} (T/2 \times 10^5 \, K)^{-1} \, {\rm cm^{-3}}$).Comment: 10 pages, 10 figures, 1 table, submitted to MNRA

Perception of depth and motion from ambiguous binocular information

AbstractThe visual system can determine motion and depth from ambiguous information contained in images projected onto both retinas over space and time. The key to the way the system overcomes such ambiguity lies in dependency among multiple cues—such as spatial displacement over time, binocular disparity, and interocular time delay—which might be established based on prior knowledge or experience, and stored in spatiotemporal response characteristics of neurons at an early cortical stage. We conducted a psychophysical investigation of whether a single ambiguous cue (specifically, interocular time delay) permits depth discrimination and motion perception. Data from this investigation are consistent with the predictions derived from the response profiles of V1 neurons, which show interdependency in their responses to each cue, indicating that spatial and temporal information is jointly encoded in early vision

Universal dark halo scaling relation for the dwarf spheroidal satellites

Motivated by a recently found interesting property of the dark halo surface density within a radius, $r_{\rm max}$, giving the maximum circular velocity, $V_{\rm max}$, we investigate it for dark halos of the Milky Way's and Andromeda's dwarf satellites based on cosmological simulations. We select and analyze the simulated subhalos associated with Milky Way-sized dark halos and find that the values of their surface densities, $\Sigma_{V_{\rm max}}$, are in good agreement with those for the observed dwarf spheroidal satellites even without employing any fitting procedures. This implies that this surface density would not be largely affected by any baryonic feedbacks and thus universal. Moreover, all subhalos on the small scales of dwarf satellites are expected to obey the relation $\Sigma_{V_{\rm max}}\propto V_{\rm max}$, irrespective of differences in their orbital evolutions, host halo properties, and observed redshifts. Therefore, we find that the universal scaling relation for dark halos on dwarf galaxy mass scales surely exists and provides us important clues to understanding fundamental properties of dark halos. We also investigate orbital and dynamical evolutions of subhalos to understand the origin of this universal dark halo relation and find that most of subhalos evolve generally along the $r_{\rm max}\propto V_{\rm max}$ sequence, even though these subhalos have undergone different histories of mass assembly and tidal stripping. This sequence, therefore, should be the key feature to understand the nature of the universality of $\Sigma_{V_{\rm max}}$.Comment: 12 pages, 5 figures and 3 tables, submitted to Ap

Shedding light on low-mass subhalo survival and annihilation luminosity with numerical simulations

In this work, we carry out a suite of specially designed numerical simulations to shed light on dark matter (DM) subhalo survival at mass scales relevant for gamma-ray DM searches, a topic subject to intense debate nowadays. We have employed an improved version of DASH, a GPU N-body code, to study the evolution of low-mass subhaloes inside a Milky-Way-like halo with unprecedented accuracy, reaching solar-mass and sub-parsec resolution. We simulate subhaloes with varying mass, concentration, and orbital properties, and consider the effect of baryons in the host. We analyse the evolution of the bound mass fraction and annihilation luminosity, finding that most subhaloes survive until present, yet losing in some cases more than 99 per cent of their initial mass. Baryons induce a much greater mass-loss, especially when the subhalo orbit is more parallel to the Galactic disc. Many of these subhaloes cross the solar Galactocentric radius, making it easier to detect their annihilation fluxes from Earth. We find subhaloes orbiting a DM-only halo with a pericentre in the solar vicinity to lose 70–90 per cent of their initial annihilation luminosity at present, which increases up to 99 per cent when including baryons. We find a strong relation between subhalo’s mass-loss and the effective tidal field at pericentre. Indeed, much of the dependence on all considered parameters can be explained through this single parameter. In addition to shedding light on the survival of low-mass Galactic subhaloes, our results can provide detailed predictions that will aid current and future quests for the nature of D