The baryonic Tully-Fisher relation and its implication for dark matter halos

The baryonic Tully-Fisher relation (BTF) is a fundamental relation between baryonic mass and maximum rotation velocity. It can be used to estimate distances, as well as to constrain the properties of dark matter and its relation with the visible matter. In this paper, we explore if extremely low-mass dwarf galaxies follow the same BTF relation as high-mass galaxies. We quantify the scatter in the BTF relation and use this to constrain the allowed elongations of dark matter halo potentials. We obtained HI synthesis data of 11 dwarf galaxies and derive several independent estimates for the maximum rotation velocity. Constructing a BTF relation using data from the literature for the high-mass end, and galaxies with detected rotation from our sample for the low-mass end results in a BTF with a scatter of 0.33 mag. This scatter constrains the ellipticities of the potentials in the plane of the disks of the galaxies to an upper limit of 0-0.06 indicating that dwarf galaxies are at most only mildly tri-axial. Our results indicate that the BTF relation is a fundamental relation which all rotationally dominated galaxies seem to follow.Comment: Accepted for publication in A&

The star formation histories of red and blue low surface brightness disk galaxies

We study the star formation histories (SFH) and stellar populations of 213 red and 226 blue nearly face-on low surface brightness disk galaxies (LSBGs), which are selected from the main galaxy sample of Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) Data Release Seven (DR7). We also want to compare the stellar populations and SFH between the two groups. The sample of both red and blue LSBGs have sufficient signal-to-noise ratio in the spectral continua. We obtain their absorption-line indices (e.g. Mg_2, H\delta_A), D_n(4000) and stellar masses from the MPA/JHU catalogs to study their stellar populations and SFH. Moreover we fit their optical spectra (stellar absorption lines and continua) by using the spectral synthesis code STARLIGHT on the basis of the templates of Simple Stellar Populations (SSPs). We find that red LSBGs tend to be relatively older, higher metallicity, more massive and have higher surface mass density than blue LSBGs. The D_n(4000)-H\delta_A plane shows that perhaps red and blue LSBGs have different SFH: blue LSBGs are more likely to be experiencing a sporadic star formation events at the present day, whereas red LSBGs are more likely to form stars continuously over the past 1-2 Gyr. Moreover, the fraction of galaxies that experienced recent sporadic formation events decreases with increasing stellar mass. Furthermore, two sub-samples are defined for both red and blue LSBGs: the sub-sample within the same stellar mass range of 9.5 <= log(M_\star/M_\odot) <= 10.3, and the surface brightness limiting sub-sample with \mu_0(R) <= 20.7 mag arcsec^{-2}. They show consistent results with the total sample in the corresponding relationships, which confirm that our results to compare the blue and red LSBGs are robust.Comment: 9 pages, 7 figures, 2 tables, Accepted for publication in A&

Quantified HI Morphology I: Multi-Wavelengths Analysis of the THINGS Galaxies

Galaxy evolution is driven to a large extent by interactions and mergers with other galaxies and the gas in galaxies is extremely sensitive to the interactions. One method to measure such interactions uses the quantified morphology of galaxy images. Well-established parameters are Concentration, Asymmetry, Smoothness, Gini, and M20 of a galaxy image. Thus far, the application of this technique has mostly been restricted to restframe ultra-violet and optical images. However, with the new radio observatories being commissioned (MeerKAT, ASKAP, EVLA, WSRT/APERTIF, and ultimately SKA), a new window on the neutral atomic hydrogen gas (HI) morphology of a large numbers of galaxies will open up. The quantified morphology of gas disks of spirals can be an alternative indicator of the level and frequency of interaction. The HI in galaxies is typically spatially more extended and more sensitive to low-mass or weak interactions. In this paper, we explore six morphological parameters calculated over the extent of the stellar (optical) disk and the extent of the gas disk for a range of wavelengths spanning UV, Optical, Near- and Far-Infrared and 21 cm (HI) of 28 galaxies from The HI Nearby Galaxy Survey (THINGS). Though the THINGS sample is small and contains only a single ongoing interaction, it spans both non-interacting and post-interacting galaxies with a wealth of multi-wavelength data. We find that the choice of area for the computation of the morphological parameters is less of an issue than the wavelength at which they are measured. The signal of interaction is as good in the HI as in any of the other wavelengths in which morphology has been used to trace the interaction rate to date, mostly star-formation dominated ones (near- and far-ultraviolet). The Asymmetry and M20 parameters are the ones which show the most promise as tracers of interaction in 21 cm line observations.Comment: 16 pages, 11 figure, table 1, accepted by MNRAS, appendix not include

Very High Gas Fractions and Extended Gas Reservoirs in z=1.5 Disk Galaxies

We present evidence for very high gas fractions and extended molecular gas reservoirs in normal, near-infrared selected (BzK) galaxies at z~1.5, based on multi-configuration CO[2-1] observations obtained at the IRAM PdBI. Six of the six galaxies observed were securely detected. High resolution observations resolve the CO emission in four of them, implying sizes of order of 6-11 kpc and suggesting the presence of rotation. The UV morphologies are consistent with clumpy, unstable disks, and the UV sizes are consistent with the CO sizes. The star formation efficiencies are homogeneously low and similar to local spirals - the resulting gas depletion times are ~0.5 Gyr, much higher than what is seen in high-z submm galaxies and quasars. The CO luminosities can be predicted to within 0.15 dex from the star formation rates and stellar masses, implying a tight correlation of the gas mass with these quantities. We use dynamical models of clumpy disk galaxies to derive dynamical masses. These models are able to reproduce the peculiar spectral line shapes of the CO emission. After accounting for the stellar and dark matter masses we derive gas masses of 0.4-1.2x10^11 Msun. The conversion factor is very high: alpha_CO=3.6+-0.8, consistent with the Galaxy but four times higher than that of local ultra-luminous IR galaxies. The gas accounts for an impressive 50-65% of the baryons within the galaxies' half light radii. We are witnessing truly gas-dominated galaxies at z~1.5, a finding that explains the high specific SFRs observed for z>1 galaxies. The BzK galaxies can be viewed as scaled-up versions of local disk galaxies, with low efficiency star formation taking place inside extended, low excitation gas disks. They are markedly different than local ULIRGs and high-z submm galaxies, which have more excited and compact gas.Comment: Accepted for publication in Astrophysical Journal, 22 pages, 18 figures, minor revision

High-Resolution Rotation Curves and Galaxy Mass Models from THINGS

We present rotation curves of 19 galaxies from THINGS, The HI Nearby Galaxy Survey. The high spatial and velocity resolution of THINGS make these the highest quality HI rotation curves available to date for a large sample of nearby galaxies, spanning a wide range of HI masses and luminosities. The high quality of the data allows us to derive the geometrical and dynamical parameters using HI data alone. We do not find any declining rotation curves unambiguously associated with a cut-off in the mass distribution out to the last measured point. The rotation curves are combined with 3.6 um data from SINGS (Spitzer Infrared Nearby Galaxies Survey) to construct mass models. Our best-fit, dynamical disk masses, derived from the rotation curves, are in good agreement with photometric disk masses derived from the 3.6 um images in combination with stellar population synthesis arguments and two different assumptions for the stellar Initial Mass Function (IMF). We test the Cold Dark Matter-motivated cusp model, and the observationally motivated central density core model and find that (independent of IMF) for massive, disk-dominated galaxies, all halo models fit apparently equally well; for low-mass galaxies, however, a core-dominated halo is clearly preferred over a cuspy halo. The empirically derived densities of the dark matter halos of the late-type galaxies in our sample are half of what is predicted by CDM simulations, again independent of the assumed IMF.Comment: Accepted for publication in the AJ special THINGS issue. For a high-resolution version visit: http://www.mpia.de/THINGS/Publications.html [v2 typo fixed

Understanding Dwarf Galaxies in order to Understand Dark Matter

Much progress has been made in recent years by the galaxy simulation community in making realistic galaxies, mostly by more accurately capturing the effects of baryons on the structural evolution of dark matter halos at high resolutions. This progress has altered theoretical expectations for galaxy evolution within a Cold Dark Matter (CDM) model, reconciling many earlier discrepancies between theory and observations. Despite this reconciliation, CDM may not be an accurate model for our Universe. Much more work must be done to understand the predictions for galaxy formation within alternative dark matter models.Comment: Refereed contribution to the Proceedings of the Simons Symposium on Illuminating Dark Matter, to be published by Springe

High-resolution mass models of dwarf galaxies from LITTLE THINGS

We present high-resolution rotation curves and mass models of 26 dwarf galaxies from LITTLE THINGS. LITTLE THINGS is a high-resolution Very Large Array HI survey for nearby dwarf galaxies in the local volume within 11 Mpc. The rotation curves of the sample galaxies derived in a homogeneous and consistent manner are combined with Spitzer archival 3.6 micron and ancillary optical U, B, and V images to construct mass models of the galaxies. We decompose the rotation curves in terms of the dynamical contributions by baryons and dark matter halos, and compare the latter with those of dwarf galaxies from THINGS as well as Lambda CDM SPH simulations in which the effect of baryonic feedback processes is included. Being generally consistent with THINGS and simulated dwarf galaxies, most of the LITTLE THINGS sample galaxies show a linear increase of the rotation curve in their inner regions, which gives shallower logarithmic inner slopes alpha of their dark matter density profiles. The mean value of the slopes of the 26 LITTLE THINGS dwarf galaxies is alpha =-0.32 +/- 0.24 which is in accordance with the previous results found for low surface brightness galaxies (alpha = -0.2 +/- 0.2) as well as the seven THINGS dwarf galaxies (alpha =-0.29 +/- 0.07). However, this significantly deviates from the cusp-like dark matter distribution predicted by dark-matter-only Lambda CDM simulations. Instead our results are more in line with the shallower slopes found in the Lambda CDM SPH simulations of dwarf galaxies in which the effect of baryonic feedback processes is included. In addition, we discuss the central dark matter distribution of DDO 210 whose stellar mass is relatively low in our sample to examine the scenario of inefficient supernova feedback in low mass dwarf galaxies predicted from recent Lambda SPH simulations of dwarf galaxies where central cusps still remain.Peer reviewe

Dark Matter Universal Properties in Galaxies

In the past years a wealth of observations has unraveled the structural properties of dark and luminous mass distribution in galaxies, a benchmark for understanding dark matter and the process of galaxy formation. The study of the kinematics of over thousand spirals has evidenced a dark-luminous matter coupling and the presence of a series of scaling laws, pictured by the Universal Rotation Curve paradigm, an intriguing observational scenario not easily explained by present theories of galaxy formation.Comment: Proceedings of the VI International Workshop on the Dark side of the Universe. June 01-06, 2010. Le\'on, M\'exic