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1. Early-type galaxy density profiles from IllustrisTNG – I. Galaxy correlations and the impact of baryons

   https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stz3348  

   Wang, Yunchong ; Vogelsberger, Mark ; Xu, Dandan ; Mao, Shude ; Springel, Volker ; Li, Hui ; Barnes, David ; Hernquist, Lars ; Pillepich, Annalisa ; Marinacci, Federico ; et al ( February 2020 , Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society)

   ABSTRACT We explore the isothermal total density profiles of early-type galaxies (ETGs) in the IllustrisTNG simulation. For the selected 559 ETGs at z = 0 with stellar masses $10^{10.7}\, \mathrm{M}_{\odot } \leqslant M_{\ast } \leqslant 10^{11.9}\, \mathrm{M}_{\odot }$, the total power-law slope has a mean of 〈γ′〉 = 2.011 ± 0.007 and a scatter of $\sigma _{\gamma ^{\prime }} = 0.171$ over the radial range 0.4–4 times the stellar half-mass radius. Several correlations between γ′ and galactic properties including stellar mass, effective radius, stellar surface density, central velocity dispersion, central dark matter fraction, and in situ-formed stellar mass ratio are compared to observations and other simulations, revealing that IllustrisTNG reproduces many correlation trends, and in particular, γ′ is almost constant with redshift below z = 2. Through analysing IllustrisTNG model variations, we show that black hole kinetic winds are crucial to lowering γ′ and matching observed galaxy correlations. The effects of stellar winds on γ′ are subdominant compared to active galactic nucleus (AGN) feedback, and differ due to the presence of AGN feedback from previous works. The density profiles of the ETG dark matter haloes are well described by steeper than NFW profiles, and they are steeper in the full physics (FP) run than their counterpartsmore »in the dark matter-only (DMO) run. Their inner density slopes anticorrelate (remain constant) with the halo mass in the FP (DMO) run, and anticorrelate with the halo concentration parameter c200 in both the types of runs. The dark matter haloes of low-mass ETGs are contracted whereas high-mass ETGs are expanded, suggesting that variations in the total density profile occur through the different halo responses to baryons.« less
2. Cuspy dark matter density profiles in massive dwarf galaxies

   https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stac588  

   Cooke, Lauren H. ; Levy, Rebecca C. ; Bolatto, Alberto D. ; Simon, Joshua D. ; Newman, Andrew B. ; Teuben, Peter ; Davey, Brandon D. ; Wright, Melvyn ; Tarantino, Elizabeth ; Lenkić, Laura ; et al ( March 2022 , Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society)

   Rotation curves of galaxies probe their total mass distributions, including dark matter. Dwarf galaxies are excellent systems to investigate the dark matter density distribution, as they tend to have larger fractions of dark matter compared to higher mass systems. The core-cusp problem describes the discrepancy found in the slope of the dark matter density profile in the centres of galaxies (β*) between observations of dwarf galaxies (shallower cores) and dark matter-only simulations (steeper cusps). We investigate β* in six nearby spiral dwarf galaxies for which high-resolution CO J = 1–0 data were obtained with ALMA (Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array). We derive rotation curves and decompose the mass profile of the dark matter using our CO rotation curves as a tracer of the total potential and 4.5 $\mu$m photometry to define the stellar mass distribution. We find 〈β*〉 = 0.6 with a standard deviation of ±0.1 among the galaxies in this sample, in agreement with previous measurements in this mass range. The galaxies studied are on the high stellar mass end of dwarf galaxies and have cuspier profiles than lower mass dwarfs, in agreement with other observations. When the same definition of the slope is used, we observe steeper slopes than predicted bymore »the FIRE and NIHAO simulations. This may signal that these relatively massive dwarfs underwent stronger gas inflows towards their centres than predicted by these simulations, that these simulations overpredict the frequency of accretion or feedback events, or that a combination of these or other effects are at work.

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3. The Universe at z > 10: predictions for JWST from the universemachine DR1

   https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/staa3164  

   Behroozi, Peter ; Conroy, Charlie ; Wechsler, Risa H ; Hearin, Andrew ; Williams, Christina C ; Moster, Benjamin P ; Yung, L Y ; Somerville, Rachel S ; Gottlöber, Stefan ; Yepes, Gustavo ; et al ( November 2020 , Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society)

   ABSTRACT The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) is expected to observe galaxies at z > 10 that are presently inaccessible. Here, we use a self-consistent empirical model, the universemachine, to generate mock galaxy catalogues and light-cones over the redshift range z = 0−15. These data include realistic galaxy properties (stellar masses, star formation rates, and UV luminosities), galaxy–halo relationships, and galaxy–galaxy clustering. Mock observables are also provided for different model parameters spanning observational uncertainties at z < 10. We predict that Cycle 1 JWST surveys will very likely detect galaxies with M* > 107 M⊙ and/or M1500 < −17 out to at least z ∼ 13.5. Number density uncertainties at z > 12 expand dramatically, so efforts to detect z > 12 galaxies will provide the most valuable constraints on galaxy formation models. The faint-end slopes of the stellar mass/luminosity functions at a given mass/luminosity threshold steepen as redshift increases. This is because observable galaxies are hosted by haloes in the exponentially falling regime of the halo mass function at high redshifts. Hence, these faint-end slopes are robustly predicted to become shallower below current observable limits (M* < 107 M⊙ or M1500 > −17). For reionization models, extrapolating luminosity functions with amore »constant faint-end slope from M1500 = −17 down to M1500 = −12 gives the most reasonable upper limit for the total UV luminosity and cosmic star formation rate up to z ∼ 12. We compare to three other empirical models and one semi-analytic model, showing that the range of predicted observables from our approach encompasses predictions from other techniques. Public catalogues and light-cones for common fields are available online.« less
4. The origin of the dust extinction curve in milky way-like galaxies

   https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stab2196  

   Li, Qi ; Narayanan, Desika ; Torrey, Paul ; Davé, Romeel ; Vogelsberger, Mark ( August 2021 , Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society)

   ABSTRACT We develop a cosmological model for the evolution of dust grains in galaxies with a distribution of sizes in order to understand the origin of the Milky Way dust extinction curve. Our model considers the formation of active dust in evolved stars, growth by accretion and coagulation, and destruction processes via shattering, sputtering, and astration in the ISM of galaxies over cosmic time. Our main results follow. Galaxies in our cosmological model with masses comparable to the Milky Way’s at z ∼ 0 exhibit a diverse range of extinction laws, though with slopes and bump strengths comparable to the range observed in the Galaxy. The progenitors of the Milky Way have steeper slopes, and only flatten to slopes comparable to the Galaxy at z ∼ 1. This owes to increased grain growth rates at late times/in high-metallicity environments driving up the ratio of large to small grains, with a secondary dependence on the graphite-to-silicate ratio evolution. The UV bump strengths depend primarily on the graphite-to-silicate ratio, and remain broadly constant in MW-like galaxies between z = 3 and z = 0, though show slight variability. Our models span comparable regions of bump-slope space as sightlines in the Galaxy do, though theremore »is a lack of clear relationship between the model slopes and bump strengths owing to variations among galaxies in the graphite-to-silicate ratio. Our model provides a novel framework to study the origins and variations of dust extinction curves in galaxies over cosmic time.« less
5. The weak dependence of velocity dispersion on disc fractions, mass-to-light ratio, and redshift: implications for galaxy and black hole evolution

   https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stab3705  

   Marsden, Christopher ; Shankar, Francesco ; Bernardi, Mariangela ; Sheth, Ravi K. ; Fu, Hao ; Lapi, Andrea ( December 2021 , Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society)

   Velocity dispersion (σ) is a key driver for galaxy structure and evolution. We here present a comprehensive semi-empirical approach to compute σ via detailed Jeans modelling assuming both a constant and scale-dependent mass-to-light ratio M*/L. We compare with a large sample of local galaxies from MaNGA and find that both models can reproduce the Faber–Jackson (FJ) relation and the weak dependence of σ on bulge-to-total (B/T) ratio (for B/T ≳ 0.25). The dynamical-to-stellar mass ratio within R ≲ Re can be fully accounted for by a gradient in M*/L. We then build velocity dispersion evolutionary tracks σap[M*, z] (within an aperture) along the main progenitor dark matter haloes assigning stellar masses, effective radii, and Sérsic  indices via a variety of abundance matching and empirically motivated relations. We find: (1) clear evidence for downsizing in σap[M*, z] along the progenitor tracks; (2) at fixed stellar mass σ ∝ (1 + z)0.2−0.3 depending on the presence or not of a gradient in M*/L. We extract σap[M*, z] from the TNG50 hydrodynamic simulation and find very similar results to our models with constant M*/L. The increasing dark matter fraction within Re tends to flatten the σap[M*, z] along the progenitors at z ≳ 1more »in constant M*/L models, while σap[M*, z] have a steeper evolution in the presence of a stellar gradient. We then show that a combination of mergers and gas accretion is likely responsible for the constant or increasing σap[M*, z] with time. Finally, our σap[M*, z] are consistent with a nearly constant and steep Mbh − σ relation at z ≲ 2, with black hole masses derived from the LX − M* relation.

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