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1. A dark matter profile to model diverse feedback-induced core sizes of ΛCDM haloes

   https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/staa2101  

   Lazar, Alexandres ; Bullock, James S ; Boylan-Kolchin, Michael ; Chan, T K ; Hopkins, Philip F ; Graus, Andrew S ; Wetzel, Andrew ; El-Badry, Kareem ; Wheeler, Coral ; Straight, Maria C ; et al ( September 2020 , Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society)

   ABSTRACT We analyse the cold dark matter density profiles of 54 galaxy haloes simulated with Feedback In Realistic Environments (FIRE)-2 galaxy formation physics, each resolved within $0.5{{\ \rm per\ cent}}$ of the halo virial radius. These haloes contain galaxies with masses that range from ultrafaint dwarfs ($M_\star \simeq 10^{4.5}\, \mathrm{M}_{\odot }$) to the largest spirals ($M_\star \simeq 10^{11}\, \mathrm{M}_{\odot }$) and have density profiles that are both cored and cuspy. We characterize our results using a new, analytic density profile that extends the standard two-parameter Einasto form to allow for a pronounced constant density core in the resolved innermost radius. With one additional core-radius parameter, rc, this three-parameter core-Einasto profile is able to characterize our feedback-impacted dark matter haloes more accurately than other three-parameter profiles proposed in the literature. To enable comparisons with observations, we provide fitting functions for rc and other profile parameters as a function of both M⋆ and M⋆/Mhalo. In agreement with past studies, we find that dark matter core formation is most efficient at the characteristic stellar-to-halo mass ratio M⋆/Mhalo ≃ 5 × 10−3, or $M_{\star } \sim 10^9 \, \mathrm{M}_{\odot }$, with cores that are roughly the size of the galaxy half-light radius, rc ≃ 1−5 kpc. Furthermore,more »we find no evidence for core formation at radii $\gtrsim 100\ \rm pc$ in galaxies with M⋆/Mhalo < 5 × 10−4 or $M_\star \lesssim 10^6 \, \mathrm{M}_{\odot }$. For Milky Way-size galaxies, baryonic contraction often makes haloes significantly more concentrated and dense at the stellar half-light radius than DMO runs. However, even at the Milky Way scale, FIRE-2 galaxy formation still produces small dark matter cores of ≃ 0.5−2 kpc in size. Recent evidence for a ∼2 kpc core in the Milky Way’s dark matter halo is consistent with this expectation.« less
2. The maximum accretion rate of hot gas in dark matter haloes

   https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/staa198  

   Stern, Jonathan ; Fielding, Drummond ; Faucher-Giguère, Claude-André ; Quataert, Eliot ( March 2020 , Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society)

   ABSTRACT We revisit the question of ‘hot mode’ versus ‘cold mode’ accretion on to galaxies using steady-state cooling flow solutions and idealized 3D hydrodynamic simulations. We demonstrate that for the hot accretion mode to exist, the cooling time is required to be longer than the free-fall time near the radius where the gas is rotationally supported, Rcirc, i.e. the existence of the hot mode depends on physical conditions at the galaxy scale rather than on physical conditions at the halo scale. When allowing for the depletion of the halo baryon fraction relative to the cosmic mean, the longer cooling times imply that a virialized gaseous halo may form in halo masses below the threshold of $\sim 10^{12}\, {\rm M_{\odot }}$ derived for baryon-complete haloes. We show that for any halo mass there is a maximum accretion rate for which the gas is virialized throughout the halo and can accrete via the hot mode of ${\dot{M}}_{\rm crit}\approx 0.7(v_{\rm c}/100\, \rm km\ s^{-1})^{5.4}(R_{\rm circ}/10\, {\rm kpc})(Z/\, {\rm Z_{\odot }})^{-0.9}\, {\rm M_{\odot }}\, {\rm yr}^{-1}$, where Z and vc are the metallicity and circular velocity measured at Rcirc. For accretion rates $\gtrsim {\dot{M}}_{\rm crit}$ the volume-filling gas phase can in principle be ‘transonic’ –more »virialized in the outer halo but cool and free-falling near the galaxy. We compare ${\dot{M}}_{\rm crit}$ to the average star formation rate (SFR) in haloes at 0 < z < 10 implied by the stellar-mass–halo-mass relation. For a plausible metallicity evolution with redshift, we find that ${\rm SFR}\lesssim {\dot{M}}_{\rm crit}$ at most masses and redshifts, suggesting that the SFR of galaxies could be primarily sustained by the hot mode in halo masses well below the classic threshold of $\sim 10^{12}\, {\rm M_{\odot }}$.« less
3. Dark matter haloes in the multicomponent model. III. From dwarfs to galaxy clusters

   https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stab3764  

   Todoroki, Keita ; Medvedev, Mikhail V ( January 2022 , Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society)

   ABSTRACT A possibility of DM being multicomponent has a strong implication on resolving decades-long known cosmological problems on small scale. In addition to elastic scattering, the model allows for inelastic interactions, which can be characterized by a ‘velocity kick’ parameter. The simplest 2cDM model with cross-section $0.01\lesssim \sigma /m\lt 1\, \textrm {cm}^{2}{ \rm g}^{-1}$ and the kick velocity $V_{\mathrm{ k}}\simeq 100\, \rm {km\, s}^{-1}$ have been shown to robustly resolve the missing satellites, core-cusp, and too-big-to-fail problems in N-body cosmological simulations tested on Milky Way (MW)-like haloes of a virial mass ${\sim}5 \times 10^{11}\, {\rm M_{\odot }}$ (Papers I & II). With the aim of further constraining the parameter space available for the 2cDM model, we extend our analysis to dwarf and galaxy cluster haloes with their virial mass of ∼107−108 and ${\sim}10^{13} - 10^{14}\, {\rm M_{\odot }}$, respectively. We find that σ0/m ≳ 0.1 cm2g−1 is preferentially disfavoured for both dwarfs and galaxy cluster haloes in comparison with observations, while σ0/m = 0.001 cm2g−1 causes little perceptible difference from that of the CDM counterpart for most of the cross-section’s velocity dependence studied in this work. Our main result is that within the reasonable set of parameters, the 2cDM model can successfully explain themore »observational trends seen in dwarf galaxy and galaxy cluster haloes, and the model leaves us an open window for other possible alternative DM models.« less
4. The Milky Way’s halo and subhaloes in self-interacting dark matter

   https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stz2345  

   Robles, Victor H. ; Kelley, Tyler ; Bullock, James S. ; Kaplinghat, Manoj ( September 2019 , Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society)

   We perform high-resolution simulations of an MW-like galaxy in a self-interacting cold dark matter model with elastic cross-section over mass of $1~\rm cm^2\, g^{-1}$ (SIDM) and compare to a model without self-interactions (CDM). We run our simulations with and without a time-dependent embedded potential to capture effects of the baryonic disc and bulge contributions. The CDM and SIDM simulations with the embedded baryonic potential exhibit remarkably similar host halo profiles, subhalo abundances, and radial distributions within the virial radius. The SIDM host halo is denser in the centre than the CDM host and has no discernible core, in sharp contrast to the case without the baryonic potential (core size ${\sim}7 \, \rm kpc$). The most massive subhaloes (with $V_{\mathrm{peak}}\gt 20 \, \rm km\, s^{-1}$) in our SIDM simulations, expected to host the classical satellite galaxies, have density profiles that are less dense than their CDM analogues at radii less than 500 pc but the deviation diminishes for less massive subhaloes. With the baryonic potential included in the CDM and SIDM simulations, the most massive subhaloes do not display the too-big-to-fail problem. However, the least dense among the massive subhaloes in both these simulations tend to have the smallest pericenter values,more »a trend that is not apparent among the bright MW satellite galaxies.

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5. Satellite mass functions and the faint end of the galaxy mass–halo mass relation in LCDM

   https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stac2057  

   Santos-Santos, Isabel M. E. ; Sales, Laura V. ; Fattahi, Azadeh ; Navarro, Julio F. ( July 2022 , Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society)

   The abundance of the faintest galaxies provides insight into the nature of dark matter and the process of dwarf galaxy formation. In the LCDM scenario, low-mass haloes are so numerous that the efficiency of dwarf formation must decline sharply with decreasing halo mass in order to accommodate the relative scarcity of observed dwarfs and satellites in the Local Group. The nature of this decline contains important clues to the mechanisms regulating the onset of galaxy formation in the faintest systems. We explore here two possible models for the stellar mass (M*)–halo mass (M200) relation at the faint end, motivated by some of the latest LCDM cosmological hydrodynamical simulations. One model includes a sharp mass threshold below which no luminous galaxies form, as expected if galaxy formation proceeds only in systems above the hydrogen-cooling limit. In the second model, M* scales as a steep power law of M200 with no explicit cut-off, as suggested by recent semi-analytical work. Although both models predict satellite numbers around Milky Way-like galaxies consistent with current observations, they predict vastly different numbers of ultrafaint dwarfs and of satellites around isolated dwarf galaxies. Our results illustrate how the satellite mass function around dwarfs may be usedmore »to probe the M*–M200 relation at the faint end and to elucidate the mechanisms that determine which low-mass haloes ‘light up’ or remain dark in the LCDM scenario.

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