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Galaxy clusters are unique laboratories for studying astrophysical processes and their impact on halo gas kinematics. Despite their importance, the full complexity of gas motion within and around these clusters remains poorly known. This paper is part of a series presenting the first results from the new TNG-Cluster simulation, a suite comprising 352 high-mass galaxy clusters including the full cosmological context, mergers and accretion, baryonic processes and feedback, and magnetic fields. Studying the dynamics and coherence of gas flows, we find that gas motions in galaxy cluster cores and intermediate regions are largely balanced between inflows and outflows, exhibiting a Gaussian distribution centered at zero velocity. In the outskirts, even the net velocity distribution becomes asymmetric, featuring a double peak where the second peak reflects cosmic accretion. Across all cluster regions, the resulting net flow distribution reveals complex gas dynamics. These are strongly correlated with halo properties: at a given total cluster mass, unrelaxed, late-forming halos with fewer massive black holes and lower accretion rates exhibit a more dynamic behavior. Our analysis shows no clear relationship between line-of-sight and radial gas velocities, suggesting that line-of-sight velocity alone is insufficient to distinguish between inflowing and outflowing gas. Additional properties, such as temperature, can help break this degeneracy. A velocity structure function (VSF) analysis indicates more coherent gas motion in the outskirts and more disturbed kinematics toward halo centers. In all cluster regions, the VSF shows a slope close to the theoretical models of Kolmogorov (∼1/3), except within 50 kpc of the cluster centers, where the slope is significantly steeper. The outcome of TNG-Cluster broadly aligns with observations of the VSF of multiphase gas across different scales in galaxy clusters, ranging from ∼1 kpc to megaparsec scales. 

ABSTRACT The velocity dispersion of globular clusters (GCs) around ultra-diffuse galaxies (UDGs) in the Virgo cluster spans a wide range, including cases where GC kinematics suggest haloes as massive as (or even more massive than) that of the Milky Way around these faint dwarfs. We analyse the catalogues of GCs derived in post-processing from the TNG50 cosmological simulation to study the GC system kinematics and abundance of simulated UDGs in galaxy groups and clusters. UDGs in this simulation reside exclusively in dwarf-mass haloes with M200 ≲ 1011.2 M⊙. When considering only GCs gravitationally bound to simulated UDGs, we find GCs properties that overlap well with several observational measurements for UDGs. In particular, no bias towards overly massive haloes is inferred from the study of bound GCs, confirming that GCs are good tracers of UDG halo mass. However, we find that contamination by intracluster GCs may, in some cases, substantially increase velocity dispersion estimates when performing projected mock observations of our sample. We caution that targets with less than 10 GC tracers are particularly prone to severe uncertainties. Measuring the stellar kinematics of the host galaxy should help confirm the unusually massive haloes suggested by GC kinematics around some UDGs. 

Abstract We present rest-frame optical spectra from Keck/MOSFIRE and Keck/NIRES of 16 candidate ultramassive galaxies targeted as part of the Massive Ancient Galaxies atz> 3 Near-Infrared Survey (MAGAZ3NE). These candidates were selected to have photometric redshifts 3 ≲z_phot<4, photometric stellar masses $\log \left(M_{\ast }/M_{\odot }\right)$> 11.7, and well-sampled photometric spectral energy distributions (SEDs) from the UltraVISTA and VIDEO surveys. In contrast to previous spectroscopic observations of blue star-forming and poststarburst ultramassive galaxies, candidates in this sample have very red SEDs implying significant dust attenuation, old stellar ages, and/or active galactic nuclei (AGN). Of these galaxies, eight are revealed to be heavily dust-obscured 2.0 <z< 2.7 galaxies with strong emission lines, some showing broad features indicative of AGN, three are Type I AGN hosts atz> 3, one is az∼ 1.2 dusty galaxy, and four galaxies do not have a confirmed spectroscopic redshift. In fact, none of the sample has ∣z_spec−z_phot∣ < 0.5, suggesting difficulties for photometric redshift programs in fitting similarly red SEDs. The prevalence of these red interloper galaxies suggests that the number densities of high-mass galaxies are overestimated atz≳ 3 in large photometric surveys, helping to resolve the “impossibly early galaxy problem” and leading to much better agreement with cosmological galaxy simulations. A more complete spectroscopic survey of ultramassive galaxies is required to pin down the uncertainties on their number densities in the early Universe. 

Abstract In a novel approach employing implicit likelihood inference (ILI), also known as likelihood-free inference, we calibrate the parameters of cosmological hydrodynamic simulations against observations, which has previously been unfeasible due to the high computational cost of these simulations. For computational efficiency, we train neural networks as emulators on ∼1000 cosmological simulations from the CAMELS project to estimate simulated observables, taking as input the cosmological and astrophysical parameters, and use these emulators as surrogates for the cosmological simulations. Using the cosmic star formation rate density (SFRD) and, separately, the stellar mass functions (SMFs) at different redshifts, we perform ILI on selected cosmological and astrophysical parameters (Ω m , σ 8 , stellar wind feedback, and kinetic black hole feedback) and obtain full six-dimensional posterior distributions. In the performance test, the ILI from the emulated SFRD (SMFs) can recover the target observables with a relative error of 0.17% (0.4%). We find that degeneracies exist between the parameters inferred from the emulated SFRD, confirmed with new full cosmological simulations. We also find that the SMFs can break the degeneracy in the SFRD, which indicates that the SMFs provide complementary constraints for the parameters. Further, we find that a parameter combination inferred from an observationally inferred SFRD reproduces the target observed SFRD very well, whereas, in the case of the SMFs, the inferred and observed SMFs show significant discrepancies that indicate potential limitations of the current galaxy formation modeling and calibration framework, and/or systematic differences and inconsistencies between observations of the SMFs. 

Abstract The driving of turbulence in galaxies is deeply connected with the physics of feedback, star formation, outflows, accretion, and radial transport in disks. The velocity dispersion of gas in galaxies therefore offers a promising observational window into these processes. However, the relative importance of each of these mechanisms remains controversial. In this work we revisit the possibility that turbulence on galactic scales is driven by the direct impact of accreting gaseous material on the disk. We measure this effect in a disk-like star-forming galaxy in IllustrisTNG, using the high-resolution cosmological magnetohydrodynamical simulation TNG50. We employ Lagrangian tracer particles with a high time cadence of only a few million years to identify accretion and other events. The energies of particles are measured by stacking the events in bins of time around the event. The average effect of each event is measured by fitting explicit models for the kinetic and turbulent energies as a function of time. These measurements are corroborated by cross-correlating the turbulent energy with other time series and searching for signals of causality, i.e., asymmetries across zero time lag. We find that accretion contributes to the large-scale turbulent kinetic energy even if it does not dominate in this ∼5 × 10 9 M ⊙ stellar mass galaxy. Extrapolating this finding to a range of galaxy masses, we find that there are regimes where energy from direct accretion may dominate the turbulent energy budget, particularly in disk outskirts, galaxies less massive than the Milky Way, and at redshift ∼2. 

ABSTRACT The flow of gas into and out of galaxies leaves traces in the circumgalactic medium which can then be studied using absorption lines towards background quasars. We analyse 27 $${{\log [N({\textrm {H}}\, {\small {I}})/\rm {cm}^{-2}]}} > 18.0$$ H i absorbers at z = 0.2 to 1.4 from the MUSE-ALMA Haloes survey with at least one galaxy counterpart within a line of sight velocity of ±500 km s−1. We perform 3D kinematic forward modelling of these associated galaxies to examine the flow of dense, neutral gas in the circumgalactic medium. From the VLT/MUSE, HST broad-band imaging, and VLT/UVES and Keck/HIRES high-resolution UV quasar spectroscopy observations, we compare the impact parameters, star-formation rates, and stellar masses of the associated galaxies with the absorber properties. We find marginal evidence for a bimodal distribution in azimuthal angles for strong H i absorbers, similar to previous studies of the Mg ii and O vi absorption lines. There is no clear metallicity dependence on azimuthal angle, and we suggest a larger sample of absorbers is required to fully test the relationship predicted by cosmological hydrodynamical simulations. A case-by-case study of the absorbers reveals that ten per cent of absorbers are consistent with gas accretion, up to 30 per cent trace outflows, and the remainder trace gas in the galaxy disc, the intragroup medium, and low-mass galaxies below the MUSE detection limit. Our results highlight that the baryon cycle directly affects the dense neutral gas required for star-formation and plays a critical role in galaxy evolution. 

ABSTRACT We present a post-processing catalogue of globular clusters (GCs) for the 39 most massive groups and clusters in the TNG50 simulation of the IlllustrisTNG project (virial masses $$M_{200} =[5\times 10^{12} \rm {\!-\!} 2 \times 10^{14}$$] M⊙). We tag GC particles to all galaxies with stellar mass M* ≥ 5 × 106 M⊙, and we calibrate their masses to reproduce the observed power-law relation between GC mass and halo mass for galaxies with M200 ≥ 1011 M⊙ (corresponding to M* ∼ 109 M⊙). Here, we explore whether an extrapolation of this MGC–M200 relation to lower mass dwarfs is consistent with current observations. We find a good agreement between our predicted number and specific frequency of GCs in dwarfs with $$\rm {\it M}_*=[5 \times 10^6 \rm {\!-\!} 10^9]$$ M⊙ and observations. Moreover, we predict a steep decline in the GC occupation fraction for dwarfs with M* < 109 M⊙ that agrees well with current observational constraints. This declining occupation fraction is due to a combination of tidal stripping in all dwarfs plus a stochastic sampling of the GC mass function for dwarfs with M* < 107.5 M⊙. Our simulations also reproduce available constraints on the abundance of intracluster GCs in Virgo and Centaurus A. These successes provide support to the hypothesis that the MGC–M200 relation holds, albeit with more scatter, all the way down to the regime of classical dwarf spheroidals in these environments. Our GC catalogues are publicly available as part of the IllustrisTNG data release. 

ABSTRACT We post-process galaxies in the IllustrisTNG simulations with skirt radiative transfer calculations to make predictions for the rest-frame near-infrared (NIR) and far-infrared (FIR) properties of galaxies at z ≥ 4. The rest-frame K- and z-band galaxy luminosity functions from TNG are overall consistent with observations, despite $${\sim}0.5\, \mathrm{dex}$$ underprediction at z = 4 for MK ≲ −25 and Mz ≲ −24. Predictions for the JWST MIRI observed galaxy luminosity functions and number counts are given. Based on theoretical estimations, we show that the next-generation survey conducted by JWST can detect 500 (30) galaxies in F1000W in a survey area of $$500\, {\rm arcmin}^{2}$$ at z = 6 (z = 8). As opposed to the consistency in the UV, optical, and NIR, we find that TNG, combined with our dust modelling choices, significantly underpredicts the abundance of most dust-obscured and thus most luminous FIR galaxies. As a result, the obscured cosmic star formation rate density (SFRD) and the SFRD contributed by optical/NIR dark objects are underpredicted. The discrepancies discovered here could provide new constraints on the sub-grid feedback models, or the dust contents, of simulations. Meanwhile, although the TNG predicted dust temperature and its relations with IR luminosity and redshift are qualitatively consistent with observations, the peak dust temperature of z ≥ 6 galaxies are overestimated by about $$20\, {\rm K}$$. This could be related to the limited mass resolution of our simulations to fully resolve the porosity of the interstellar medium (or specifically its dust content) at these redshifts. 

Abstract The circumgalactic medium (CGM) contains information on gas flows around galaxies, such as accretion and supernova-driven winds, which are difficult to constrain from observations alone. Here, we use the high-resolution TNG50 cosmological magnetohydrodynamical simulation to study the properties and kinematics of the CGM around star-forming galaxies in 10 11.5 –10 12 M ⊙ halos at z ≃ 1 using mock Mg ii absorption lines, which we generate by postprocessing halos to account for photoionization in the presence of a UV background. We find that the Mg ii gas is a very good tracer of the cold CGM, which is accreting inward at inflow velocities of up to 50 km s −1 . For sight lines aligned with the galaxy’s major axis, we find that Mg ii absorption lines are kinematically shifted due to the cold CGM’s significant corotation at speeds up to 50% of the virial velocity for impact parameters up to 60 kpc. We compare mock Mg ii spectra to observations from the MusE GAs FLow and Wind (MEGAFLOW) survey of strong Mg ii absorbers (EW 2796 Å 0 > 0.5 Å). After matching the equivalent-width (EW) selection, we find that the mock Mg ii spectra reflect the diversity of observed kinematics and EWs from MEGAFLOW, even though the sight lines probe a very small fraction of the CGM. Mg ii absorption in higher-mass halos is stronger and broader than in lower-mass halos but has qualitatively similar kinematics. The median-specific angular momentum of the Mg ii CGM gas in TNG50 is very similar to that of the entire CGM and only differs from non-CGM components of the halo by normalization factors of ≲1 dex. 

ABSTRACT Direct collapse black holes (BHs) are promising candidates for producing massive z ≳ 6 quasars, but their formation requires fine-tuned conditions. In this work, we use cosmological zoom simulations to study systematically the impact of requiring: (1) low gas angular momentum (spin), and (2) a minimum incident Lyman–Werner (LW) flux in order to form BH seeds. We probe the formation of seeds (with initial masses of $$M_{\rm seed} \sim 10^4\!-\!10^6\, \mathrm{M}_{\odot }\, h^{-1})$$ in haloes with a total mass >3000 × Mseed and a dense, metal-poor gas mass >5 × Mseed. Within this framework, we find that the seed-forming haloes have a prior history of star formation and metal enrichment, but they also contain pockets of dense, metal-poor gas. When seeding is further restricted to haloes with low gas spins, the number of seeds formed is suppressed by factors of ∼6 compared to the baseline model, regardless of the seed mass. Seed formation is much more strongly impacted if the dense, metal-poor gas is required to have a critical LW flux (Jcrit). Even for Jcrit values as low as 50J21, no $$8\times 10^{5}~\mathrm{M}_{\odot }\, h^{-1}$$ seeds are formed. While lower mass ($$1.25\times 10^{4},1\times 10^{5}~\mathrm{M}_{\odot }\, h^{-1}$$) seeds do form, they are strongly suppressed (by factors of ∼10–100) compared to the baseline model at gas mass resolutions of $$\sim 10^4~\mathrm{M}_{\odot }\, h^{-1}$$ (with even stronger suppression at higher resolutions). As a result, BH merger rates are also similarly suppressed. Since early BH growth is dominated by mergers in our models, none of the seeds are able to grow to the supermassive regime ($$\gtrsim 10^6~\mathrm{M}_{\odot }\, h^{-1}$$) by z = 7. Our results hint that producing the bulk of the z ≳ 6 supermassive BH population may require alternate seeding scenarios that do not depend on the LW flux, early BH growth dominated by rapid or super-Eddington accretion, or a combination of these possibilities.