The chosen few: the low mass halos that host faint galaxies

Sawala, T, Frenk, CS, Fattahi, A, Navarro, JF, Theuns, T, Bower, RG, Crain, RA, Furlong, M, Jenkins, A, Schaller, M and Schaye, J (2016) The chosen few: the low mass halos that host faint galaxies. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 456 (1). pp. 85-97. ISSN 0035-8711

[thumbnail of 1406.6362.pdf]
Preview
Text
1406.6362.pdf - Published Version

Download (2MB) | Preview

Abstract

Since reionization prevents star formation in most halos below 3 x 10^9 solar masses, dwarf galaxies only populate a fraction of existing dark matter halos. We use hydrodynamic cosmological simulations of the Local Group to study the discriminating factors for galaxy formation in the early Universe and connect them to the present-day properties of galaxies and halos. A combination of selection effects related to reionization, and the subsequent evolution of halos in different environments, introduces strong biases between the population of halos that host dwarf galaxies, and the total halo population. Halos that host galaxies formed earlier and are more concentrated. In addition, halos more affected by tidal stripping are more likely to host a galaxy for a given mass or maximum circular velocity, vmax, today. Consequently, satellite halos are populated more frequently than field halos, and satellite halos of 10^8 - 10^9 solar masses or vmax of 12 - 20 km/s, similar to the Local Group dwarf spheroidals, have experienced a greater than average reduction in both mass and vmax after infall. They are on closer, more radial orbits with higher infall velocities and earlier infall times. Together, these effects make dwarf galaxies highly biased tracers of the underlying dark matter distribution.

Item Type: Article
Additional Information: This article has been accepted for publication in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society ©: 2016 The Authors. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Royal Astronomical Society. All rights reserved.
Uncontrolled Keywords: astro-ph.CO; astro-ph.CO; astro-ph.GA
Subjects: Q Science > QB Astronomy
Divisions: Astrophysics Research Institute
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Related URLs:
Date of acceptance: 3 November 2015
Date of first compliant Open Access: 2 March 2016
Date Deposited: 04 Nov 2015 14:59
Last Modified: 03 Aug 2022 07:52
URI: https://researchonline.ljmu.ac.uk/id/eprint/916
View Item View Item