Reoriented Memory of Galaxy Spins for the Early Universe

Abstract

Galaxy spins are believed to retain the initially acquired tendency of being aligned with the intermediate principal axis of the linear tidal field, which disseminates the prospect of using them as a probe of early universe physics. This roseate prospect, however, is contingent upon the key assumption that the observable stellar spins of present galaxies measured at inner radii have the same alignment tendency toward the initial tidal field as their dark matter counterparts measured at virial limits. We test this assumption directly against a high-resolution hydrodynamical simulation by tracing the galaxy component particles back to the protogalactic stage. It is discovered that the galaxy stellar spins at z = 0 have strong but reoriented memory for the early universe, exhibiting a significant signal of cross-correlation with the major principal axis of the initial tidal field at z = 127. An analytic single-parameter model for this reorientation of the present galaxy stellar spins relative to the initial tidal field is devised and shown to be in good accord with the numerical results.