Adiabatic Contraction Research Articles

An Explanation for the Observed Weak Size Evolution of Disk Galaxies

Surveys of distant galaxies with the Hubble Space Telescope and from the ground have shown that there is only mild evolution in the relationship between radial size and stellar mass for galactic disks from z ∼ 1 to the present day. Using a sample of nearby disk-dominated galaxies from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) and high-redshift data from the GEMS (Galaxy Evolution from Morphology and SEDs) survey, we investigate whether this result is consistent with theoretical expectations within the hierarchical paradigm of structure formation. The relationship between virial radius and mass for dark matter halos in the ΛCDM model evolves by about a factor of 2 over this interval. However, N-body simulations have shown that halos of a given mass have less centrally concentrated mass profiles at high redshift. When we compute the expected disk size-stellar mass distribution, accounting for this evolution in the internal structure of dark matter halos and the adiabatic contraction of the dark matter by the self-gravity of the collapsing baryons, we find that the predicted evolution in the mean size at fixed stellar mass since z ∼ 1 is about 15%-20%, in good agreement with the observational constraints from GEMS. At redshift z ∼ 2, the model predicts that disks at fixed stellar mass were on average only 60% as large as they are today. Similarly, we predict that the rotation velocity at a given stellar mass (essentially the zero point of the Tully-Fisher relation) is only about 10% larger at z ∼ 1 (20% at z ∼ 2) than at the present day.

Probing the Dark Matter and Gas Fraction in Relaxed Galaxy Groups with X‐Ray Observations fromChandraandXMM‐Newton

We present radial mass profiles within ~0.3rvir for 16 relaxed galaxy groups—poor clusters (kT range 1-3 keV) selected for optimal mass constraints from the Chandra and XMM-Newton data archives. After accounting for the mass of hot gas, the resulting mass profiles are described well by a two-component model consisting of dark matter, represented by an NFW model, and stars from the central galaxy. The stellar component is required only for eight systems, for which reasonable stellar mass-to-light ratios (M/LK) are obtained, assuming a Kroupa IMF. Modifying the NFW dark matter halo by adiabatic contraction does not improve the fit and yields systematically lower M/LK. In contrast to previous results for massive clusters, we find that the NFW concentration parameter (cvir) for groups decreases with increasing Mvir and is inconsistent with no variation at the 3 σ level. The normalization and slope of the cvir-Mvir relation are consistent with the standard ΛCDM cosmological model with σ8 = 0.9 (considering a 10% bias for early forming systems). The small intrinsic scatter measured about the cvir-Mvir relation implies that the groups represent preferentially relaxed, early forming systems. The mean gas fraction (f = 0.05 ± 0.01) of the groups measured within an overdensity Δ = 2500 is lower than for hot, massive clusters, but the fractional scatter (σf/f = 0.2) for groups is larger, implying a greater impact of feedback processes on groups, as expected.

Bright and dark matter in elliptical galaxies: mass and velocity distributions from self-consistent hydrodynamical simulations

[Abridged] We have analysed the mass and velocity distributions of two samples of relaxed elliptical-like-objects (ELOs) identified, at z=0, in a set of self-consistent hydrodynamical simulations operating in the context of a concordance cosmological model. Our analysis shows that they are embedded in extended, massive dark matter haloes, and they also have an extended corona of hot diffuse gas. Dark matter haloes have experienced adiabatic contraction along their assembly process. The relative ELO dark- to bright-mass content and space distributions show broken homology, and they are consistent with observational results on the dark matter fraction at the central regions, as well as on the gradients of the mass-to-light ratio profiles for boxy ellipticals, as a function of their stellar masses. These results indicate that massive ellipticals miss stars at their central regions, as compared with less massive ones. Our simulations indicate that these missing baryons could be found beyond the virial radii as a hot, diffuse plasma. The projected stellar mass profiles of our ELOs can be well fit by the S\'ersic (1968) formula. Parameters of these fits reproduce observational correlations of the shape parameter with size, luminosity and velocity dispersion. The total mass density profiles show a power-law behaviour over a large r/r_{vir} interval, consistent with data on massive lens ellipticals at shorter radii. The velocity dispersion profiles show kinematical segregation, with no systematic mass dependence and a positive anisotropy, roughly independent of the radial distance outside the central regions. The consistency with observations strongly suggests that they could also describe important intrinsic characteristics of real ellipticals, as well as some of their properties recently inferred from observational data.

A comparative analysis of the adiabatic stability of anisotropic spherically symmetric solutions in general relativity

A family of static solutions of the Einstein field equations with spherical symmetry for a locally anisotropic fluid with homogeneous energy density is obtained. These solutions depend on two adjustable parameters related to degree of anisotropy of the fluid. Some known solutions may be recovered for specific values of these parameters. As a difference to other known solutions it is possible to change the grade of anisotropy of the model, keeping the same functional dependence on the coordinates. By means of a slow adiabatic contraction, the stability of the obtained solutions is studied. Also, it is shown, how it is possible to enhance the stability of the models by adjusting the parameters, and to obtain more compact configurations than those obtained with other similar anisotropic solutions, while the dominant or strong energy condition holds within the sphere.

A Revised Model for the Formation of Disk Galaxies: Low Spin and Dark Halo Expansion

We use observed rotation velocity-luminosity (VL) and size-luminosity (RL) relations to single out a specific scenario for disk galaxy formation in the ΛCDM cosmology. Our model involves four independent lognormal random variables: dark halo concentration c, disk spin λgal, disk mass fraction mgal, and stellar mass-to-light ratio ϒI. A simultaneous match of the VL and RL zero points with adiabatic contraction requires low-c halos, but this model has V2.2 ~ 1.8Vvir (where V2.2 and Vvir are the circular velocity at 2.2 disk scale lengths and the virial radius, respectively), which will be unable to match the luminosity function (LF). Similarly models without adiabatic contraction but standard c also predict high values of V2.2/Vvir. Models in which disk formation induces an expansion rather than the commonly assumed contraction of the dark matter halos have V2.2 ~ 1.2Vvir, which allows a simultaneous fit of the LF. This may result from nonspherical, clumpy gas accretion, where dynamical friction transfers energy from the gas to the dark matter. This model requires low λgal and mgal values, contrary to naive expectations. However, the low λgal is consistent with the notion that disk galaxies predominantly survive in halos with a quiet merger history, while a low mgal is also indicated by galaxy-galaxy lensing. The smaller than expected scatter in the RL relation and the lack of correlation between the residuals of the VL and RL relations, respectively, imply that the scatter in λgal and in c needs to be smaller than predicted for ΛCDM halos, again consistent with the idea that disk galaxies preferentially reside in halos with a quiet merger history.

Baryonic pinching of galactic dark matter halos

High resolution cosmological N-body simulations of four galaxy-scale dark matter halos are compared to corresponding N-body/hydrodynamical simulations containing dark matter, stars and gas. The simulations without baryons share features with others described in the literature in that the dark matter density slope continuously decreases towards the center, with a density \rho~r^{-1.3+/-0.2}, at about 1% of the virial radius for our Milky Way sized galaxies. The central cusps in the simulations which also contain baryons steepen significantly, to \rho~r^{-1.9+/-0.2}, with an indication of the inner logarithmic slope converging. Models of adiabatic contraction of dark matter halos due to the central build-up of stellar/gaseous galaxies are examined. The simplest and most commonly used model, by Blumenthal et al., is shown to overestimate the central dark matter density considerably. A modified model proposed by Gnedin et al. is shown to be a considerable improvement, but not perfect. Moreover it is found that the contraction parameters not only depend on the orbital structure of the dark-matter-only halos but also on the stellar feedback prescription which is most relevant for the baryonic distribution. Implications for dark matter annihilation at the galactic center are discussed and it is found that although our simulations show a considerable reduced halo contraction as compared to the Blumenthal et al. model, the fluxes from dark matter annihilation is still expected to be enhanced by at least a factor of a hundred as compared to dark-matter-only halos. Finally, it is shown that while dark-matter-only halos are typically prolate, the dark matter halos containing baryons are mildly oblate with minor-to-major axis ratios of c/a=0.73+/-0.11, with their flattening aligned with the central baryonic disks.

Dark matter halo response to the disc growth

We consider the sensitivity of the circular-orbit adiabatic contraction approximation to the baryon condensation rate and the orbital structure of dark matter halos in theCDM paradigm. Using one-dimensional hydrodynamic simulations including the dark matter halo mass accretion history and gas cooling, we demonstrate that the adia- batic approximation is approximately valid even though halos and disks may assemble simultaneously. We further demonstrate the validity of the simple approximation for �CDM halos with isotropic velocity distributions using three-dimensional N-body sim- ulations. This result is easily understood: an isotropic velocity distribution in a cuspy halo requires more circular orbits than radial orbits. Conversely, the approximation is poor in the extreme case of a radial orbit halo. It overestimates the response a core dark matter halo, where radial orbit fraction is larger. Because no astronomically relevant models are dominated by low-angular momentum orbits in the vicinity of the disk and the growth time scale is never shorter than a dynamical time, we conclude that the adiabatic contraction approximation is useful in modeling the response of dark matter halos to the growth of a disk.

The Absence of Adiabatic Contraction of the Radial Dark Matter Profile in the Galaxy Cluster A2589

We present an X-ray analysis of the radial mass profile of the radio-quiet galaxy cluster A2589 between 0.015 and 0.25rvir, using an XMM-Newton observation. Except for a ≈16 kpc shift of the X-ray center of the R = 45-60 kpc annulus, A2589 possesses a remarkably symmetrical X-ray image and is therefore an exceptional candidate for precision studies of its mass profile by applying hydrostatic equilibrium. The total gravitating matter profile is well described by the NFW model with cvir = 6.1 ± 0.3 and Mvir = 3.3 ± 0.3 × 1014 M☉ (rvir = 1.74 ± 0.05 Mpc), in excellent agreement with ΛCDM. When the mass of the hot intracluster medium is subtracted from the gravitating matter profile, the NFW model fitted to the resulting dark matter (DM) profile produces essentially the same result. However, when accounting for the stellar mass (M*) of the cD galaxy, the NFW fit to the DM profile substantially degrades in the central r ~ 50 kpc for reasonable values of M*/LV. Modifying the NFW DM halo by adiabatic contraction arising from the early condensation of stellar baryons in the cD galaxy further degrades the fit. The fit is improved substantially with a Sersic-like model recently suggested by high-resolution N-body simulations but with an inverse Sersic index, α ~ 0.5, that is a factor of ~3 higher than predicted. We argue that neither random turbulent motions nor magnetic fields can provide sufficient nonthermal pressure support to reconcile the XMM-Newton mass profile with adiabatic contraction of a CDM halo, assuming reasonable values of M*/LV. Our results support the scenario in which, at least for galaxy clusters, processes during halo formation counteract adiabatic contraction so that the total gravitating mass in the core approximately follows the NFW profile.

Massive Elliptical Galaxies: From Cores to Halos

In the context of recent observational results that show massive ellipticals were in place at high redshifts, we reassess the status of monolithic collapse in a ΛCDM universe. Using a sample of over 2000 galaxies from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, by comparing the dynamical mass and stellar mass (estimated from colors) we find that ellipticals have "cores" that are baryon-dominated within their half-light radius. These galaxies correspond to 3 σ peaks in the spherical collapse model if the total mass in the halo is assumed to be 20 times the dynamical mass within the half-light radius. This value yields stellar mass-to-total mass ratios of 8%, compared to a cosmological baryon fraction of 18% derived from the first 3 years of WMAP observations alone. We further develop a method for reconstructing the concentration halo parameter c of the progenitors of these galaxies by utilizing adiabatic contraction. Although the analysis is done within the framework of monolithic collapse, the resulting distribution of c is lognormal with a peak value of c ~ 3-10 and a distribution width similar to the results of N-body simulations. We also derive scaling relations between stellar and dynamical mass and the velocity dispersion, and find that these are sufficient to recover the tilt of the fundamental plane.

A New Mass Model for M31

AbstractA new mass model for M31 is presented. The best possible baryonic mass profile for M31 is derived from the 2MASS Ks-band image and M/L ratios from Bell et al. (2003). The best fitting rotation curve is then found within the context of ΛCDM disk galaxy formation. We find that M31 is well-described by a model that includes an adiabatically contracted halo, with an initial NFW concentration, c = 20. Models without adiabatic contraction fail to reproduce the observed rotation curve at r>15 kpc. The derived halo virial mass is Mvir = (9.4 ± 0.8) × 1011M⊙, consistent with masses derived from other observational methods.

Dark Matter Halos of Disk Galaxies: Constraints from the Tully‐Fisher Relation

We investigate structural properties of dark matter halos of disk galaxies in LCDM cosmology, using a well-defined sample of 81 disk-dominated galaxies from the SDSS redshift survey. We model the mass-velocity and fundamental plane relations of these galaxies, which are constructed from the galaxy stellar mass, disk scale length, and optical Halpha rotation velocity at 2.2 scale lengths. We calculate a sequence of model galaxy populations, defined by the distribution of the stellar disk-to-total mass fraction, m_d. We include the effect of adiabatic contraction of dark matter halos in response to condensation of baryons. We find that models with constant m_d underpredict the intrinsic scatter of the TF and FP relations and predict an (unobserved) strong correlation between TF residuals. Introducing a scatter of disk mass fractions and allowing the mean value m_d to scale with the stellar surface density significantly improves observational match of both the slope and intercept of the TF relation and reduces the predicted residual correlation enough to be consistent with the data. Our best-fit models with a Kroupa stellar IMF over-produce the galaxy stellar mass function and predict the virial r-band mass-to-light ratios, M_vir/L_r, systematically lower than those inferred from galaxy-galaxy weak lensing and satellite dynamics. We investigate three possible solutions to these problems: (1) ignoring the effects of adiabatic contraction, (2) adopting a ``light'' stellar IMF, or (3) considering the lower halo concentrations predicted for a low cosmological power spectrum normalization. Any of these solutions yields acceptable residual correlations and relieves most of the observational tension between the TF relation and the galaxy stellar mass function (abridged).

Structure and adiabatic compression of dark matter halos: Simple analytic model

A simple analytical model for describing inner parts of dark matter halo is considered. It is assumed that dark matter density is power-law. The model deals with dark matter distribution function in phase space of adiabatic invariants (radial action and angular momentum). Two variants are considered for the angular part of the distribution function: narrow and broad distribution. The model allows to describe explicitly the process of adiabatic contraction of halo due to change of gravitational potential caused by condensation of baryonic matter in the centre. The modification of dark matter density in the centre is calculated, and is it shown that the standard algorithm of adiabatic contraction calculation overestimates the compressed halo density, especially in the case of strong radial anisotropy.

An improved model for contraction of dark matter haloes in response to condensation of baryons

The cooling of gas in the centres of dark matter haloes is expected to lead to a more concentrated dark matter distribution. The response of dark matter to the condensation of baryons is usually calculated using the model of adiabatic contraction, which assumes spherical symmetry and circular orbits. Following Gnedin et al., we improve this model by modifying the assumed invariant from M(r)r to M(r)r, where r and r are the current and orbit-averaged particle positions. We explore the effect of the bulge in the inner regions of the halo for different values of the bulge-to-disc mass ratio. We find that the bulge makes the velocity curve rise faster in the inner regions of the halo. We present an analytical fitting curve that describes the velocity curve of the halo after dissipation. The results should be useful for dark matter detection studies.

Dark and Baryonic Matter in Bright Spiral Galaxies. II. Radial Distributions for 34 Galaxies

We decompose the rotation curves of 34 bright spiral galaxies into baryonic and dark matter components. Stellar mass profiles are created by applying color-M/L relations to near-infrared and optical photometry. We find that the radial profile of the baryonic-to-dark-matter ratio is self-similar for all galaxies, when scaled to the radius at which the contribution of the baryonic mass to the rotation curve equals that of the dark matter (RX). We argue that this is due to the quasi-exponential nature of disks and rotation curves that are nearly flat after an initial rise. The radius RX is found to correlate most strongly with baryonic rotation speed, such that galaxies with RX measurements that lie further out in their disks rotate faster. This quantity also correlates very strongly with stellar mass, Hubble type, and observed rotation speed; B-band central surface brightness is less related to RX than these other galaxy properties. Most of the galaxies in our sample appear to be close to maximal disk. For these galaxies, we find that maximum observed rotation speeds are tightly correlated with maximum rotation speeds predicted from the baryon distributions, such that one can create a Tully-Fisher relation based on surface photometry and redshifts alone. Finally, we compare our data to the NFW parameterization for dark matter profiles with and without including adiabatic contraction as it is most commonly implemented. Fits are generally poor, and all but two galaxies are better fit if adiabatic contraction is not performed. In order to have better fits, and especially to accommodate adiabatic contraction, baryons would need to contribute very little to the total mass in the inner parts of galaxies, seemingly in contrast with other observational constraints.

Radial distribution and strong lensing statistics of satellite galaxies and substructure using high-resolution CDM hydrodynamical simulations

We analyse the number density and radial distribution of substructures and satellite galaxies using cosmological simulations that follow the gas dynamics of a baryonic component, including shock heating, radiative cooling and star formation within the hierarchical concordance Lambda cold dark matter model. We find that the dissipation of the baryons greatly enhances the survival of subhaloes, especially in the galaxy core, resulting in a radial distribution of satellite galaxies that closely follows the overall mass distribution. Hydrodynamical simulations are necessary to resolve the adiabatic contraction and dense cores of galaxies, resulting in a total number of satellites a factor of 2 larger than that found in pure dark matter simulation, in good agreement with the observed spatial distribution of satellite galaxies within galaxies and clusters. Convergence tests show that the cored distribution found by previous authors in pure N-body simulations was due to the physical overmerging of dark matter only structures. We proceed to use a ray-shooting technique in order to study the impact of these additional substructures on the number of violations of the cusp caustic magnification relation. We develop a new approach to try to disentangle the effect of substructures from the intrinsic discreteness of N-body simulations. Even with the increased number of substructures in the centres of galaxies, we are not able to reproduce the observed high numbers of discrepancies observed in the flux ratios of multiply lensed quasars.

Contraction of Dark Matter Halos in Response to Condensation of Baryons

The cooling of baryons in the centers of dark matter halos leads to a more concentrated dark matter distribution. This effect has traditionally been calculated using the model of adiabatic contraction, which assumes spherical symmetry, while in hierarchical formation scenarios halos grow via multiple violent mergers. We test the adiabatic contraction model in high-resolution cosmological simulations and find that the dissipation of gas indeed increases the density of dark matter and steepens its radial profile compared to the case without cooling. Although the standard model systematically overpredicts the increase of dark matter density, a simple modification of the assumed invariant from M(r)r to M( )r, where is the orbit-averaged particle position, reproduces the simulated profiles within 10%.

The Dark Halo of NGC 5963 as a Constraint on Dark Matter Self‐Interaction at the Low‐Velocity Regime

Self-interacting dark matter has been proposed as a hypothesis to explain the shallow central slopes of the density profiles of dark matter halos in galaxies. In order to be consistent with observational studies at scales of galaxy clusters, the cross section should scale inversely with the velocity of collision. In this paper we consider the mass density profile of the halo of the low surface brightness (LSB) galaxy NGC 5963 to place an upper limit on the dark matter cross section for collisions with velocities ~150 km s-1, i.e., at the low-velocity regime. After calibrating against cosmological simulations, we found that the large inferred dark matter concentration and central dark matter density in NGC 5963 are inconsistent with an effective collisional cross section per unit of mass >0.2 cm2 g-1. Corrections were applied in order to account for reduction of the core by the adiabatic contraction caused by cooling baryons. Our limits, which involve a number of simplifying, but always conservative, assumptions, exclude the last permitted interval for velocity-dependent cross sections to explain the flat density core in LSB galaxies. Implications for the nature of dark matter are also discussed.

Mass Modeling of Disk Galaxies: Degeneracies, Constraints, and Adiabatic Contraction

This paper addresses available constraints on mass models fitted to rotation curves. Mass models of disk galaxies have well-known degeneracies that prevent a unique mass decomposition. The most notable is due to the unknown value of the stellar mass-to-light ratio (the disk-halo degeneracy); even with this known, degeneracies between the halo parameters themselves may prevent an unambiguous determination of the shape of the dark halo profile, which includes the inner density slope of the dark matter halo. The latter is often referred to as the We explore constraints on the disk and halo parameters and apply these to four mock and six observed disk galaxies with high resolution and extended rotation curves. Our full set of constraints consists of mass-to-light (M/L) ratios from stellar population synthesis models based on B - R colors, constraints on halo parameters from N-body simulations, and constraining the halo virial velocity to be less than the maximum observed velocity. These constraints are only partially successful in lifting the cusp-core degeneracy. The effect of adiabatic contraction of the halo by the disk is to steepen cores into cusps and reduce the best-fit halo concentration and M/L values (often significantly). We also discuss the effect of disk thickness, halo flattening, distance errors, and rotation curve error values on mass modeling. Increasing the imposed minimum rotation curve error from typically low, underestimated values to more realistic estimates decreases the χ2 substantially and makes distinguishing between a cuspy or cored halo profile even more difficult. In spite of the degeneracies and uncertainties present, our constrained mass modeling favors submaximal disks (i.e., a dominant halo) at 2.2 disk scale lengths, with Vdisk/Vtot 0.6. This result holds for both the unbarred and weakly barred galaxies in our sample.

Response of Dark Matter Halos to Condensation of Baryons: Cosmological Simulations and Improved Adiabatic Contraction Model

The cooling of gas in the centers of dark matter halos is expected to lead to a more concentrated dark matter distribution. The response of dark matter to the condensation of baryons is usually calculated using the model of adiabatic contraction, which assumes spherical symmetry and circular orbits. In contrast, halos in the hierarchical structure formation scenarios grow via multiple violent mergers and accretion along filaments, and particle orbits in the halos are highly eccentric. We study the effects of the cooling of gas in the inner regions of halos using high-resolution cosmological simulations which include gas dynamics, radiative cooling, and star formation. We find that the dissipation of gas indeed increases the density of dark matter and steepens its radial profile in the inner regions of halos compared to the case without cooling. For the first time, we test the adiabatic contraction model in cosmological simulations and find that the standard model systematically overpredicts the increase of dark matter density in the inner 5% of the virial radius. We show that the model can be improved by a simple modification of the assumed invariant from M(r)r to M(r_av)r, where r and r_av are the current and orbit-averaged particle positions. This modification approximately accounts for orbital eccentricities of particles and reproduces simulation profiles to within 10-20%. We present analytical fitting functions that accurately describe the transformation of the dark matter profile in the modified model and can be used for interpretation of observations.

The baryonic mass-velocity relation: clues to feedback processes during structure formation and the cosmic baryon inventory

We show that a global relation between baryonic mass and virial velocity can be constructed from the scale of dwarf galaxies up to that of rich galaxy clusters. The slope of this relation is close to that expected if dark matter halos form in the standard hierarchical cosmogony and capture a universal baryon fraction, once the details of halo structure and the adiabatic contraction of halos due to cooling gas are taken into account. The scatter and deficiency of baryons within low mass halos ($V_{vir} < 50$ km/s) is consistent with the expected suppression of gas accretion by photo-evaporation due to the cosmic UV background at high redshift. The data are not consistent with significant gas removal from strong supernovae winds unless the velocities of galaxies measured from their gas kinematics are significantly lower than the true halo velocities for objects with $V_{vir} < 100$ km/s. Thus models such as $\Lambda$CDM with a steep mass function of halos may find it difficult to reproduce both the baryonic mass-velocity relation presented here whilst at the same time reproducing the flat luminosity/HI function of galaxies. Galaxies hold about 10% of the baryons in the Universe, which is close to the collapsed mass fraction expected within hierarchical models on these scales, suggesting a high efficiency for galaxy formation. Most of the baryons are expected to be evenly distributed between diffuse intergalactic gas in low density environments and the intra-galactic medium within galaxy groups.