Tully-Fisher Research Articles

Morpho-kinematics of MACS J0416.1-2403 low-mass galaxies

We use optical integral field spectroscopy from VLT/MUSE, as well as photometric observations from Hubble Space Telescope and VLT/HAWK-I, to study the morpho-kinematics of 17 low-mass (log(M/M⊙) < 9.5) MACS J0416.1-2403 cluster galaxies at R200 and five field galaxies with a redshift of z ∼ 0.4. By measuring fluxes of strong emission lines from the MUSE data, we have recovered the star formation rates, gas-phase metallicities, and spatially resolved gas kinematics, and we have also investigated the ionising mechanisms. We have analysed the structure and morphology of the galaxies from the optical and infrared photometric data, performing a multi-component decomposition into a bulge and a disk. The spatially resolved gas velocity fields of the cluster members and field galaxies were modelled using a 3D approach, which allowed us to retrieve their intrinsic gas kinematics, including the maximum rotation velocity and velocity dispersion. This enabled us to study scaling relations such as the Tully–Fisher and the stellar mass–S0.5 relation for low-mass galaxies in different environments and to search for signatures of cluster-specific processes using disturbed gas velocity fields as tracers. Most galaxies from our sample fall in the star-forming and composite region in the diagnostic diagram, which allows for the ionising sources in a galaxy to be disentangled. The cluster and field population can be classified as star-forming main-sequence galaxies, with only a sub-sample of four quenched systems. We observe significant scatter for the cluster galaxies in the mass-metallicity plane, and the lowest-mass systems deviate from the predictions of the fundamental metallicity relation, showing higher metallicities, whereas the higher-mass ones are in accordance with the model predictions. This might hint at the cutoff of pristine gas inflow and/or the removal of the hot halo gas as the mechanisms driving these offsets. Our morpho-kinematic analysis reveals a sub-sample of dwarfs with maximum velocities vmax < 50 km s−1 and vmax, gas/σgas < 1, which depart from the Tully–Fisher relation. This might indicate that their interstellar medium is affected by external environmental processes, such as ram pressure stripping. However, ∼30% of the cluster galaxies have rotation-dominated gas disks and follow the Tully–Fisher relation within 1σ. Using the S0.5 parameter, which links the dynamical support of ordered motions with that of random motions, we can differentiate between galaxies affected by gravitational processes and systems affected by hydrodynamical ones. In the stellar mass–S0.5 plane, both cluster and field galaxies follow a tight sequence, with only a sub-population of five galaxies strongly departing (> 4σ) from this relation, showing high σgas values. Both the morphology and kinematics of the outlier galaxies hint at a combination of pre-processing and cluster-specific interactions affecting their stellar and gas disks.

Dipolar dark matter simulations on galaxy scales with the ramses code

Abstract We numerically explore on galaxy scales the dipolar dark matter (DM) model based on the concept of gravitational polarization. This DM model has been proposed as a natural way to reproduce observed tight galactic scaling relations such as the baryonic Tully–Fisher relation and the Radial Acceleration Relation. We present a customized version of the RAMSES code including for the first time the dynamics of this Dipolar DM in N-body simulations. As a first application of this code, we check that we recover an equilibrium configuration that had been found analytically, where a low density Dipolar DM halo is at rest with respect to its central galaxy, recovering the aforementioned scaling relations. A characteristic signature of this equilibrium model is that it harbours a dynamical instability with a characteristic time depending on the Dipolar DM halo density, which we recover numerically. This represents a first step towards more involved simulations needed to test this framework, ranging from galaxy interactions to structure formation.

Scaling relations ofz∼ 0.25–1.5 galaxies in various environments from the morpho-kinematics analysis of the MAGIC sample

Context.The evolution of galaxies is influenced by many physical processes, which may vary depending on their environment.Aims.We combineHubbleSpace Telescope (HST) and Multi-Unit Spectroscopic Explorer (MUSE) data of galaxies at 0.25 ≲ z ≲ 1.5 to probe the impact of environment on the size-mass relation, the main sequence (MS) relation, and the Tully-Fisher relation (TFR).Methods.We perform a morpho-kinematics modelling of 593 [O II] emitters in various environments in the COSMOS area from the MUSE-gAlaxy Groups In Cosmos survey. The HST F814W images are modelled with a bulge-disk decomposition to estimate their bulge-disk ratio, effective radius, and disk inclination. We use the [O II]λλ3727, 3729 doublet to extract the galaxies’ ionised gas kinematics maps from the MUSE cubes, and we model those maps for a sample of 146 [O II] emitters, including bulge and disk components constrained from morphology and a dark matter halo.Results.We find an offset of 0.03 dex (1σsignificant) on the size-mass relation zero point between the field and the large structure sub-samples, with a richness threshold ofN = 10 to separate between small and large structures, and of 0.06 dex (2σ) withN = 20. Similarly, we find a 0.1 dex (2σ) difference on the MS relation withN = 10 and 0.15 dex (3σ) withN = 20. These results suggest that galaxies in massive structures are smaller by 14% and have star formation rates reduced by a factor of 1.3 − 1.5 with respect to field galaxies atz ≈ 0.7. Finally, we do not find any impact of the environment on the TFR, except when usingN = 20 with an offset of 0.04 dex (1σ). We discard the effect of quenching for the largest structures, which would lead to an offset in the opposite direction. We find that, atz ≈ 0.7, if quenching impacts the mass budget of galaxies in structures, these galaxies would have been affected quite recently and for roughly 0.7 − 1.5 Gyr. This result holds when including the gas mass but vanishes once we include the asymmetric drift correction.

Gravitational potential and galaxy rotation curves in multi-fractional spacetimes

Multi-fractional theories with integer-order derivatives are models of gravitational and matter fields living in spacetimes with variable Hausdorff and spectral dimension, originally proposed as descriptions of geometries arising in quantum gravity. We derive the Poisson equation and the Newtonian potential of these theories starting from their covariant modified Einstein’s equations. In particular, in the case of the theory Tv with weighted derivatives with small fractional corrections, we find a gravitational potential that grows logarithmically at large radii when the fractional exponent takes the special value α = 4/3. This behaviour is associated with a restoration law for the Hausdorff dimension of spacetime independently found in the dark-energy sector of the same theory. As an application, we check whether this potential can serve as an alternative to dark matter for the galaxies NGC7814, NGC6503 and NGC3741 in the SPARC catalogue. We show that their rotation curves at medium-to-large radii can indeed be explained by purely geometric effects, although the Tully-Fisher relation is not reproduced well. We discuss how to fix the small-radius behaviour by lifting some approximations and how to test the model with other observables and an enlarged galaxy sample.

Fingerprints of modified gravity on galaxies in voids

ABSTRACT We search for detectable signatures of f(R) gravity and its chameleon screening mechanism in the baryonic and dark matter (DM) properties of simulated void galaxies. The enhancement of the gravitational acceleration can have a meaningful impact on the scaling relations as well as on the halo morphology. The galaxy rotational velocity field (calculated with the velocity of the gas disc and the acceleration fields) deviates from the typical values of the Tully–Fisher Relation in General Relativity (GR). For a given stellar mass, f(R) gravity tends to produce greater maximum velocities. On the other hand, the mass in haloes in f(R) gravity is more concentrated than their counterparts in GR. This trend changes when the concentration is calculated with the dynamical density profile, which takes into account the unscreened outer regions of the halo. Stellar discs interact with the overall potential well in the central regions, modifying the morphology of the screening regions and reshaping them. We find a trend for galaxies with a more dominant stellar disc to deviate further from round screening regions. We find that small haloes are less triaxial and more round in f(R) than their GR counterparts. The difference between halo morphology becomes smaller in f(R) haloes whose inner regions are screened. These results suggest possible observables that could unveil modified gravity effects on galaxies in voids in future cosmological tests of gravity.

Search for a distance-dependent Baryonic Tully-Fisher Relation at low redshifts

A recent work (arXiv:2104.14481) has found a statistically significant transition in the Baryonic Tully-Fisher relation (BTFR) using low redshift data ($z<0.1$), with the transitions occurring at about 9 and 17 Mpc. Motivated by this finding, we carry out a variant of this analysis by fitting the data to an augmented BTFR, where both the exponent as well as normalization constant vary as a function of distance. We find that both the exponent and normalization constant show only a marginal variation with distance, and are consistent with a constant value, to within $2\sigma$. We also checked to see if there is a statistically significant difference between the BTFR results after bifurcating the dataset at distances of 9 and 17 Mpc. We find that almost all the sets of subsamples obey the BTFR with $\chi^2$/dof close to 1 and the best-fit parameters consistent across the subsamples. Only the subsample with $D<17$ Mpc shows a marginal discrepancy (at $1.75\sigma$) with respect to the BTFR. Therefore, we do not find any evidence for statistically significant differences in the BTFR at distances of 9 and 17 Mpc.

Implications of the correlation between bulge-to-total baryonic mass ratio and the number of satellites for SAGA galaxies

Context. We searched for correlations between the number of satellites and fundamental galactic properties for the Milky Way-like host galaxies in order to better understand their diverse satellite populations. We specifically aim to understand why galaxies that are very similar in stellar mass content, star formation rate, and local environment have very different numbers of satellites. Aims. Deep and extensive spectroscopic observations are needed to characterize the complete satellite luminosity function beyond the Local Group. One such endeavor is an ongoing Satellites of Galactic Analogs (SAGA) spectroscopic survey that has completed spectroscopic observations of 36 Milky Way-like galaxies within their virial radii down to the luminosity of Leo I dwarf galaxy. We correlated the number of satellites of SAGA galaxies with several fundamental properties of their hosts – including total specific angular momentum, which is considered to be well preserved throughout galaxy lifetime – in an attempt to identify the main driver of their diverse satellite populations. We aim to reveal some intrinsic galactic property decisive in making more or less satellites irrespective of baryonic mass or the environment in which galaxies reside. Methods. We modeled Spitzer Heritage Archive images of SAGA host galaxies at 3.6 and 4.5 microns with GALFIT code to obtain their stellar masses. We also searched the Extragalactic Database for information on their gas content and rotation velocities. Empirical correlations, like the baryonic Tully–Fisher relation and the stellar mass–size relation were used to exclude outliers. Results. All the available galactic properties from the literature along with measured stellar masses were correlated with the number of satellites and no significant correlation was found. However, when we considered the “expected” number of satellites based on the correlation between the baryonic bulge-to-total ratio and the number of satellites confirmed for several nearby galaxies then strong correlations emerge between this number and (1) the mass of the bulge, and (2) the total specific angular momentum. The first correlation is positive, implying that galaxies with more massive bulges have more satellites, as already confirmed. The second correlation with the angular momentum is negative, meaning that, the smaller the angular momentum, the greater the number of expected satellites. This would imply that either satellites cannot form if galaxy angular momentum is too high, or that satellites form inside-out, so that angular momentum is being transferred to the outer parts of the galaxies. However, deeper spectroscopic observations are needed to confirm these findings, because they rely on the expected rather than detected number of satellites. There was a luminosity limit to the SAGA survey equivalent to the luminosity of Leo I dwarf satellite of the Milky Way galaxy (the SAGA limit). In particular, correlations found in this work are very susceptible to the total number of satellites of the NGC 4158 galaxy. This galaxy is predicted to have many more satellites than detected up to the SAGA limit.

The Cen A galaxy group: Dynamical mass and missing baryons

The nearby elliptical galaxy Centaurus A (Cen A) is surrounded by a flattened system of dwarf satellite galaxies with coherent motions. Using a novel Bayesian approach, we measured the mean rotation velocity vrot and velocity dispersion σint of the satellite system. We found vrot/σint ≃ 0.7, indicating that the satellite system has non-negligible rotational support. Using Jeans’ equations, we measured a circular velocity of 258 km s−1 and a dynamical mass of 1.2 × 1013 M⊙ within 800 kpc. In a Λ cold dark matter cosmological context, we found that the Cen A group has a baryon fraction Mb/M200 ≃ 0.035 and is missing ∼77% of the cosmologically available baryons. Consequently, Cen A should have a hot intergalactic medium with a mass of ∼8 × 1011 M⊙, which is more than ∼20 times larger than current X-ray estimates. Intriguingly, the whole Cen A group lies on the baryonic Tully-Fisher relation defined by individual rotationally supported galaxies, as expected in Milgromian dynamics (MOND) with no need of missing baryons.

Accretion of Galaxies around Supermassive Black Holes and a Theoretical Model of the Tully-Fisher and M-Sigma Relations

The observed Tully-Fisher and Faber-Jackson laws between the baryonic mass of galaxies and the velocity of motion of stars at the edge of galaxies are explained within the framework of the model of accretion of galaxies around supermassive black holes (SMBH). The accretion model can also explain the M-sigma relation between the mass of a supermassive black hole and the velocity of stars in the bulge. The difference in the mechanisms of origin of elliptical galaxies with low angular momentum and disk galaxies with high angular momentum can be associated with 3D and 2D accretion.

Stellar Mass-to-light Ratios: Composite Bulge+Disk Models and the Baryonic Tully–Fisher Relation

Abstract We present stellar population models to calculate the mass-to-light ratio (ϒ*) based on galaxies’ colors ranging from GALEX far-UV to Spitzer IRAC1 at 3.6 μm. We present a new composite bulge+disk ϒ* model that considers the varying contribution from bulges and disks based on their optical and near-IR colors. Using these colors, we build plausible star formation histories and chemical enrichment scenarios based on the star formation rate–stellar mass and mass–metallicity correlations for star-forming galaxies. The most accurate prescription is to use the actual colors for the bulge and disk components to constrain ϒ*; however, a reasonable bulge+disk model plus total color only introduces 5% more uncertainty. Full bulge+disk ϒ* prescriptions applied to the baryonic Tully–Fisher relation improve the linearity of the correlation, increase the slope, and reduce the total scatter by 4%.

Emergence of galactic morphologies at cosmic dawn: input from numerical modelling

ABSTRACTWe employ a series of high-resolution zoom-in cosmological simulations to analyse the emerging morphology of main galaxies in dark matter haloes at z ≳ 2. We choose haloes of similar masses, ${\rm log}\, M_{\rm vir}/{\rm M_\odot }\sim 11.65\pm 0.05$, at the target zf = 6, 4, and 2. The rationale for this choice allows us to analyse how the different growth rate in these haloes propagates down to galaxy scales, affecting their basic parameters. Halos were embedded in high/low overdensity regions, and two versions of a galactic wind feedback were employed. Our main results are: (1) Although our galaxies evolve in different epochs, their global parameters remain within narrow range. Their morphology, kinematics, and stellar populations differ substantially, yet all host sub-kpc stellar bars; (2) The star formation rates appear higher for larger zf; (3) Bulges and stellar spheroids were separated by stellar kinematics, discy bulges were revealed using the Sersic method and photometry.The bulge-to-total mass ratios appear independent of the last merger time for all zf. The spheroid-to-total mas ratios lie within ∼0.5–0.8; (4) The synthetic redshifted, pixelized, and PSF-degraded JWST images allow detection of stellar discs at all zf. (5) Based on the kinematic decomposition, rotational support in discs depends on the feedback type, but increases with decreasing zf; (6) Finally, the ALMA images detect discs at all zf, but spiral structure is detectable in zf = 2 galaxies. Moreover, galaxies follow the Tully–Fisher relation, being separated only by the galactic wind feedback.

No need for dark matter: resolved kinematics of the ultra-diffuse galaxy AGC 114905

ABSTRACT We present new H i interferometric observations of the gas-rich ultra-diffuse galaxy AGC 114905, which previous work, based on low-resolution data, identified as an outlier of the baryonic Tully–Fisher relation. The new observations, at a spatial resolution ∼2.5 times higher than before, reveal a regular H i disc rotating at about 23 km s−1. Our kinematic parameters, recovered with a robust 3D kinematic modelling fitting technique, show that the flat part of the rotation curve is reached. Intriguingly, the rotation curve can be explained almost entirely by the baryonic mass distribution alone. We show that a standard cold dark matter halo that follows the concentration–halo mass relation fails to reproduce the amplitude of the rotation curve by a large margin. Only a halo with an extremely (and arguably unfeasible) low concentration reaches agreement with the data. We also find that the rotation curve of AGC 114905 deviates strongly from the predictions of modified Newtonian dynamics. The inclination of the galaxy, which is measured independently from our modelling, remains the largest uncertainty in our analysis, but the associated errors are not large enough to reconcile the galaxy with the expectations of cold dark matter or modified Newtonian dynamics.

Observational scalings testing modified gravity

We consider different observational effects to test a modified gravity approach involving the cosmological constant in the common description of dark matter and dark energy.We obtain upper limits for the cosmological constant by studying the scaling relations for 12 nearby galaxy clusters, the radiated power from gravitational waves and the Tully-Fisher relation for super spiral galaxies. Our estimations reveal that, for all these cases, the upper limits for Λ are consistent with its actual value predicted by cosmological observations.

Acausality in superfluid dark matter and MOND-like theories

There has been much interest in novel models of dark matter that exhibit interesting behavior on galactic scales. A primary motivation is the observed Baryonic Tully-Fisher Relation in which the mass of galaxies increases as the quartic power of rotation speed. This scaling is not obviously accounted for by standard cold dark matter. This has prompted the development of dark matter models that exhibit some form of so-called MONDian phenomenology to account for this galactic scaling, while also recovering the success of cold dark matter on large scales. A beautiful example of this are the so-called superfluid dark matter models, in which a complex bosonic field undergoes spontaneous symmetry breaking on galactic scales, entering a superfluid phase with a 3/2 kinetic scaling in the low energy effective theory, that mediates a long-ranged MONDian force. In this work we examine the causality and locality properties of these and other related models. We show that the Lorentz invariant completions of the superfluid models exhibit high energy perturbations that violate global hyperbolicity of the equations of motion in the MOND regime and can be superluminal in other parts of phase space. We also examine a range of alternate models, finding that they also exhibit forms of non-locality.

The Baryonic Tully–Fisher Relation in the Local Group and the Equivalent Circular Velocity of Pressure-supported Dwarfs

Abstract We explore the baryonic Tully–Fisher relation in the Local Group. Rotationally-supported Local Group galaxies adhere precisely to the relation defined by more distant galaxies. For pressure-supported dwarf galaxies, we determine the scaling factor β c that relates their observed velocity dispersion to the equivalent circular velocity of rotationally-supported galaxies of the same mass such that V o = β c σ *. For a typical mass-to-light ratio ϒ* = 2 M ☉/L ☉ in the V band, we find that β c = 2. More generally, log β c = 0.25 log ϒ * + 0.226 . This provides a common kinematic scale relating pressure and rotationally-supported dwarf galaxies.

Extended Hernquist–Springel formalism for cosmic star formation

ABSTRACT We present a revised and extended version of the analytical model for cosmic star formation originally given by Hernquist and Springel in 2003. The key assumption of this formalism is that star formation proceeds from cold gas, at a rate that is limited by an internal consumption time-scale at early times, or by the rate of generation of gas via cooling at late times. These processes are analysed as a function of the mass of dark matter haloes and integrated over the halo population. We modify this approach in two main ways to make it more general: (1) halo collapse times are included explicitly, so that the behaviour is physically reasonable at late times; (2) allowance is made for a mass-dependent baryon fraction in haloes, which incorporates feedback effects. This model reproduces the main features of the observed baryonic Tully–Fisher relationship, and is consistent with observational estimates of the baryon mass fraction in the intergalactic medium. With minimal adjustment of parameters, our approach reproduces the observed history of cosmic star formation within a factor of 2 over the redshift range of 0 &amp;lt; z &amp;lt; 10. This level of agreement is comparable to that achieved by state-of-the-art cosmological simulations. Our simplified apparatus has pedagogical value in illuminating the results of such detailed calculations, and also serves as a means for rapid approximate exploration of non-standard cosmological models.

A geometric distance to the supermassive black Hole of NGC 3783

The angular size of the broad line region (BLR) of the nearby active galactic nucleus NGC 3783 has been spatially resolved by recent observations with VLTI/GRAVITY. A reverberation mapping (RM) campaign has also recently obtained high quality light curves and measured the linear size of the BLR in a way that is complementary to the GRAVITY measurement. The size and kinematics of the BLR can be better constrained by a joint analysis that combines both GRAVITY and RM data. This, in turn, allows us to obtain the mass of the supermassive black hole in NGC 3783 with an accuracy that is about a factor of two better than that inferred from GRAVITY data alone. We deriveMBH= 2.54−0.72+0.90× 107M⊙. Finally, and perhaps most notably, we are able to measure a geometric distance to NGC 3783 of 39.9−11.9+14.5Mpc. We are able to test the robustness of the BLR-based geometric distance with measurements based on the Tully–Fisher relation and other indirect methods. We find the geometric distance is consistent with other methods within their scatter. We explore the potential of BLR-based geometric distances to directly constrain the Hubble constant,H0, and identify differential phase uncertainties as the current dominant limitation to theH0measurement precision for individual sources.

Hints for a Gravitational Transition in Tully–Fisher Data

We use an up-to-date compilation of Tully–Fisher data to search for transitions in the evolution of the Tully–Fisher relation. Using an up-to-date data compilation, we find hints at ≈3σ level for a transition at critical distances Dc≃9 Mpc and Dc≃17 Mpc. We split the full sample in two subsamples, according to the measured galaxy distance with respect to splitting distance Dc, and identify the likelihood of the best-fit slope and intercept of one sample with respect to the best-fit corresponding values of the other sample. For Dc≃9 Mpc and Dc≃17 Mpc, we find a tension between the two subsamples at a level of Δχ2&gt;17(3.5σ). Using Monte Carlo simulations, we demonstrate that this result is robust with respect to random statistical and systematic variations of the galactic distances and is unlikely in the context of a homogeneous dataset constructed using the Tully–Fisher relation. If the tension is interpreted as being due to a gravitational strength transition, it would imply a shift in the effective gravitational constant to lower values for distances larger than Dc by ΔGG≃−0.1. Such a shift is of the anticipated sign and magnitude but at a somewhat lower distance (redshift) than the gravitational transition recently proposed to address the Hubble and growth tensions (ΔGG≃−0.1 at the transition redshift of zt≲0.01 (Dc≲40 Mpc)).

Measuring the baryonic Tully–Fisher relation below the detection threshold

ABSTRACT We present a novel 2D flux density model for observed H i emission lines combined with a Bayesian stacking technique to measure the baryonic Tully–Fisher relation below the nominal detection threshold. We simulate a galaxy catalogue, which includes H i lines described with either Gaussian or busy function profiles, and H i data cubes with a range of noise and survey areas similar to the MeerKAT International Giga-Hertz Tiered Extragalactic Exploration (MIGHTEE) survey. With prior knowledge of redshifts, stellar masses, and inclinations of spiral galaxies, we find that our model can reconstruct the input baryonic Tully–Fisher parameters (slope and zero-point) most accurately in a relatively broad redshift range from the local Universe to z = 0.3 for all the considered levels of noise and survey areas and up to z = 0.55 for a nominal noise of 90 $\mu$Jy/channel over 5 deg2. Our model can also determine the $M_{\rm H\, \small {I}} - M_{\star }$ relation for spiral galaxies beyond the local Universe and account for the detailed shape of the H i emission line, which is crucial for understanding the dynamics of spiral galaxies. Thus, we have developed a Bayesian stacking technique for measuring the baryonic Tully–Fisher relation for galaxies at low stellar and/or H i masses and/or those at high redshift, where the direct detection of H i requires prohibitive exposure times.

MIGHTEE-H i: the baryonic Tully–Fisher relation over the last billion years

ABSTRACT Using a sample of 67 galaxies from the MeerKAT International GigaHertz Tiered Extragalactic Exploration Survey Early Science data, we study the H i-based baryonic Tully–Fisher relation (bTFr), covering a period of ∼1 billion years (0 ≤ z ≤ 0.081). We consider the bTFr based on two different rotational velocity measures: the width of the global H i profile and Vout, measured as the outermost rotational velocity from the resolved H i rotation curves. Both relations exhibit very low intrinsic scatter orthogonal to the best-fitting relation (σ⊥ = 0.07 ± 0.01), comparable to the SPARC sample at z ≃ 0. The slopes of the relations are similar and consistent with the z ≃ 0 studies ($3.66^{+0.35}_{-0.29}$ for W50 and $3.47^{+0.37}_{-0.30}$ for Vout). We find no evidence that the bTFr has evolved over the last billion years, and all galaxies in our sample are consistent with the same relation independent of redshift and the rotational velocity measure. Our results set-up a reference for all future studies of the H i-based bTFr as a function of redshift that will be conducted with the ongoing deep SKA pathfinders surveys.