Dark Matter Halo Mass Research Articles

An Improved and Physically Motivated Scheme for Matching Galaxies with Dark Matter Halos

Abstract The simplest scheme for predicting real galaxy properties after performing a dark matter simulation is to rank order the real systems by stellar mass and the simulated systems by halo mass and then simply assume monotonicity—that the more massive halos host the more massive galaxies. This has had some success, but we study here if a better motivated and more accurate matching scheme is easily constructed by looking carefully at how well one could predict the simulated IllustrisTNG galaxy sample from its dark matter computations. We find that using the dark matter rotation curve peak velocity, v max, for normal galaxies reduces the error of the prediction by 30% (18% for central galaxies and 60% for satellite systems)—following expectations from the physics of monolithic collapse. For massive systems with halo mass >1012.5 M ⊙ hierarchical merger driven formation is the better model and dark matter halo mass remains the best single metric. Using a new single variable that combines these effects, ϕ = v max/ v max , 12.7 + M peak/(1012.7 M ⊙) allows further improvement and reduces the error, as compared to ranking by dark matter mass at z = 0 by another 6% from v max ranking. Two parameter fits—including environmental effects produce only minimal further impact.

Jeans mass-radius relation of self-gravitating Bose-Einstein condensates and typical parameters of the dark matter particle

We study the Jeans mass-radius relation of Bose-Einstein condensate dark matter in Newtonian gravity. We show at a general level that it is similar to the mass-radius relation of Bose-Einstein condensate dark matter halos [P.H. Chavanis, Phys. Rev. D {\bf 84}, 043531 (2011)]. Bosons with a repulsive self-interaction generically evolve from the Thomas-Fermi regime to the noninteracting regime as the Universe expands. In the Thomas-Fermi regime, the Jeans radius remains approximately constant while the Jeans mass decreases. In the noninteracting regime, the Jeans radius increases while the Jeans mass decreases. Bosons with an attractive self-interaction generically evolve from the nongravitational regime to the noninteracting regime as the Universe expands. In the nongravitational regime, the Jeans radius and the Jeans mass increase. In the noninteracting regime, the Jeans radius increases while the Jeans mass decreases. The transition occurs at a maximum Jeans mass which is similar to the maximum mass of Bose-Einstein condensate dark matter halos with an attractive self-interaction. We use the mass-radius relation of dark matter halos and the observational evidence of a ``minimum halo'' (with typical radius $R\sim 1\, {\rm kpc}$ and typical mass $M\sim 10^8\, M_{\odot}$) to constrain the mass $m$ and the scattering length $a_s$ of the dark matter particle.

Dark matter microhalos from simplified models

We introduce simplified models for enhancements in the matter power spectrum at small scales and study their implications for dark matter substructure and gravitational observables. These models capture the salient aspects of a variety of early Universe scenarios that predict enhanced small-scale structure, such as axionlike particle dark matter, light vector dark matter, and epochs of early matter domination. We use a model-independent, semianalytic treatment to map bumps in the matter power spectrum to early forming subsolar mass dark matter halos and estimate their evolution, disruption, and contribution to the substructure of clusters and galaxies at late times. We discuss the sensitivity of gravitational observables, including pulsar timing arrays and caustic microlensing, to both the presence of bumps in the power spectrum and variations in their basic properties.

Rosella: a mock catalogue from the P-Millennium simulation

ABSTRACT The scientific exploitation of the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument Bright Galaxy Survey (DESI BGS) data requires the construction of mocks with galaxy population properties closely mimicking those of the actual DESI BGS targets. We create a high-fidelity mock galaxy catalogue, including information about galaxies and their host dark matter subhaloes. The mock catalogue uses subhalo abundance matching with scatter to populate the P-Millennium N-body simulation with galaxies at the median BGS redshift of ∼0.2, using formation redshift information to assign 0.1(g − r) rest-frame colours. The mock provides information about r-band absolute magnitudes, 0.1(g − r) rest-frame colours, and 3D positions and velocities of a complete sample of DESI BGS galaxies in a volume of (542 Mpc h−1)3, as well as the masses of host dark matter haloes. This P-Millennium DESI BGS mock catalogue is ideally suited for the tuning of approximate mocks unable to resolve subhaloes that DESI BGS galaxies reside in, to test for systematics in analysis pipelines and to interpret (non-cosmological focused) DESI BGS analysis.

Measuring the Mass and Concentration of Dark Matter Halos from the Velocity Dispersion Profile of their Stars

Abstract We use the IllustrisTNG (TNG) simulations of galaxy formation to measure the velocity dispersion profiles of dark matter and stars in Milky Way–mass, galaxy group, and cluster-scale dark matter halos. The mean profiles calculated from both tracers are similar in shape, exhibiting a large halo-to-halo scatter around the average profile. The so-called “splashback” radius demarcates the outer boundary of the halo, and manifests as a kink in the velocity dispersion profile, located on average between ∼1.0–1.5r 200m , where r 200m is the radius within which the density of the halo equals 200 times the background density of the universe. We find that this location may also be identified as the radius at which the (stacked) dispersion profile drops to 60% of its peak value (for line-of-sight motions in TNG halos). We further show that the scatter in the dispersion profiles may be attributed to the variations in the assembly history of the host halos. In particular, this segregates the profile into two regimes: one within ∼0.1r 200m , where the scatter is set by the early assembly history of the halo; and the other beyond this radius, where the scatter is influenced more strongly by its late-time assembly. Finally, we show that a two-parameter model can be used to fit the measured velocity dispersion profiles and the fit parameters can be related directly to two fundamental halo properties: mass and concentration. We describe a simple model that allows us to express the stellar velocity dispersion profile in terms of these halo properties only.

Statistical exploration of halo anisotropic clustering and intrinsic alignments with the mass-Peak Patch algorithm

ABSTRACT The anisotropy or triaxiality of massive dark matter haloes largely defines the structure of the cosmic web, in particular the filaments that join the haloes together. Here, we investigate such oriented correlations in mass-Peak Patch halo catalogues by using the initial strain tensor of spherical proto-halo regions to orient the haloes. To go beyond the spherically averaged two-point correlation function of haloes, we use oriented stacks to compute oriented two-point correlations: we explicitly break isotropy by imposing a local frame set by the strain tensor of the reference halo before stacking neighbouring haloes. Beyond the exclusion zone of the reference halo, clustering is found to be strongly enhanced along the major direction of the strain tensor as expected. This anisotropic clustering of haloes along filaments is further quantified by using a spherical harmonics decomposition. Furthermore, we compute the evolution of cluster-scale halo principal directions relative to those of their neighbours and show that there are strong correlations extending up to very large scales. In order to provide calculations more suitable to observational confrontations, we also utilize 2D projected versions of some equivalent correlation functions. Finally, we show that the multipole structure of the mass-peak patch halo’s anisotropic clustering can be qualitatively captured in an analytic treatment based on peak theory. Though highly informative, giving the same qualitative features as the oriented correlations found from the simulation catalogue, analytic evaluation involves extensive use of Monte Carlo methods, which is also what the simulated catalogue uses, taking into account as they do the adaptive nature of the mass-peak patch mass hierarchy and all non-local complexities associated with the exclusion of smaller haloes overlapping with larger ones: there is no substitute for the mass-Peak Patch simulation-based determination of oriented and anisotropic correlations.

Optimizing high-redshift galaxy surveys for environmental information

ABSTRACT We investigate the performance of group finding algorithms that reconstruct galaxy groups from the positional information of tracer galaxies that are observed in redshift surveys carried out with multiplexed spectrographs. We use mock light-cones produced by the L-Galaxies semi-analytic model of galaxy evolution in which the underlying reality is known. We particularly focus on the performance at high redshift, and how this is affected by choices of the mass of the tracer galaxies (largely equivalent to their co-moving number density) and the (assumed random) sampling rate of these tracers. We first however compare two different approaches to group finding as applied at low redshift, and conclude that these are broadly comparable. For simplicity we adopt just one of these, ‘Friends-of-Friends’ (FoF) as the basis for our study at high redshift. We introduce 12 science metrics that are designed to quantify the performance of the group-finder as relevant for a wide range of science investigations with a group catalogue. These metrics examine the quality of the recovered group catalogue, the median halo masses of different richness structures, the scatter in dark matter halo mass and how successful the group-finder classifies singletons, centrals, and satellites. We analyse how these metrics vary with the limiting stellar mass and random sampling rate of the tracer galaxies, allowing quantification of the various trade-offs between different possible survey designs. Finally, we look at the impact of these same design parameters on the relative ‘costs’ in observation time of the survey using as an example the potential MOONRISE survey using the MOONS instrument.

Power spectrum of density fluctuations, halo abundances, and clustering with primordial black holes

ABSTRACT We study the effect of dark matter (DM) being encapsulated in primordial black holes (PBHs) on the power spectrum of density fluctuations P(k); we also look at its effect on the abundance of haloes and their clustering. We allow the growth of Poisson fluctuations since matter and radiation equality and study both monochromatic and extended PBH mass distributions. We present updated monochromatic black hole mass constraints by demanding $\lt 10{{\ \rm per\ cent}}$ deviations from the Λ cold dark matter (CDM) power spectrum at a scale of k = 1 h Mpc−1. Our results show that PBHs with masses $\gt 10^4\, h^{-1}\, \mathrm{M}_\odot$ are excluded from conforming all of the DM in the Universe. We also apply this condition to our extended Press–Schechter (PS) mass functions, and find that the Poisson power is scale dependent even before applying evolution. We find that characteristic masses $M^*\le 10^2 \, \mathrm{ h}^{-1}\, \mathrm{M}_\odot$ are allowed, leaving only two characteristic PBH mass windows of PS mass functions when combining with previous constraints, at $M^*\sim 10^2\, h^{-1}\, \mathrm{M}_\odot$ and $\sim \!10^{-8}\, h^{-1}\, \mathrm{M}_\odot$ where all of the DM can be in PBHs. The resulting DM halo mass functions within these windows are similar to those resulting from CDM made of fundamental particles. However, as soon as the parameters produce unrealistic P(k), the resulting halo mass functions and their bias as a function of halo mass deviate strongly from the behaviour measured in the real Universe.

From starburst to quiescence: post-starburst galaxies and their large-scale clustering over cosmic time

ABSTRACT We present the first study of the large-scale clustering of post-starburst (PSB) galaxies in the high-redshift Universe (0.5 < z < 3.0). We select ∼4000 PSB galaxies photometrically, the largest high-redshift sample of this kind, from two deep large-scale near-infrared surveys: the UKIDSS Ultra Deep Survey Data Release 11 and the Cosmic Evolution Survey. Using angular cross-correlation techniques, we estimate the halo masses for this large sample of PSB galaxies and compare them with quiescent and star-forming galaxies selected in the same fields. We find that low-mass, low-redshift (0.5 < z < 1.0) PSB galaxies preferentially reside in very high mass dark matter haloes (Mhalo > 1014 M⊙), suggesting that they are likely to be infalling satellite galaxies in cluster-like environments. High-mass PSB galaxies are more weakly clustered at low redshifts, but they reside in higher mass haloes with increasing look-back time, suggesting strong redshift-dependent halo downsizing. These key results are consistent with previous results, suggesting that two main channels are responsible for the rapid quenching of galaxies. While high-redshift (z > 1) galaxies appear to be quenched by secular feedback mechanisms, processes associated with dense environments are likely to be the key driver of rapid quenching in the low-redshift Universe (z < 1). Finally, we show that the clustering of photometrically selected PSBs is consistent with them being direct descendants of highly dust-enshrouded submillimetre galaxies, providing tantalizing evidence for the oft-speculated evolutionary pathway from starburst to quiescence.

Connection between Galaxies and H i in Circumgalactic and Intergalactic Media: Variation according to Galaxy Stellar Mass and Star Formation Activity

Abstract This paper systematically investigates the comoving megaparsec-scale intergalactic medium (IGM) environment around galaxies traced by the Lyα forest. Using our cosmological hydrodynamic simulations, we investigate the IGM–galaxy connection at z = 2 by two methods: (i) cross-correlation analysis between galaxies and the fluctuation of Lyα forest transmission (δ F) and (ii) comparison of the overdensity of neutral hydrogen (H i) and galaxies. Our simulations reproduce observed cross-correlation functions (CCFs) between Lyα forest and Lyman-break galaxies. We further investigate the variation of the CCF using subsamples divided by dark matter halo mass (M DH), galaxy stellar mass (M ⋆), and star formation rate (SFR) and find that the CCF signal becomes stronger with increasing M DH, M ⋆, and SFR. The CCFs between galaxies and gas density fluctuation are also found to have similar trends. Therefore, the variation of δ F–CCF depending on M DH, M ⋆, and SFR is due to varying gas densities around galaxies. We find that the correlation between galaxies and the IGM H i distribution strongly depends on M DH as expected from linear theory. Our results support the ΛCDM paradigm, confirming a spatial correlation between galaxies and IGM H i, with more massive galaxies being clustered in higher-density regions.

Estimating Lifetimes of UV-selected Massive Galaxies at 0.5 ≤ z ≤ 2.5 in the COSMOS/UltraVISTA Field through Clustering Analyses

Abstract To investigate the lifetimes of red sequence (RS), blue cloud (BC), and green valley (GV) galaxies, we derive their lifetimes using clustering analyses at 0.5 ≤ z ≤ 2.5 in the COSMOS/UltraVISTA field. Several essentials that may influence the lifetime estimation have been explored, including the dark matter (DM) halo mass function (HMF), the width of the redshift bin, the growth of DM halos within each redshift bin, and the stellar mass. We find that the HMF difference results in scatters of ∼0.2 dex on the lifetime estimation, adopting a redshift bin width of Δz = 0.5 is good enough to estimate the lifetime, and no significant effect on lifetime estimation is found due to the growth of DM halos within each redshift bin. The galaxy subsamples with higher stellar masses generally have shorter lifetimes, but the lifetimes in different subsamples at z > 1.5 tend to be independent of stellar mass. Consistently, the clustering-based lifetime for each galaxy subsample agrees well with that inferred using the spectral energy distribution modeling. Moreover, the lifetimes of the RS and BC galaxies also coincide well with their typical gas-depletion timescales attributed to the consumption of star formation. Interestingly, the distinct lifetime behaviors of the GV galaxies at z ≤ 1.5 and z > 1.5 cannot be fully accounted for by their gas-depletion timescales. Instead, this discrepancy between the lifetimes and gas-depletion timescales of the GV galaxies suggests that there are additional physical processes, such as feedback of active galactic nuclei, which accelerates the quenching of GV galaxies at high redshifts.

Measuring the Mass of Missing Baryons in the Halo of Andromeda Galaxy with Gamma-Ray Observations

Abstract It has been suggested that a huge amount of baryon resides in the circumgalactic medium (CGM) extending out to the virial radii of galaxies. In this work we attempt to measure the baryon mass in the CGM with a novel method based on the gamma-ray observations of the extended halo of the Andromeda galaxy Messier 31 (M31). Since cosmic-ray particles generated inside the galaxy will eventually escape to the CGM, they will produce gamma-ray emission via the proton–proton collision with the CGM and produce gamma-rays. Different from some traditional measurements that are sensitive only to certain metallic ions in specific temperature range, the hadronic gamma-ray flux is sensitive to baryonic gases in all phases and does not rely on the metallicity in the halo, hence the measured gamma-ray flux from the galaxy’s halo can be used to constrain the mass of the CGM. By dealing with the cosmic-ray transport in the halo and calculating the hadronic gamma-ray intensity, we find that the total baryon mass contained within the virial radius is less than (1.4–5) × 1010 M ⊙ according to the gamma-ray intensity obtained with a model-dependent analysis. It implies that the CGM of Andromeda galaxy may not account for more than 30% of the missing baryons, but the result is subject to uncertainties from the gamma-ray intensity upper limit, diffusion coefficient of the cosmic-rays in the halo, as well as the stellar mass and dark matter halo mass of the galaxy. This method will become more constraining provided better understandings on these issues and more sensitive gamma-ray telescopes in the future.

Rejuvenation triggers nuclear activity in nearby galaxies

ABSTRACT Feedback, in particular from active galactic nuclei (AGNs), is believed to play a crucial role in the evolution of galaxies. In the local Universe, many galaxies with an AGN are indeed observed to reside in the so-called green valley, usually interpreted as a transition phase from a blue star-forming to a red quenched state. We use data from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey to show that such an interpretation requires substantial revision. Optically selected nearby AGN galaxies follow exponentially declining star formation histories, as normal galaxies of similar stellar and dark matter halo mass, reaching in the recent past (∼0.1 Gyr ago) star formation rate levels consistent with a quiescent population. However, we find that local AGN galaxies have experienced a sudden increase in their star formation rate, unfolding on time-scales similar to those typical of AGN activity, suggesting that both star formation and AGN activity were triggered simultaneously. We find that this quenching followed by an enhancement in the star formation rate is common to AGN galaxies and more pronounced in early-type galaxies. Our results demonstrate that local AGN galaxies are not just a simple transition type between star-forming and quiescent galaxies as previously postulated.

Quasars at intermediate redshift are not special; but they are often satellites

ABSTRACT Understanding the links between the activity of supermassive black holes (SMBHs) at the centres of galaxies and their host dark matter haloes is a key question in modern astrophysics. The final data release of the SDSS-IV eBOSS provides the largest contemporary spectroscopic sample of galaxies and quasi-stellar objects (QSOs). Using this sample and covering the redshift interval z = 0.7–1.1, we have measured the clustering properties of the eBOSS QSOs, emission-line galaxies (ELGs), and luminous red galaxies (LRGs). We have also measured the fraction of QSOs as a function of the overdensity defined by the galaxy population. Using these measurements, we investigate how QSOs populate and sample the galaxy population, and how the host dark-matter haloes of QSOs sample the underlying halo distribution. We find that the probability of a galaxy hosting a QSO is independent of the host dark matter halo mass of the galaxy. We also find that about 60 per cent of eBOSS QSOs are hosted by LRGs and about 20–40 per cent of QSOs are hosted by satellite galaxies. We find a slight preference for QSOs to populate satellite galaxies over central galaxies. This is connected to the host halo mass distribution of different types of galaxies. Based on our analysis, QSOs should be hosted by a very broad distribution of haloes, and their occurrence should be modulated only by the efficiency of galaxy formation processes.

Subaru Hyper Suprime-Cam excavates colossal over- and underdense structures over 360 deg2 out to z = 1

ABSTRACT Subaru Strategic Program with the Hyper-Suprime Cam (HSC-SSP) has proven to be successful with its extremely wide area coverage in past years. Taking advantages of this feature, we report initial results from exploration and research of expansive over- and underdense structures at z = 0.3–1 based on the second Public Data Release where optical 5-band photometric data for ∼ eight million sources with i < 23 mag are available over ∼360 deg2. We not only confirm known superclusters but also find candidates of titanic over- and underdense regions out to z = 1. The mock data analysis suggests that the density peaks would involve one or more massive dark matter haloes (>1014 M⊙) of the redshift, and the density troughs tend to be empty of massive haloes over >10 comoving Mpc. Besides, the density peaks and troughs at z ≲ 0.6 are in part identified as positive and negative weak lensing signals respectively, in mean tangential shear profiles, showing a good agreement with those inferred from the full-sky weak lensing simulation. The coming extensive spectroscopic surveys will be able to resolve these colossal structures in 3D space. The number density information over the entire survey field is available as grid-point data on the website of the HSC-SSP data release (https://hsc.mtk.nao.ac.jp/ssp/data-release/).

Dependence of the dynamical properties of light-cone simulation dark matter halos on their environment

Aims. We study the dependence of the dynamical properties of massive (M ≥ 1.5 × 1013 M⊙ h−1) dark matter halos on their environment in a whole-sky ΛCDM light-cone simulation extending to z ∼ 0.65. The properties of interest for this study are the halo shape (parametrized via its principal axes), spin and virialization status, the alignment of halo spin and shape, as well as the shape-shape and spin-spin alignments among halo neighbors. Methods. We define the halo environment using the notion of halo isolation status determined by the distance to its nearest neighbor. This defines a maximum spherical region around each halo devoid of other halos, above the catalog threshold mass. We consider “close halo pairs” to be pairs separated by a distance that is lower than a specific threshold. In order to decontaminate our results from the known dependence of halo dynamical properties on mass, we used a random sampling procedure to compare properties of similar halo abundance distributions. Results. We find that: (a) there is a strong dependence on the part of the halo properties with regard to their environment, confirming that isolated halos are more aspherical and more prolate with lower spin values; (b) correlations between halo properties exist and are mostly independent of the halo environment; (c) halo spins are aligned with the minor axis, regardless of halo shape; and (d) close halo neighbors have their major axes statistically aligned, while they show a slight but statistically significant preference for anti-parallel spin directions. The latter result is enhanced for the case of close halo pairs in low-density environments. Furthermore, we find a tendency for the spin vectors to be oriented perpendicular to the line that connects such close halo pairs.

A Census of the Extended Neutral Hydrogen around 18 MHONGOOSE Galaxies

Abstract We present the analysis of the diffuse, low column density H i environment of 18 MHONGOOSE galaxies. We obtained deep observations with the Robert C. Byrd Green Bank Telescope and reached down to a 3σ column density detection limit of N HI = 6.3 × 1017 cm−2 over a 20 km s−1 line width. We analyze the environment around these galaxies, with a focus on H i gas that reaches column densities below N HI = 1019 cm−2. We calculate the total amount of H i gas in and around the galaxies, revealing that nearly all of these galaxies contained excess H i outside of their disks. We quantify the amount of diffuse gas in the maps of each galaxy, defined by H i gas with column densities below 1019 cm−2, and find a large spread in percentages of diffuse gas. However, by binning the percentage of diffuse H i into quarters, we find that the bin with the largest number of galaxies is the lowest quartile (0%–25% diffuse H i). We identified several galaxies that may be undergoing gas accretion onto the galaxy disk using multiple methods of analysis, including azimuthally averaging column densities beyond the disk, and identifying structure within our integrated intensity (moment 0) maps. We measured H i mass outside the disks of most of our galaxies, with rising cumulative flux even at large radii. We also find a strong correlation between the fraction of diffuse gas in a galaxy and its baryonic mass, and we test this correlation using both Spearman and Pearson correlation coefficients. We see evidence of a dark matter halo mass threshold of M halo ∼ 1011.1 M ☉ in which galaxies with high fractions of diffuse H i all reside below. It is in this regime that cold-mode accretion should dominate. Finally, we suggest a rotation velocity of v rot ∼ 80 km s−1 as an upper threshold to find diffuse-gas-dominated galaxies.

Probing ultradiffuse galaxies out to the virial radius of the Coma cluster with XMM–Newton

ABSTRACT We probe the formation scenarios and the active galactic nucleus (AGN) occupation fraction of ultradiffuse galaxies (UDGs) in the nearby Coma cluster by utilizing XMM–Newton observations of 779 out of 854 UDG candidates identified by the Subaru survey. Their origin is probed by measuring the dark matter halo mass of the stacked sample of UDGs and the population of low-mass X-ray binaries residing in globular clusters. Our measurements suggest that the average UDG population does not have a substantial amount of hot gas or a large number of globular clusters. This supports the formation scenario, in which UDGs are puffed-up dwarf galaxies, agreeing with that obtained for 404 Coma cluster UDGs using Chandra. We also determine AGN occupation fraction of UDGs by cross-correlating the position of UDGs with the detected point sources in Coma. We detect three X-ray sources with detection significance σ ≥ 5 that could be off-centre AGNs within 5 arcsec from the centre of the UDG 317, UDG 432, and UDG 535. We identify an optical counterpart for the X-ray source associated with the UDG 317, suggesting that this source is more likely an off-centre AGN. Based on the current data, however, we cannot conclusively constrain whether the detected AGN is residing in the Coma cluster or not.

The AGN–galaxy–halo connection: the distribution of AGN host halo masses to z = 2.5

ABSTRACT It is widely reported, based on clustering measurements of observed active galactic nucleus (AGN) samples, that AGNs reside in similar mass host dark matter haloes across the bulk of cosmic time, with log $\mathcal {M}/\mathcal {M}_{\odot }\sim 12.5\!-\!13.0$ to z ∼ 2.5. We show that this is due in part to the AGN fraction in galaxies rising with increasing stellar mass, combined with AGN observational selection effects that exacerbate this trend. Here, we use AGN specific accretion rate distribution functions determined as a function of stellar mass and redshift for star-forming and quiescent galaxies separately, combined with the latest galaxy–halo connection models, to determine the parent and subhalo mass distribution function of AGNs to various observational limits. We find that while the median (sub)halo mass of AGNs, $\approx 10^{12}\mathcal {M}_{\odot }$, is fairly constant with luminosity, specific accretion rate, and redshift, the full halo mass distribution function is broad, spanning several orders of magnitude. We show that widely used methods to infer a typical dark matter halo mass based on an observed AGN clustering amplitude can result in biased, systematically high host halo masses. While the AGN satellite fraction rises with increasing parent halo mass, we find that the central galaxy is often not an AGN. Our results elucidate the physical causes for the apparent uniformity of AGN host haloes across cosmic time and underscore the importance of accounting for AGN selection biases when interpreting observational AGN clustering results. We further show that AGN clustering is most easily interpreted in terms of the relative bias to galaxy samples, not from absolute bias measurements alone.

ALMA Measures Rapidly Depleted Molecular Gas Reservoirs in Massive Quiescent Galaxies at z ∼ 1.5

Abstract We present Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) CO(2–1) spectroscopy of six massive (log10 / > 11.3) quiescent galaxies at z ∼ 1.5. These data represent the largest sample using CO emission to trace molecular gas in quiescent galaxies above z > 1, achieving an average 3σ sensitivity of ∼ 1010 . We detect one galaxy at 4σ significance and place upper limits on the molecular gas reservoirs of the other five, finding molecular gas mass fractions (3σ upper limits). This is 1–2 orders of magnitude lower than coeval star-forming galaxies at similar stellar mass, and comparable to galaxies at z = 0 with similarly low specific star formation rate (sSFR). This indicates that their molecular gas reservoirs were rapidly and efficiently used up or destroyed, and that gas fractions are uniformly low (<6%) despite the structural diversity of our sample. The implied rapid depletion time of molecular gas ( < 0.6 Gyr) disagrees with extrapolations of empirical scaling relations to low sSFR. We find that our low gas fractions are instead in agreement with predictions from both the recent simba cosmological simulation, and from analytical “bathtub” models for gas accretion onto galaxies in massive dark matter halos (log at z = 0). Such high mass halos reach a critical mass of log by z ∼ 4 that halt the accretion of baryons early in the universe. Our data are consistent with a simple picture where galaxies truncate accretion and then consume the existing gas at or faster than typical main-sequence rates. Alternatively, we cannot rule out that these galaxies reside in lower mass halos, and low gas fractions may instead reflect either stronger feedback, or more efficient gas consumption.