Properties Of Dark Matter Halos Research Articles

Importance of Initial Condition on Bar Secular Evolution: Role of Halo Angular Momentum Distribution Discontinuity

The dark matter halo properties, for example, mass, spin, and concentration, play a significant role in the formation and evolution of bars in disk galaxies. This study highlights the importance of a new parameter: the dark matter halo angular momentum distribution in the disk’s central region. We experiment with N-body galaxy models having a disk and dark matter similar to Milky Way–type galaxies. In these models, we vary the discontinuity of the angular momentum distribution of the halo (the total spin is the same for all models). Our N-body experiments suggest that bar forms in all models after a few Gyr of disk evolution. However, in the secular evolution of the bar, as we evolve these models until 9.78 Gyr, the bar gains its strength in the model with the most continuous halo angular momentum distribution, and the bar loses strength for the most discontinuous halo angular momentum distribution. The secular evolution of the bar suggests that box/peanut/x-shaped bulges similar to those found in the Milky Way disk should be more pronounced in halos with continuous halo angular momentum distributions. This study demonstrates the importance of the initial condition setup of galaxy systems, namely the discontinuity in the dark matter halo angular momentum distribution for a given density distribution, on the bar secular evolution in the disk galaxy simulations. Further, this study helps reconcile the conflicting results of bar secular evolution in a high-spinning halo of the recent literature.

Relation between the Local Width and Linear Halo Mass Density of Cosmic Filaments

Large-scale cosmic filaments may have played an important role in shaping the properties of galaxies. Meanwhile, cosmic filaments are believed to harbor a substantial portion of the missing baryons at redshift z < 2. To inspect the role of filaments in these issues, many properties of filaments need to be examined, including their lengths, thicknesses, and density profiles. However, measuring some of these properties poses challenges. This study concentrates on estimating filament width/thickness, investigating potential correlations between the local width of filaments and the properties of dark matter halos within filaments. We find that the local width of filaments generally increases with the mass of dark matter halos embedded in filaments per unit length, roughly following a second-order polynomial, although with notable scatter. We probe and discuss means that may refine our findings. After further verification and improvements, this relation could be applied to filament samples constructed from the observed galaxy distribution, aiding in understanding the roles of cosmic filaments in galaxy evolution and uncovering the missing baryons.

Varying primordial state fractions in exo- and endothermic SIDM simulations of Milky Way-mass haloes

Abstract Self-interacting dark matter (SIDM) is increasingly studied as a potential solution to small-scale discrepancies between simulations of cold dark matter (CDM) and observations. We examine a physically motivated two-state SIDM model with both elastic and inelastic scatterings. In particular, endothermic, exothermic, and elastic scattering have equal transfer cross sections at high relative velocities (vrel ≳ 400 km s−1). In a suite of cosmological zoom-in simulation of Milky Way-size haloes, we vary the primordial state fractions to understand the impact of inelastic dark matter self-interactions on halo structure and evolution. In particular, we test how the initial conditions impact the present-day properties of dark matter haloes. Depending on the primordial state fraction, scattering reactions will be dominated by either exothermic or endothermic effects for high and low initial excited state fractions respectively. We find that increasing the initial excited fraction reduces the mass of the main halo, as well as the number of subhaloes on all mass scales. The main haloes are cored, with lower inner densities and higher outer densities compared with CDM. Additionally, we find that the shape of the main halo becomes more spherical the higher the initial excited state fraction is. Finally, we show that the number of satellites steadily decreases with initial excited state fraction across all satellite masses.

The Merian survey: design, construction, and characterization of a filter set optimized to find dwarf galaxies and measure their dark matter halo properties with weak lensing

ABSTRACT The Merian survey is mapping ∼ 850 deg2 of the Hyper Suprime-Cam Strategic Survey Program (HSC-SSP) wide layer with two medium-band filters on the 4-m Victor M. Blanco telescope at the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory, with the goal of carrying the first high signal-to-noise (S/N) measurements of weak gravitational lensing around dwarf galaxies. This paper presents the design of the Merian filter set: N708 (λc = 7080 Å, Δλ = 275 Å) and N540 (λc = 5400 Å, Δλ = 210 Å). The central wavelengths and filter widths of N708 and N540 were designed to detect the $\rm H\alpha$ and $\rm [OIII]$ emission lines of galaxies in the mass range $8\lt \rm \log M_*/M_\odot \lt 9$ by comparing Merian fluxes with HSC broad-band fluxes. Our filter design takes into account the weak lensing S/N and photometric redshift performance. Our simulations predict that Merian will yield a sample of ∼ 85 000 star-forming dwarf galaxies with a photometric redshift accuracy of σΔz/(1 + z) ∼ 0.01 and an outlier fraction of $\eta =2.8~{{\ \rm per\ cent}}$ over the redshift range 0.058 &amp;lt; z &amp;lt; 0.10. With 60 full nights on the Blanco/Dark Energy Camera (DECam), the Merian survey is predicted to measure the average weak lensing profile around dwarf galaxies with lensing S/N ∼32 within r &amp;lt; 0.5 Mpc and lensing S/N ∼90 within r &amp;lt; 1.0 Mpc. This unprecedented sample of star-forming dwarf galaxies will allow for studies of the interplay between dark matter and stellar feedback and their roles in the evolution of dwarf galaxies.

A phenomenological model for dark matter phase-space distribution

ABSTRACT Understanding the nature of dark matter is among the top priorities of modern physics. However, due to its inertness, detecting and studying it directly in terrestrial experiments is extremely challenging. Numerical N-body simulations currently represent the best approach for studying the particle properties and phase-space distribution, assuming the collisionless nature of dark matter. These simulations also address the lack of a satisfactory theory for predicting the universal properties of dark matter haloes, including the density profile and velocity distribution. In this work, we propose a new phenomenological model for the dark matter phase-space distribution. This model aims to provide an Navarro–Frenk–White-like density profile, velocity magnitude distribution, and velocity component distributions that align closely with simulation data. Our model is relevant both for theoretical modelling of dark matter distributions, and for underground detector experiments that rely on the dark matter velocity distribution for experimental analysis.

A Self-interacting Dark Matter Solution to the Extreme Diversity of Low-mass Halo Properties

The properties of low-mass dark matter (DM) halos appear to be remarkably diverse relative to cold, collisionless DM predictions, even in the presence of baryons. We show that self-interacting DM (SIDM) can simultaneously explain observations of halo diversity at two opposite extremes—the inner density profile of the dense substructure perturbing the strong lens galaxy SDSSJ0946+1006 and the rotation curves of isolated, gas-rich ultradiffuse galaxies (UDGs). To achieve this, we present the first cosmological zoom-in simulation featuring strong DM self-interactions in a galaxy group environment centered on a 1013 M ⊙ host halo. In our SIDM simulation, most surviving subhalos of the group-mass host are deeply core-collapsed, yielding excellent candidates for the observed dense strong-lens perturber. Self-interactions simultaneously create kiloparsec-scale cores in low-concentration isolated halos, which could host the observed UDGs. Our scenario can be further tested with observations of DM structure and galaxies over a wide mass range.

Physics-informed neural networks in the recreation of hydrodynamic simulations from dark matter

ABSTRACT Physics-informed neural networks have emerged as a coherent framework for building predictive models that combine statistical patterns with domain knowledge. The underlying notion is to enrich the optimization loss function with known relationships to constrain the space of possible solutions. Hydrodynamic simulations are a core constituent of modern cosmology, while the required computations are both expensive and time-consuming. At the same time, the comparatively fast simulation of dark matter requires fewer resources, which has led to the emergence of machine learning algorithms for baryon inpainting as an active area of research; here, recreating the scatter found in hydrodynamic simulations is an ongoing challenge. This paper presents the first application of physics-informed neural networks to baryon inpainting by combining advances in neural network architectures with physical constraints, injecting theory on baryon conversion efficiency into the model loss function. We also introduce a punitive prediction comparison based on the Kullback–Leibler divergence, which enforces scatter reproduction. By simultaneously extracting the complete set of baryonic properties for the simba suite of cosmological simulations, our results demonstrate improved accuracy of baryonic predictions based on dark matter halo properties and successful recovery of the fundamental metallicity relation, and retrieve scatter that traces the target simulation’s distribution.

Shaping the unseen: the influence of baryons and environment on low-mass, high-redshift dark matter haloes in the SIEGE simulations

ABSTRACT We use zoom-in, hydrodynamical, cosmological N-body simulations tracing the formation of the first stellar clumps from the SImulating the Environments where Globular clusters Emerged project, to study key structural properties of dark matter haloes when the Universe was only $0.92\, {\rm Gyr}$ old. The very high resolution (maximum physical resolution $0.3\, {h}^{-1}\, {\rm pc}$ at z = 6.14, smallest dark matter particle mass $164\, {\rm M}_{\odot }$) allows us to reach the very low mass end of the stellar-to-halo mass relation ($M_{\rm vir}=10^{7.5{\!-\!}9.5}\, {\rm M}_{\odot }$) to study the processes that mould dark matter haloes during the first stages of structure formation. We investigate the role of baryonic cooling and stellar feedback, modelled from individual stars, in shaping haloes, and of environmental effects as accretion of dark matter along cosmic filaments and mergers. We find that the onset of star formation (typically for $\log M_{\rm vir}/\, {\rm M}_{\odot }\simeq 7.6$) causes the inner cusp in the haloes’ density profile to flatten into a core with constant density and size proportionally to the halo virial mass. Even at these mass scales, we confirm that baryons make haloes that have formed stars rounder in the central regions than haloes that have not formed stars yet, with median minor-to-major 〈q〉 and intermediate-to-major 〈s〉 axes 0.66 and 0.84, respectively. Our morphological analysis shows that, at z = 6.14, haloes are largely prolate in the outer parts, with the major axis aligned along filaments of the cosmic web or towards smaller sub-haloes, with the degree of elongation having no significant dependence on the halo mass.

Halo assembly bias from a deep learning model of halo formation

ABSTRACT We build a deep learning framework that connects the local formation process of dark matter haloes to the halo bias. We train a convolutional neural network (CNN) to predict the final mass and concentration of dark matter haloes from the initial conditions. The CNN is then used as a surrogate model to derive the response of the haloes’ mass and concentration to long-wavelength perturbations in the initial conditions, and consequently the halo bias parameters following the ‘response bias’ definition. The CNN correctly predicts how the local properties of dark matter haloes respond to changes in the large-scale environment, despite no explicit knowledge of halo bias being provided during training. We show that the CNN recovers the known trends for the linear and second-order density bias parameters b1 and b2, as well as for the local primordial non-Gaussianity linear bias parameter bϕ. The expected secondary assembly bias dependence on halo concentration is also recovered by the CNN: at fixed mass, halo concentration has only a mild impact on b1, but a strong impact on bϕ. Our framework opens a new window for discovering which physical aspects of the halo’s Lagrangian patch determine assembly bias, which in turn can inform physical models of halo formation and bias.

Constraining interacting dark energy models with the halo concentration–mass relation

ABSTRACT The interacting dark energy (IDE) model is a promising alternative cosmological model that has the potential to solve the fine-tuning and coincidence problems by considering the interaction between dark matter and dark energy. Previous studies have shown that the energy exchange between the dark sector components in this model can significantly affect the dark matter halo properties. In this study, by utilizing a large set of cosmological N-body simulations, we analyse the redshift evolution of the halo concentration–mass (c–M) relation in the IDE model, and show that the c–M relation is a sensitive proxy of the interaction strength parameter ξ2, especially at lower redshifts. Furthermore, we construct parametrized formulae to quantify the dependence of the c–M relation on ξ2 at redshifts ranging from z = 0 to z = 0.6. Our parametrized formulae provide a useful theoretical tool in constraining ξ2 with the observational c–M relation. As a first attempt, we use the data from X-ray, gravitational lensing, and galaxy rotational curve observations and obtain a tight constraint on ξ2, i.e. ξ2 = 0.071 ± 0.034. Our work demonstrates that the halo c–M relation, which reflects the halo assembly history, is a powerful probe to constrain the IDE model.

MultiCAM: a multivariable framework for connecting the mass accretion history of haloes with their properties

ABSTRACT Models that connect galaxy and halo properties often summarize a halo’s mass accretion history (MAH) with a single value and use this value as the basis for predictions. However, a single-value summary fails to capture the complexity of MAHs and information can be lost in the process. We present MultiCAM, a generalization of traditional abundance matching frameworks, which can simultaneously connect the full MAH of a halo with multiple halo and/or galaxy properties. As a first case study, we apply MultiCAM to the problem of connecting dark matter halo properties to their MAHs in the context of a dark matter-only simulation. While some halo properties, such as concentration, are more strongly correlated to the early-time mass growth of a halo, others, like the virial ratio, have stronger correlations with late-time mass growth. This highlights the necessity of considering the impact of the entire MAH on halo properties. For most of the halo properties we consider, we find that MultiCAM models that use the full MAH achieve higher accuracy than conditional abundance matching models that use a single epoch. We also demonstrate an extension of MultiCAM that captures the covariance between predicted halo properties. This extension provides a baseline model for applications where the covariance between predicted properties is important.

Halo-independent dark matter electron scattering analysis with in-medium effects

Dark matter (DM)-electron scattering is a prime target of a number of direct DM detection experiments and constitutes a promising avenue for exploring interactions of DM in the sub-GeV mass-range, challenging to probe with nuclear recoils. We extend the recently proposed halo-independent analysis method for DM-electron scattering, which allows to infer the local DM halo properties without any additional assumptions about them, to include in-medium effects through dielectric functions of the target material. We show that in-medium effects could significantly affect halo-independent analysis response functions for germanium and silicon and thus are essential for proper inference of local DM halo characteristics from direct DM detection data.

Accurate analytic mass–scale relations for dark matter haloes of all masses and redshifts

ABSTRACTCUSP is a powerful formalism that recovers, from first principles and with no free parameter, all the macroscopic properties of dark matter haloes found in cosmological N-body simulations and unveils the origin of their characteristic features. Since it is not restricted by the limitations of simulations, it covers the whole mass and redshift ranges. In the present Paper we use CUSP to calculate the mass–scale relations holding for halo density profiles fitted to the usual NFW and Einasto functions in the most relevant cosmologies and for the most usual mass definitions. We clarify the origin of these relations and provide accurate analytic expressions holding for all masses and redshifts. The performance of those expressions is compared to that of previous models and to the mass–concentration relation spanning more than 20 orders of magnitude in mass at z = 0 obtained in recent simulations of a 100 GeV WIMP universe.

The impact of the dark matter on galaxy formation

Contemporarily, dark matter exerts dominant impacts on galaxy formation, which is the spine bone of the galaxy. Herein, we investigate the attraction effect of initial dark matter distribution on the normal matter (hydrogen and other gases), which will form the dark matter halos. Subsequently, an introduction to the properties of dark matter halos and some disputes about it are demonstrated. Besides, the cold dark matter (CDM) is chosen to fit the current observation and interpret the influences of dark matter on galaxy formation. Overall, this paper offers a clear procession of the impact of dark matter on galaxy formation, which will be guideline for future development of both galaxy formation theory as well as dark matter detection.

Modelling the galaxy–halo connection with semi-recurrent neural networks

ABSTRACT We present an artificial neural network design in which past and present-day properties of dark matter haloes and their local environment are used to predict time-resolved star formation histories and stellar metallicity histories of central and satellite galaxies. Using data from the IllustrisTNG simulations, we train a tensorflow-based neural network with two inputs: a standard layer with static properties of the dark matter halo, such as halo mass and starting time; and a recurrent layer with variables such as overdensity and halo mass accretion rate, evaluated at multiple time steps from 0 ≤ z ≲ 20. The model successfully reproduces key features of the galaxy halo connection, such as the stellar-to-halo mass relation, downsizing, and colour bimodality, for both central and satellite galaxies. We identify mass accretion history as crucial in determining the geometry of the star formation history and trends with halo mass such as downsizing, while environmental variables are important indicators of chemical enrichment. We use these outputs to compute optical spectral energy distributions, and find that they are well matched to the equivalent results in IllustrisTNG, recovering observational statistics such as colour bimodality and mass–magnitude diagrams.

Cosmological Simulation of Galaxy Groups and Clusters. II. Studying Different Modes of Feedback through X-Ray Observations

The impact of feedback from active galactic nuclei (AGNs) on the cosmological evolution of the large-scale structure is a long-studied problem. However, it is still not well understood how the feedback energy couples to the ambient medium to influence the properties of AGN host galaxies and dark matter halos. In this work we investigate different modes of AGN feedback and their effect on the surrounding medium by probing the diffuse X-ray emission from the hot gas inside galaxy groups and clusters. For this purpose, we use the cosmological hydrodynamic simulation SIMBA to theoretically calculate the X-ray emission from simulated galaxy clusters/groups with the help of the Astrophysical Plasma Emission Code. We also perform synthetic observations of these systems with the Chandra X-ray telescope using the ray-tracing simulator Model of AXAF Response to X-rays. Our results show that in addition to the radiative wind mode of feedback from the AGNs, jet and X-ray modes of feedback play significant roles in suppressing the X-ray emission from the diffuse gas in the vicinity of the black hole. Our mock observational maps suggest that the signatures of AGN feedback from high-redshift objects may not be detected with the instrumental resolution of current X-ray telescopes like Chandra, but provide promising prospects for detection of these features with potential X-ray missions such as Lynx.

COMAP Early Science. V. Constraints and Forecasts at z ∼ 3

We present the current state of models for the z ∼ 3 carbon monoxide (CO) line intensity signal targeted by the CO Mapping Array Project (COMAP) Pathfinder in the context of its early science results. Our fiducial model, relating dark matter halo properties to CO luminosities, informs parameter priors with empirical models of the galaxy–halo connection and previous CO (1–0) observations. The Pathfinder early science data spanning wavenumbers k = 0.051–0.62 Mpc−1 represent the first direct 3D constraint on the clustering component of the CO (1–0) power spectrum. Our 95% upper limit on the redshift-space clustering amplitude A clust ≲ 70 μK2 greatly improves on the indirect upper limit of 420 μK2 reported from the CO Power Spectrum Survey (COPSS) measurement at k ∼ 1 Mpc−1. The COMAP limit excludes a subset of models from previous literature and constrains interpretation of the COPSS results, demonstrating the complementary nature of COMAP and interferometric CO surveys. Using line bias expectations from our priors, we also constrain the squared mean line intensity–bias product, ≲ 50 μK2, and the cosmic molecular gas density, ρ H2 < 2.5 × 108 M ⊙ Mpc−3 (95% upper limits). Based on early instrument performance and our current CO signal estimates, we forecast that the 5 yr Pathfinder campaign will detect the CO power spectrum with overall signal-to-noise ratio of 9–17. Between then and now, we also expect to detect the CO–galaxy cross-spectrum using overlapping galaxy survey data, enabling enhanced inferences of cosmic star formation and galaxy evolution history.

The MUSE Extremely Deep Field: Evidence for SFR-induced cores in dark-matter dominated galaxies atz≃ 1

Context.Disc-halo decompositionsz = 1 − 2 star-forming galaxies (SFGs) atz &gt; 1 are often limited to massive galaxies (M⋆ &gt; 1010M⊙) and rely on either deep integral field spectroscopy data or stacking analyses.Aims.We present a study of the dark-matter (DM) content of ninez ≈ 1 SFGs selected among the brightest [O II] emitters in the deepest Multi-Unit Spectrograph Explorer (MUSE) field to date, namely the 140 h MUSE Extremely Deep Field. These SFGs have low stellar masses, ranging from 108.5to 1010.5 M⊙.Methods.We analyzed the kinematics with a 3D modeling approach, which allowed us to measure individual rotation curves to ≈3 times the half-light radiusRe. We performed disk-halo decompositions on their [O II] emission line with a 3D parametric model. The disk-halo decomposition includes a stellar, DM, gas, and occasionally a bulge component. The DM component primarily uses the generalizedα, β, γprofile or a Navarro-Frenk-White profile.Results.The disk stellar massesM⋆obtained from the [O II] disk-halo decomposition agree with the values inferred from the spectral energy distributions. While the rotation curves show diverse shapes, ranging from rising to declining at large radii, the DM fractions within the half-light radiusfDM(&lt;Re) are found to be 60% to 95%, extending to lower masses (densities) recent results who found low DM fractions in SFGs withM⋆ &gt; 1010M⊙. The DM halos show constant surface densities of ∼100M⊙pc−2. For isolated galaxies, half of the sample shows a strong preference for cored over cuspy DM profiles. The presence of DM cores appears to be related to galaxies with low stellar-to-halo mass ratio, logM⋆/Mvir ≈ −2.5. In addition, the cuspiness of the DM profiles is found to be a strong function of the recent star-formation activity.Conclusions.We measured the properties of DM halos on scales from 1 to 15 kpc, put constraints on thez &gt; 0cvir − Mvirscaling relation, and unveiled the cored nature of DM halos in somez ≃ 1 SFGs. These results support feedback-induced core formation in the cold dark matter context.

Dark matter haloes in interacting dark energy models: formation history, density profile, spin, and shape

ABSTRACT The interacting dark energy (IDE) model, which considers the interaction between dark energy and dark matter, provides a natural mechanism to alleviate the coincidence problem and can also relieve the observational tensions under the ΛCDM model. Previous studies have put constraints on IDE models by observations of cosmic expansion history, cosmic microwave background, and large-scale structures. However, these data are not yet enough to distinguish IDE models from ΛCDM effectively. Because the non-linear structure formation contains rich cosmological information, it can provide additional means to differentiate alternative models. In this paper, based on a set of N-body simulations for IDE models, we investigate the formation histories and properties of dark matter haloes and compare with their ΛCDM counterparts. For the model with dark matter decaying into dark energy and the parameters being the best-fitting values from previous constraints, the structure formation is markedly slowed down, and the haloes have systematically lower mass, looser internal structure, higher spin, and anisotropy. This is inconsistent with the observed structure formation, and thus this model can be safely ruled out from the perspective of non-linear structure formation. Moreover, we find that the ratio of halo concentrations between IDE and ΛCDM counterparts depends sensitively on the interaction parameter and is independent of halo mass. This can act as a powerful probe to constrain IDE models. Our results concretely demonstrate that the interaction of the two dark components can affect the halo formation considerably, and therefore the constraints from non-linear structures are indispensable.

Baryonic imprints on DM haloes: population statistics from dwarf galaxies to galaxy clusters

ABSTRACT In a purely cold dark matter (CDM) universe, the initial matter power spectrum and its subsequent gravitational growth contain no special mass- or time-scales, and so neither do the emergent population statistics of internal dark matter (DM) halo properties. Using 1.5 million haloes from three illustristng realizations of a ΛCDM universe, we show that galaxy formation physics drives non-monotonic features (‘wiggles’) into DM property statistics across six decades in halo mass, from dwarf galaxies to galaxy clusters. We characterize these features by extracting the halo mass-dependent statistics of five DM halo properties – velocity dispersion, NFW concentration, density- and velocity-space shapes, and formation time – using kernel-localized linear regression (Kllr). Comparing precise estimates of normalizations, slopes, and covariances between realizations with and without galaxy formation, we find systematic deviations across all mass-scales, with maximum deviations of 25 per cent at the Milky Way mass of $10^{12} \, {\rm M}_\odot$. The mass-dependence of the wiggles is set by the interplay between different cooling and feedback mechanisms, and we discuss its observational implications. The property covariances depend strongly on halo mass and physics treatment, but the correlations are mostly robust. Using multivariate Kllr and interpretable machine learning, we show the halo concentration and velocity-space shape are principal contributors, at different mass, to the velocity dispersion variance. Statistics of mass accretion rate and DM surface pressure energy are provided in an appendix. We publicly release halo property catalogues and kllr parameters for the TNG runs at 20 epochs up to z = 12.