Galaxy Models Research Articles

The feasibility of constraining DM interactions with high-redshift observations by JWST

ABSTRACT Observations of the high redshift universe provide a promising avenue for constraining the nature of the dark matter (DM). This will be even more true with the advent of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). We run cosmological simulations of galaxy formation as part of the Effective Theory of Structure Formation (ETHOS) project to compare high redshift galaxies in cold dark matter (CDM) and alternative DM models which have varying relativistic coupling and self-interaction strengths. The interacting DM scenarios produce a cutoff in the linear power spectrum on small-scales, followed by a series of ‘dark acoustic oscillations’. We find that DM interactions suppress the abundance of galaxies below $M_\star \sim 10^8\, {\rm M}_\odot$ for the models considered. The cutoff in the power spectrum delays structure formation relative to CDM. Objects in ETHOS that end up at the same final masses as their CDM counterparts are characterized by a more vigorous phase of early star formation. While galaxies with $M_\star \lesssim 10^6\, {\rm M_\odot }$ make up more than 60 per cent of star formation in CDM at z ≈ 10, they contribute only about half the star formation density in ETHOS. These differences diminish with decreasing redshift. We find that the effects of DM self-interactions are negligible compared to effects of relativistic coupling (i.e. the effective initial conditions for galaxy formation) in all properties of the galaxy population we examine. Finally, we show that the clustering strength of galaxies at high redshifts depends sensitively on DM physics, although these differences are manifest on scales that may be too small to be measurable by JWST.

Simulated catalogs and maps of radio galaxies at millimeter wavelengths in Websky

We present simulated millimeter-wavelength maps and catalogs of radio galaxies across the full sky that trace the nonlinear clustering and evolution of dark matter halos from the Websky simulation at z < 4.6 and M halo > 1012 m ⊙/h, and the accompanying framework for generating a new sample of radio galaxies from any halo catalog of positions, redshifts, and masses. Object fluxes are generated using a hybrid approach that combines (1) existing astrophysical halo models of radio galaxies from the literature to determine the positions and rank-ordering of the observed fluxes with (2) empirical models from the literature based on fits to the observed distribution of flux densities and (3) spectral indices drawn from an empirically-calibrated frequency-dependent distribution. The resulting population of radio galaxies is in excellent agreement with the number counts, polarization fractions, and distribution of spectral slopes from the data from observations at millimeter wavelengths from 20-200 GHz, including Planck, ALMA, SPT, and ACT. Since the radio galaxies are correlated with the existing cosmic infrared background (CIB), Compton-y (tSZ), and CMB lensing maps from Websky, our model makes new predictions for the cross-correlation power spectra and stacked profiles of radio galaxies and these other components. These simulations will be important for unbiased analysis of a wide variety of observables that are correlated with large-scale structure, such as gravitational lensing and SZ clusters.

Black Hole Mass Measurements of Early-type Galaxies NGC 1380 and NGC 6861 through ALMA and HST Observations and Gas-dynamical Modeling* * Based on observations made with the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, obtained at the Space Telescope Science Institute, which is operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc., under NASA contract NAS5-26555. These observations are associated with

We present Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) Cycle 2 observations of CO(2–1) emission from the circumnuclear disks in two early-type galaxies, NGC 1380 and NGC 6861. The disk in each galaxy is highly inclined (i ∼ 75°), and the projected velocities of the molecular gas near the galaxy centers are ∼300 km s−1 in NGC 1380 and ∼500 km s−1 in NGC 6861. We fit thin disk dynamical models to the ALMA data cubes to constrain the masses of the central black holes (BHs). We created host galaxy models using Hubble Space Telescope images for the extended stellar mass distributions and incorporated a range of plausible central dust extinction values. For NGC 1380, our best-fit model yields M BH = 1.47 × 108 M ⊙ with a ∼40% uncertainty. For NGC 6861, the lack of dynamical tracers within the BH’s sphere of influence due to a central hole in the gas distribution precludes a precise measurement of M BH. However, our model fits require a value for M BH in the range of (1–3) × 109 M ⊙ in NGC 6861 to reproduce the observations. The BH masses are generally consistent with predictions from local BH–host galaxy scaling relations. Systematic uncertainties associated with dust extinction of the host galaxy light and choice of host galaxy mass model dominate the error budget of both measurements. Despite these limitations, the measurements demonstrate ALMA’s ability to provide constraints on BH masses in cases where the BH’s projected radius of influence is marginally resolved or the gas distribution has a central hole.

A Parameter Space Exploration of High-resolution Numerically Evolved Early Type Galaxies Including AGN Feedback and Accurate Dynamical Treatment of Stellar Orbits

An extensive exploration of the model parameter space of axisymmetric early type galaxies (ETGs) hosting a central supermassive black hole (SMBH) is conducted by means of high-resolution hydrodynamical simulations performed with our code MACER. Global properties such as (1) total SMBH accreted mass, (2) final X-ray luminosity and temperature of the X-ray emitting halos, (3) total amount of new stars formed from the cooling gas, and (4) total ejected mass in the form of supernovae and active galactic nuclei (AGN) feedback induced galactic winds, are obtained as a function of galaxy structure and internal dynamics. In addition to the galactic dark matter halo, the model galaxies are also embedded in a group/cluster dark matter halo; finally, cosmological accretion is also included, with the amount and time dependence derived from cosmological simulations. Angular momentum conservation leads to the formation of cold H i disks; these disks further evolve under the action of star formation induced by disk instabilities, of the associated mass discharge onto the central SMBH, and of the consequent AGN feedback. At the end of the simulations, the hot (metal-enriched) gas mass is roughly 10% the mass in the old stars, with twice as much having been ejected into the intergalactic medium. The cold gas disks are approximately kiloparsec in size, and the metal-rich new stars are in 0.1 kpc disks. The masses of cold gas and new stars are roughly 0.1% of the mass of the old stars. Overall, the final systems appear to reproduce quite successfully the main global properties of real ETGs.

Chaos and order in a local barred galaxy model

AbstractWe use an analytical gravitational model that describes the local motion of stars near the central region of a barred galaxy. By integrating and classifying large sets of starting conditions of trajectories we manage to determine how the important parameters of the bar, such as its mass, strength, scale length, and angular velocity influence the motion of stars. For the orbit taxonomy, we combine traditional dynamical methods such as the classical Poincaré surface of section along with modern chaos indicators such as the Smaller Alignment Index (SALI). Our results of the local galactic model are compared with previous studies using global gravitational models.

Exploring the effect of baryons on the radial distribution of satellite galaxies with GAMA and IllustrisTNG

ABSTRACT We explore the radial distribution of satellite galaxies in groups in the Galaxy and Mass Assembly (GAMA) survey and the IllustrisTNG simulations. Considering groups with masses $12.0 \le \log _{10} (\mathcal {M}_h / h^{-1} \, \mathrm{M}_{\odot }) \lt 14.8$ at z &amp;lt; 0.267, we find a good agreement between GAMA and a sample of TNG300 groups and galaxies designed to match the GAMA selection. Both display a flat profile in the centre of groups, followed by a decline that becomes steeper towards the group edge, and normalized profiles show no dependence on group mass. Using matched satellites from TNG and dark matter-only TNG-Dark runs we investigate the effect of baryons on satellite radial location. At z = 0, we find that the matched subhaloes from the TNG-Dark runs display a much flatter radial profile: namely, satellites selected above a minimum stellar mass exhibit both smaller halocentric distances and longer survival times in the full-physics simulations compared to their dark-matter only analogues. We then divide the TNG satellites into those which possess TNG-Dark counterparts and those which do not, and develop models for the radial positions of each. We find the satellites with TNG-Dark counterparts are displaced towards the halo centre in the full-physics simulations, and this difference has a power-law behaviour with radius. For the ‘orphan’ galaxies without TNG-Dark counterparts, we consider the shape of their radial distribution and provide a model for their motion over time, which can be used to improve the treatment of satellite galaxies in semi-analytic and semi-empirical models of galaxy formation.

Baryonic solutions and challenges for cosmological models of dwarf galaxies

Galaxies and their dark-matter haloes have posed several challenges to the dark energy plus cold dark matter (ΛCDM) cosmological model. These discrepancies between observations and theory intensify for the lowest-mass (‘dwarf’) galaxies. ΛCDM predictions for the number, spatial distribution and internal structure of low-mass dark-matter haloes have historically been at odds with observed dwarf galaxies, but this is partially expected, because many predictions modelled only the dark-matter component. Any robust ΛCDM prediction must include, hand in hand, a model for galaxy formation to understand how baryonic matter populates and affects dark-matter haloes. In this Review, we consider the most notable challenges to ΛCDM regarding dwarf galaxies, and we discuss how recent cosmological numerical simulations have pinpointed baryonic solutions to these challenges. We identify remaining tensions, including the diversity of the inner dark-matter content, planes of satellites, stellar morphologies and star-formation quenching. Their resolution, or validation as actual problems with ΛCDM, will probably require both refining of galaxy-formation models and improving numerical accuracy in simulations. Galaxies and their dark-matter haloes have posed several challenges to the dark energy plus cold dark matter (ΛCDM) cosmological model. This Review discusses the most notable challenges to ΛCDM regarding dwarf galaxies and the insights provided by recent cosmological numerical simulations.

ADDGALS: Simulated Sky Catalogs for Wide Field Galaxy Surveys

We present a method for creating simulated galaxy catalogs with realistic galaxy luminosities, broadband colors, and projected clustering over large cosmic volumes. The technique, denoted Addgals (Adding Density Dependent GAlaxies to Lightcone Simulations), uses an empirical approach to place galaxies within lightcone outputs of cosmological simulations. It can be applied to significantly lower-resolution simulations than those required for commonly used methods such as halo occupation distributions, subhalo abundance matching, and semi-analytic models, while still accurately reproducing projected galaxy clustering statistics down to scales of r ∼ 100 h −1kpc . We show that Addgals catalogs reproduce several statistical properties of the galaxy distribution as measured by the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) main galaxy sample, including galaxy number densities, observed magnitude and color distributions, as well as luminosity- and color-dependent clustering. We also compare to cluster–galaxy cross correlations, where we find significant discrepancies with measurements from SDSS that are likely linked to artificial subhalo disruption in the simulations. Applications of this model to simulations of deep wide-area photometric surveys, including modeling weak-lensing statistics, photometric redshifts, and galaxy cluster finding, are presented in DeRose et al., and an application to a full cosmology analysis of Dark Energy Survey (DES) Year 3 like data is presented in DeRose et al. We plan to publicly release a 10,313 square degree catalog constructed using Addgals with magnitudes appropriate for several existing and planned surveys, including SDSS, DES, VISTA, Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, and Rubin Observatory’s Legacy Survey of Space and Time.

Growth of disc-like pseudo-bulges in SDSS DR7 since z = 0.1

ABSTRACT Cosmological simulations predict more classical bulges than their observational counterparts in the local Universe. Here, we quantify evolution of the bulges since z = 0.1 using photometric parameters of nearly 39 000 unbarred disc galaxies from SDSS DR7 which are well represented by two components. We adopted a combination of the Sérsic index and Kormendy relation to separate classical bulges and disc-like pseudo-bulges. We found that the fraction of pseudo-bulges (classical bulges) smoothly increases (decreases) as the Universe gets older. In the history of the Universe, there comes a point (z ≈ 0.016) when classical bulges and pseudo-bulges become equal in number. The fraction of pseudo-bulges rises with increasing bulge to disc half-light radius ratio until Re/Rhlr ≈ 0.6 suggesting that a concentrated disc is the most favourable place for pseudo-bulge formation. The mean ellipticity of pseudo-bulges is always greater than that of classical bulges and it decreases with decreasing redshift, indicating that the bulges tend to be more axisymmetric with evolution. Also, the massive bulges are progressing towards axisymmetry at steeper rate than the low-mass bulges. There is no tight correlation of bulge Sérsic index evolution with other photometric properties of the galaxy. Using the sample of multicomponent fitting of S4G data and N-body galaxy models, we have verified that our results are consistent or even more pronounced with multicomponent fitting and high-resolution photometry.

Grumpy: a simple framework for realistic forward modelling of dwarf galaxies

ABSTRACT We present a simple regulator-type framework designed specifically for modelling formation of dwarf galaxies. Despite its simplicity, when coupled with realistic mass accretion histories of haloes from simulations and reasonable choices for model parameter values, the framework can reproduce a remarkably broad range of observed properties of dwarf galaxies over seven orders of magnitude in stellar mass. In particular, we show that the model can simultaneously match observational constraints on the stellar mass–halo mass relation, as well as observed relations between stellar mass and gas phase and stellar metallicities, gas mass, size, and star formation rate, as well as general form and diversity of star formation histories of observed dwarf galaxies. The model can thus be used to predict photometric properties of dwarf galaxies hosted by dark matter haloes in N-body simulations, such as colours, surface brightnesses, and mass-to-light ratios and to forward model observations of dwarf galaxies. We present examples of such modelling and show that colours and surface brightness distributions of model galaxies are in good agreement with observed distributions for dwarfs in recent observational surveys. We also show that in contrast with the common assumption, the absolute magnitude–halo mass relation is generally predicted to have a non-power law form in the dwarf regime, and that the fraction of haloes that host detectable ultra-faint galaxies is sensitive to reionization redshift (zrei) and is predicted to be consistent with observations for zrei ≲ 9.

Maximally informed Bayesian modelling of disc galaxies

Abstract Dissecting the underlying structure of galaxies is of main importance in the framework of galaxy formation and evolution theories. While a classical bulge+disc decomposition of disc galaxies is usually taken as granted, this is only rarely solidly founded upon the full exploitation of the richness of data arising from spectroscopic studies with integral field units. In this work we describe a fully Bayesian estimation method of the global structure of disc galaxies which makes use of the wealth of photometric, kinematic, and mass-to-light ratio data, and that can be seen as a first step towards a machine-learning approach, certainly needed when dealing with larger samples of galaxies. Ours is a novel, hybrid line of action in tackling the problem of galactic parameter estimation, neither purely photometric nor orbit-based. Being rooted on a nested sampler, our code, which is available publicly as an online repository , allows for a statistical assessment of the need for multiple components in the dissecting process. As a first case-study the GPU-optimized code is applied to the S0 galaxy NGC-7683, finding that in this galaxy a pseudo-bulge, possibly the remnant of a bar-like structure, does exist in the center of the system. These results are then tested against the publicly available, orbit-based code DYNAMITE, finding substantial agreement.

The SAMI Galaxy Survey: The Internal Orbital Structure and Mass Distribution of Passive Galaxies from Triaxial Orbit-superposition Schwarzschild Models

Dynamical models are crucial for uncovering the internal dynamics of galaxies; however, most of the results to date assume axisymmetry, which is not representative of a significant fraction of massive galaxies. Here, we build triaxial Schwarzschild orbit-superposition models of galaxies taken from the SAMI Galaxy Survey, in order to reconstruct their inner orbital structure and mass distribution. The sample consists of 161 passive galaxies with total stellar masses in the range 109.5–1012 M ⊙. We find that the changes in internal structures within 1R e are correlated with the total stellar mass of the individual galaxies. The majority of the galaxies in the sample (73% ± 3%) are oblate, while 19% ± 3% are mildly triaxial and 8% ± 2% have triaxial/prolate shape. Galaxies with are more likely to be non-oblate. We find a mean dark matter fraction of f DM = 0.28 ± 0.20, within 1R e. Galaxies with higher intrinsic ellipticity (flatter) are found to have more negative velocity anisotropy β r (tangential anisotropy). β r also shows an anticorrelation with the edge-on spin parameter , so that β r decreases with increasing , reflecting the contribution from disk-like orbits in flat, fast-rotating galaxies. We see evidence of an increasing fraction of hot orbits with increasing stellar mass, while warm and cold orbits show a decreasing trend. We also find that galaxies with different (V/σ – h 3) kinematic signatures have distinct combinations of orbits. These results are in agreement with a formation scenario in which slow- and fast-rotating galaxies form through two main channels.

Starduster: A Multiwavelength SED Model Based on Radiative Transfer Simulations and Deep Learning

We present starduster, a supervised deep-learning model that predicts the multiwavelength spectral energy distribution (SED) from galaxy geometry parameters and star formation history by emulating dust radiative transfer simulations. The model is composed of three specifically designed neural networks, which take into account the features of dust attenuation and emission. We utilize the skirt radiative transfer simulation to produce data for the training data of neural networks. Each neural network can be trained using ∼4000–5000 samples. Compared with the direct results of the skirt simulation, our deep-learning model produces ∼0.005 mag and ∼0.1–0.2 mag errors for dust attenuation and emission, respectively. As an application, we fit our model to the observed SEDs of IC 4225 and NGC 5166. Our model can reproduce the observations and provide reasonable measurements of the inclination angle and stellar mass. However, some predicted geometry parameters are different from an image-fitting study. Our analysis implies that including a constraint at (rest-frame) ∼40 μm could alleviate the degeneracy in the parameter space for both IC 4225 and NGC 5166, leading to broadly consistent results with the image-fitting predictions. Our SED code is publicly available and can be applied to both SED fitting and SED modeling of galaxies from semianalytic models.

MONG: An extension to galaxy clusters

The presence of dark matter (DM), though well established by indirect evidence, is yet to be observed directly. Various DM detection experiments running for several years have yielded no positive results. In view of these negative results, we had earlier proposed alternate models by postulating a minimum gravitational field strength (minimum curvature) and a minimum acceleration. These postulates led to the modified Newtonian dynamics and modified Newtonian gravity (MONG). The observed flat rotation curves of galaxies were also accounted for through these postulates. Here, we extend these postulates to galaxy clusters and model the dynamical velocity-distance curve for a typical cluster such as the Virgo cluster. The radial velocities of galaxies in the Virgo cluster are also obtained through this model. Observations show an inconsistency in the Hubble flow at a mean cluster distance of 17 Mpc, which is expected in regions of high matter density. This decrease in velocity is predicted by our model of modified gravity (MONG). The radial velocity versus distance relation for galaxies in the Virgo cluster obtained using MONG is in agreement with observations.

ProFuse: physical multiband structural decomposition of galaxies and the mass–size–age plane

ABSTRACT We present the new ProFuse r package, a simultaneous spectral (ultraviolet to far-infrared) and spatial structural decomposition tool that produces physical models of galaxies and their components. This combines the functionality of the recently released ProFound (for automatic source extraction), ProFit (for extended source profiling), and ProSpect (for stellar population modelling) software packages. The key novelty of ProFuse is that it generates images using a self-consistent model for the star formation and metallicity history of the bulge and disc separately, and uses target images across a range of wavelengths to define the model likelihood and optimize our physical galaxy reconstruction. The first part of the paper explores the ProFuse approach in detail, and compares results to published structural and stellar population properties. The latter part of the paper applies ProFuse to 6664 z &amp;lt; 0.06 GAMA galaxies. Using re-processed ugriZYJHKs imaging we extract structural and stellar population properties for bulges and discs in parallel. As well as producing true stellar mass based mass–size relationships, we further extend this correlation to explore the third dimensions of age and gas phase metallicity. The discs in particular demonstrate strong co-dependency between mass–size–age in a well-defined plane, where at a given disc stellar mass younger discs tend to be larger. These findings are in broad agreement with work at higher redshift, suggesting discs that formed earlier are physically smaller.

PetroFit: A Python Package for Computing Petrosian Radii and Fitting Galaxy Light Profiles

Abstract PetroFit is an open-source Python package based on Astropy and Photutils that can calculate Petrosian profiles and fit galaxy images. It offers end-to-end tools for making accurate photometric measurements, estimating morphological properties, and fitting 2D models to galaxy images. Petrosian metric radii can be used for model parameter estimation and aperture photometry to provide accurate total fluxes. Correction tools are provided for improving Petrosian radii estimates affected by galaxy morphology. PetroFit also provides tools for sampling Astropy-based models (including custom profiles and multicomponent models) onto image grids and enables point-spread function convolution to account for the effects of seeing. These capabilities provide a robust means of modeling and fitting galaxy light profiles. We have made the PetroFit package publicly available on GitHub ( PetroFit/petrofit ) and PyPi (pip install petrofit).

The MASSIVE Survey. XVII. A Triaxial Orbit-based Determination of the Black Hole Mass and Intrinsic Shape of Elliptical Galaxy NGC 2693

Abstract We present a stellar dynamical mass measurement of a newly detected supermassive black hole (SMBH) at the center of the fast-rotating, massive elliptical galaxy NGC 2693 as part of the MASSIVE survey. We combine high signal-to-noise ratio integral field spectroscopy (IFS) from the Gemini Multi-Object Spectrograph with wide-field data from the Mitchell Spectrograph at McDonald Observatory to extract and model stellar kinematics of NGC 2693 from the central ∼150 pc out to ∼2.5 effective radii. Observations from Hubble Space Telescope WFC3 are used to determine the stellar light distribution. We perform fully triaxial Schwarzschild orbit modeling using the latest TriOS code and a Bayesian search in 6D galaxy model parameter space to determine NGC 2693's SMBH mass (M BH), stellar mass-to-light ratio, dark matter content, and intrinsic shape. We find M BH = 1.7 ± 0.4 × 10 9 M ⊙ and a triaxial intrinsic shape with axis ratios p = b/a = 0.902 ± 0.009 and q = c / a = 0.721 − 0.010 + 0.011 , triaxiality parameter T = 0.39 ± 0.04. In comparison, the best-fit orbit model in the axisymmetric limit and (cylindrical) Jeans anisotropic model of NGC 2693 prefer M BH = 2.4 ± 0.6 × 10 9 M ⊙ and M BH = 2.9 ± 0.3 × 10 9 M ⊙ , respectively. Neither model can account for the non-axisymmetric stellar velocity features present in the IFS data.

Comparing lensing and stellar orbital models of a nearby massive strong-lens galaxy

ABSTRACT Exploiting the relative proximity of the nearby strong-lens galaxy SNL-1, we present a critical comparison of the mass estimates derived from independent modelling techniques. We fit triaxial orbit-superposition dynamical models to spatially resolved stellar kinematics, and compare to the constraints derived from lens modelling of high-resolution photometry. From the dynamical model, we measure the total (dynamical) mass enclosed within a projected aperture of radius the Einstein radius to be log10(MEin/M⊙) = 11.00 ± 0.02, which agrees with previous measurements from lens modelling to within $5{\rm {per\ cent}}$. We then explore the intrinsic (de-projected) properties of the best-fitting dynamical model. We find that SNL-1 has approximately constant, intermediate triaxiality at all radii. It is oblate like in the inner regions (around the Einstein radius) and tends towards spherical at larger radii. The stellar velocity ellipsoid gradually transforms from isotropic in the very central regions to radially biased in the outskirts. We find that SNL-1 is dynamically consistent with the broader galaxy population, as measured by the relative fraction of orbit ‘temperatures’ compared to the CALIFA survey. On the mass–size plane, SNL-1 occupies the most-compact edge given its mass, compared to both the MaNGA and SAMI surveys. Finally, we explore how the observed lensing configuration is affected by the orientation of the lens galaxy. We discuss the implications of such detailed models on future combined lensing and dynamical analyses.

Poisson type conformastat spherically symmetric anisotropic fluid spacetimes

We construct conformastat spherically symmetric spacetimes representing anisotropic fluid matter distributions from given solutions of the Poisson’s equation of Newtonian gravity and its corresponding circular speed profile. As simple examples, we present three families of spherically symmetric spacetimes which we apply in constructing new models of relativistic anisotropic thick spherical shells, and of relativistic galaxy models composite by a central spherical bulge, the thick disk and the dark matter halo, writing in this case the metric in cylindrical coordinates. Moreover, the geodesic motion of test particles in stable circular orbits around such structures is studied. We build anisotropic fluid sources for these spacetimes which satisfy all the energy conditions and the principal stresses are positive quantities (pressure).

The role of bars on the dynamical-friction-driven inspiral of massive objects

ABSTRACT In this paper, we systematically explore the impact of a galactic bar on the inspiral time-scale of a massive object (MO) within a Milky Way-like galaxy. We integrate the orbit of MOs in a multicomponent galaxy model via a semi-analytical approach that accounts for dynamical friction generalized to rotationally supported backgrounds. We compare the MO evolution in a galaxy featuring a Milky Way-like rotating bar to the evolution within an analogous axisymmetric galaxy without the bar. In agreement with previous studies, we find that the bar presence may significantly affect the inspiral, sometimes making it shorter by a factor of a few, and sometimes hindering it for a Hubble time. The erratic behaviour is mainly impacted by the relative phase at which the MO encounters the stronger bar-induced resonances. In particular, the effect of the bar is more prominent for initially in-plane, prograde MOs, especially those crossing the bar co-rotation radius or outer Lindblad resonance. In the barred galaxy, we find the sinking of the most massive MOs ($\gtrsim 10^{7.5}\, \mathrm{M}_{\odot {}}$) approaching the galaxy from large separations (≳8 kpc) to be most efficiently hampered. Neglecting the effect of global torques associated with the non-symmetric mass distribution is thus not advisable even within an idealized, smooth galaxy model; we further note that spiral patterns are unlikely to affect the inspiral due to their transient and fluctuating nature. We speculate that the sinking efficiency of massive black holes involved in minor galaxy mergers may be hampered in barred galaxies, making them less likely to host a gravitational wave signal accessible to low-frequency detectors.