Warm FIRE: simulating galaxy formation with resonant sterile neutrino dark matter

Bozek, Brandon; Fitts, Alex; Boylan-Kolchin, Michael; Garrison-Kimmel, Shea; Abazajian, Kevork N.; Bullock, James S.; Kereš, Dušan; Faucher-Giguère, Claude André; Wetzel, Andrew; Feldmann, Robert; Hopkins, Philip F.

doi:10.1093/mnras/sty3300

Cited by 51 publications

(66 citation statements)

References 119 publications

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“…Only a few such galaxies exist in our sample, nearly all with M * ≤ 10 6 M . Moreover, only one galaxy (a low-mass central around an isolated MW-mass host) forms its first star after t 4 Gyr, suggesting that galaxies of this type are indeed very rare in ΛCDM, in contrast with the predictions of warm DM models (Bozek et al 2019).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Star formation histories of dwarf galaxies in the FIRE simulations: dependence on mass and Local Group environment

Garrison-Kimmel

Wetzel

Hopkins

et al. 2019

Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

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135

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We study star formation histories (SFHs) of 500 dwarf galaxies (stellar mass M * = 10 5 − 10 9 M ) from FIRE-2 cosmological zoom-in simulations. We compare dwarfs around individual Milky Way (MW)-mass galaxies, dwarfs in Local Group (LG)-like environments, and true field (i.e. isolated) dwarf galaxies. We reproduce observed trends wherein highermass dwarfs quench later (if at all), regardless of environment. We also identify differences between the environments, both in terms of "satellite vs. central" and "LG vs. individual MW vs. isolated dwarf central." Around the individual MW-mass hosts, we recover the result expected from environmental quenching: central galaxies in the "near field" have more extended SFHs than their satellite counterparts, with the former more closely resemble isolated ("true field") dwarfs (though near-field centrals are still somewhat earlier forming). However, this difference is muted in the LG-like environments, where both near-field centrals and satellites have similar SFHs, which resemble satellites of single MW-mass hosts. This distinction is strongest for M * = 10 6 -10 7 M but exists at other masses. Our results suggest that the paired halo nature of the LG may regulate star formation in dwarf galaxies even beyond the virial radii of the MW and Andromeda. Caution is needed when comparing zoom-in simulations targeting isolated dwarf galaxies against observed dwarf galaxies in the LG.Observations have begun to provide detailed constraints on the star formation histories of a large fraction of the dwarf galaxies in the Local Group (LG; defined as the cosmological volume

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Star formation histories of dwarf galaxies in the FIRE simulations: dependence on mass and Local Group environment

Garrison-Kimmel

Wetzel

Hopkins

et al. 2019

Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

Self Cite

135

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“…We again use D17's reionization cutoff to estimate the number of luminous galaxies. This is a conservative overestimate, as WDM halos tend to form, and form stars, later than in CDM [67], and because some of the satellites will be fainter than Segue I. In Fig.…”

Section: Constraints On Galaxy Evolution and Dark Matter Modelsmentioning

confidence: 95%

Missing Satellites Problem: Completeness Corrections to the Number of Satellite Galaxies in the Milky Way are Consistent with Cold Dark Matter Predictions

2018

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A critical challenge to the cold dark matter (CDM) paradigm is that there are fewer satellites observed around the Milky Way than found in simulations of dark matter substructure. We show that there is a match between the observed satellite counts corrected by the detection efficiency of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (for luminosities L 340 L) and the number of luminous satellites predicted by CDM, assuming an empirical relation between stellar mass and halo mass. The "missing satellites problem", cast in terms of number counts, is thus solved. We also show that warm dark matter models with a thermal relic mass smaller than 4 keV are in tension with satellite counts, putting pressure on the sterile neutrino interpretation of recent X-ray observations. Importantly, the total number of Milky Way satellites depends sensitively on the spatial distribution of satellites, possibly leading to a "too many satellites" problem. Measurements of completely dark halos below 10 8 M , achievable with substructure lensing and stellar stream perturbations, are the next frontier for tests of CDM.

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“…The census and observed mass function of low-mass halos point the direction toward solving the long-standing and highly contentious missing satellite problem (e.g., Klypin et al 1999, Moore et al 1999, Simon & Geha 2007, Brooks et al 2013. The measured central densities, and perhaps eventually the density profiles, of UFDs provide significant clues to the behavior of dark matter on small scales (e.g., Calabrese & Spergel 2016, Bozek et al 2019, Errani et al 2018.…”

Section: The Cosmological Significance Of the Lowest-luminosity Dwarfmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Faintest Dwarf Galaxies

Simon

2019

Annu. Rev. Astron. Astrophys.

524

403

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The lowest luminosity ([Formula: see text] L[Formula: see text]) Milky Way satellite galaxies represent the extreme lower limit of the galaxy luminosity function. These ultra-faint dwarfs are the oldest, most dark matter–dominated, most metal-poor, and least chemically evolved stellar systems known. They therefore provide unique windows into the formation of the first galaxies and the behavior of dark matter on small scales. In this review, we summarize the discovery of ultra-faint dwarfs in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey in 2005 and the subsequent observational and theoretical progress in understanding their nature and origin. We describe their stellar kinematics, chemical abundance patterns, structural properties, stellar populations, orbits, and luminosity function, as well as what can be learned from each type of measurement. We conclude the following: ▪ In most cases, the stellar velocity dispersions of ultra-faint dwarfs are robust against systematic uncertainties such as binary stars and foreground contamination. ▪ The chemical abundance patterns of stars in ultra-faint dwarfs require two sources of r-process elements, one of which can likely be attributed to neutron star mergers. ▪ Even under conservative assumptions, only a small fraction of ultra-faint dwarfs may have suffered significant tidal stripping of their stellar components. ▪ Determining the properties of the faintest dwarfs out to the virial radius of the Milky Way will require very large investments of observing time with future telescopes. Finally, we offer a look forward at the observations that will be possible with future facilities as the push toward a complete census of the Local Group dwarf galaxy population continues.

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Warm FIRE: simulating galaxy formation with resonant sterile neutrino dark matter

Cited by 51 publications

References 119 publications

Star formation histories of dwarf galaxies in the FIRE simulations: dependence on mass and Local Group environment

Star formation histories of dwarf galaxies in the FIRE simulations: dependence on mass and Local Group environment

Missing Satellites Problem: Completeness Corrections to the Number of Satellite Galaxies in the Milky Way are Consistent with Cold Dark Matter Predictions

The Faintest Dwarf Galaxies

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