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Cited by 238Galaxies: Formation, Evolution, PhenomenaCosmology and Gravitation TheoriesDark Matter and Cosmic Phenomena

Galaxy-induced transformation of dark matter haloes: Transformations of CDM haloes

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Abadi, Mario G., Navarro, Julio F., Fardal, Mark, Babul, Arif, Steinmetz, Matthias·2010·Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
DOI 10.1111/j.1365-2966.2010.16912.x
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Abstract

We use N-body/gasdynamical cosmological simulations to examine the effect of the assembly of a central galaxy on the shape and mass profile of its surrounding dark matter halo. Two series of simulations are compared; one that follows only the evolution of the dark matter component of individual haloes in the proper Λcold dark matter (ΛCDM) cosmological context, and a second series where a baryonic component is added and followed hydrodynamically. The simulations with baryons include radiative cooling but neglect the formation of stars and their feedback. The efficient, unimpeded cooling that results leads most baryons to collect at the halo centre in a centrifugally supported disc which, due to angular momentum losses, is too small and too massive when compared with typical spiral galaxies. This admittedly unrealistic model allows us, nevertheless, to gauge the maximum effect that galaxies may have in transforming their surrounding dark haloes. We find, in agreement with earlier work, that the shape of the halo becomes more axisymmetric: post galaxy assembly, haloes are transformed from triaxial into essentially oblate systems, with well-aligned isopotential contours of roughly constant flattening (〈c/a〉∼ 0.85). Haloes always contract as a result of galaxy assembly, but the effect is substantially less pronounced than predicted by the traditional ‘adiabatic-contraction’ hypothesis. The reduced contraction helps to reconcile ΛCDM haloes with constraints on the dark matter content inside the solar circle and should alleviate the longstanding difficulty of matching simultaneously the scaling properties of galaxy discs and the galaxy luminosity function. The halo contraction we report is also less pronounced than found in earlier simulations, a disagreement which suggests that halo contraction is not solely a function of the initial and final distribution of baryons. Not only how much baryonic mass has been deposited at the centre of a halo matters, but also the mode of its deposition. Although simple formulae might work in particular cases where galaxies form nearly adiabatically, in general it might prove impossible to predict the halo response to galaxy formation without a detailed understanding of a galaxy's detailed assembly history.

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  • Individual haloes can deviate from the mean prediction because the size of contraction is weakly dependent on assembly history.

    “Nonetheless, individual haloes can deviate from the mean prediction since the size of the contraction is weakly dependent on the assembly history of the system (e.g. Abadi et al. 2010; Artale et al. 2019).”

    From The milky way total mass profile as inferred from Gaia DR2 (2020) · cites this paper as Abadi et al. 2010

    The Summary (section 4; page unavailable) says halo contraction depends not only on the final distribution of baryons but also on how they were assembled, supporting the assembly-history explanation for deviations. It does not characterize that dependence as weak: section 3.6 says merger history plays an important role. (LLM, conf=0.85)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

  • The assumption of spherical symmetry is unlikely to affect the results because the baryonic distribution leads to a roughly spherical DM distribution in the inner regions r ≲ 20 kpc, where the best quality rotation curve data exist.

    “This simplification is unlikely to affect our results since the baryonic distribution leads to a roughly spherical DM distribution in the inner regions, i.e. for r ≲ 20 kpc , which is the region where the best quality rotation curve data exists”

    From The milky way total mass profile as inferred from Gaia DR2 (2020) · cites this paper as Abadi et al. 2010

    Section 3.3 (page not supplied) reports that the central galaxy makes simulated dark-matter haloes rounder, with nearly oblate isopotential contours (b/a ≈ 1, c/a ≈ 0.85). It does not establish that spherical symmetry is harmless for the citing authors’ results or identify r ≲ 20 kpc as the region with the best-quality rotation-curve data. (LLM, conf=0.86)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

  • Other simpler adiabatic contraction approximations (Blumenthal et al. 1986; Gnedin et al. 2004) tend systematically to under- or overpredict the halo contraction.

    “Other simpler adiabatic contraction approximations, such as those used by Blumenthal et al. (1986) and Gnedin et al. (2004), tend systematically to under- or overpredict the halo contraction (e.g. Abadi et al. 2010; Duffy et al. 2010; Pedrosa et al. 2010; Dutton et al. 2016; Artale et al. 2019).”

    From The milky way total mass profile as inferred from Gaia DR2 (2020) · cites this paper as Abadi et al. 2010

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Authors
Abadi, M. G., Navarro, J. F., Fardal, M., Babul, A., & Steinmetz, M.
Affiliations
  • Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (AR)
  • University of Victoria (CA)
  • University of Massachusetts Amherst (US)
  • Leibniz Institute for Astrophysics Potsdam (DE)
Corresponding author
Abadi, Mario G.
ORCID
Venue
Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Publisher
Oxford University Press (OUP)
Published
2010-08-19
Volume
407
Issue
1
Pages
435-446
ISSN
0035-8711 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.1111/j.1365-2966.2010.16912.x
OpenAlex
W2159553024
Cited by
237
References
69
Citations by year
2026: 1 · 2025: 7 · 2024: 15 · 2023: 12 · 2022: 14 · 2021: 11 · 2020: 10 · 2019: 14 · 2018: 12 · 2017: 6 · 2016: 17 · 2015: 11 · 2014: 20 · 2013: 13 · 2012: 31
FWCI
14.30
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society (publishedVersion)
  • Conicet (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-sa)
  • arXiv (Cornell University) (submittedVersion)
  • HighWire Press Open Archive (submittedVersion)
  • arXiv (Cornell University)
Topics
  • Physical Sciences › Physics and Astronomy › Astronomy and Astrophysics › Galaxies: Formation, Evolution, Phenomena
  • Physical Sciences › Physics and Astronomy › Astronomy and Astrophysics › Cosmology and Gravitation Theories
  • Physical Sciences › Physics and Astronomy › Nuclear and High Energy Physics › Dark Matter and Cosmic Phenomena
Keywords
dark matter halos, galaxy formation, halo shape, halo mass profiles, radiative cooling, adiabatic contraction, galaxy assembly, luminosity function

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