We combine the latest observationally motivated constraints on stellar properties in dark matter haloes, along with data-driven predictions for the atomic (HI) and molecular (H$_2$) gas evolution in galaxies, to derive empirical relationships between the build-up of galactic components and their evolution over cosmic time. At high redshift ($z \gtrsim 4$), the frameworks imply that galaxies acquire their cold gas (both atomic and molecular) mostly by accretion, with the fraction of cold gas reaching about 20% of the cosmic baryon fraction. We infer a strong dependence of the star formation rate on the H$_2$ mass, suggesting a near-universal depletion timescale of 0.1-1 Gyr in Milky Way sized haloes (of masses $10^{12} \ M_{\odot}$ at $z = 0$). There is also evidence for a near-universality of the Kennicutt-Schmidt relation across redshifts, with very little dependence on stellar mass, if a constant conversion factor ($α_{\rm CO}$) of CO luminosity to molecular gas mass is assumed. Combining the atomic and molecular gas observations with the stellar build-up illustrates that galactic mass assembly in Milky-Way sized haloes proceeds from smooth accretion at high redshifts, towards becoming merger-dominated at late times ($z \lesssim 0.6$). Our results can be used to constrain numerical simulations of the dominant growth and accretion processes of galaxies over cosmic history.
The origin of dwarf spheroidal galaxies (dSphs) is investigated in a global cosmological context by simultaneously following the evolution of the Milky Way Galaxy and its dwarf satellites. This approach enable to study the formation of dSphs in their proper birth environment and to reconstruct their own merging histories. The proposed picture simultaneously accounts for several dSph and Milky Way properties, including the Metallicity Distribution Functions of metal-poor stars. The observed features are interpreted in terms of physical processes acting at high redshifts.
Galaxies and their dark-matter halos have posed several challenges to the Dark Energy plus Cold Dark Matter (LCDM) cosmological model. These discrepancies between observations and theory intensify for the lowest-mass (`dwarf') galaxies. LCDM predictions for the number, spatial distribution, and internal structure of low-mass dark-matter halos have historically been at odds with observed dwarf galaxies, but this is partially expected, because many predictions modeled only the dark-matter component. Any robust LCDM prediction must include, hand-in-hand, a model for galaxy formation to understand…
We use high-resolution cosmological zoom simulations with ~200 pc resolution at z = 2 and various prescriptions for galactic outflows in order to explore the impact of winds on the morphological, dynamical, and structural properties of eight individual galaxies with halo masses ~ 10^11--2x10^12 Msun at z = 2. We present a detailed comparison to spatially and spectrally resolved Hα and other observations of z ~ 2 galaxies. We find that simulations without winds produce massive, compact galaxies with low gas fractions, super-solar metallicities, high bulge fractions, and much of the star formati…
We explore the capability of deep learning to classify cosmic structures. In cosmological simulations, cosmic volumes are segmented into voids, sheets, filaments and knots, according to the distribution and kinematics of dark matter (DM), and galaxies are also classified according to the segmentation. However, observational studies cannot adopt this classification method using DM. In this study, we demonstrate that deep learning can bridge the gap between simulations and observations. Our models are based on three-dimensional convolutional neural networks and trained with data of the distribut…
The majority of galaxies with current star-formation rates (SFRs), SFRo >= 10^-3 Msun/yr, in the Local Cosmological Volume where observations should be reliable, have the property that their observed SFRo is larger than their average star formation rate. This is in tension with the evolution of galaxies described by delayed-tau models, according to which the opposite would be expected. The tension is apparent in that local galaxies imply the star formation timescale tau approx 6.7 Gyr, much longer than the 3.5-4.5 Gyr obtained using an empirically determined main sequence at several redshifts.…
We examine the distribution of young stars associated with the spiral arms of a simulated L* cosmological disk galaxy. We find age patterns orthogonal to the arms which are not inconsistent with the predictions of classical density wave theory, a view further supported by recent observations of face-on Grand Design spirals such as M51. The distribution of metals within a simulated ~0.1L* disk is presented, reinforcing the link between star formation, the age-metallicity relation, and the metallicity distribution function.
In this work we compare three catalogues of cosmological filaments identified in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey by means of different algorithms by Tempel et al., Pereyra et al., and Martínez et al. We analyse how different identification techniques determine differences in the filament statistical properties: length, elongation, redshift distribution, and abundance. We find that the statistical properties of the filaments strongly depend on the identification algorithm. We use a volume limited sample of galaxies to characterise other properties of filaments such as: galaxy overdensity, luminosi…
From mock Hubble Space Telescope images, we quantify non-parametric statistics of galaxy morphology, thereby predicting the emergence of relationships among stellar mass, star formation, and observed rest-frame optical structure at 1 < z < 3. We measure automated diagnostics of galaxy morphology in cosmological simulations of the formation of 22 central galaxies with 9.3 < log10 M_*/M_sun < 10.7. These high-spatial-resolution zoom-in calculations enable accurate modeling of the rest-frame UV and optical morphology. Even with small numbers of galaxies, we find that structural evolution is neith…
We study the nature of rapidly star-forming galaxies at z=2 in cosmological hydrodynamic simulations, and compare their properties to observations of sub-millimetre galaxies (SMGs). We identify simulated SMGs as the most rapidly star-forming systems that match the observed number density of SMGs. In our models, SMGs are massive galaxies sitting at the centres of large potential wells, being fed by smooth infall and gas-rich satellites at rates comparable to their star formation rates (SFR). They are not typically undergoing major mergers that significantly boost their quiescent SFR, but they s…
Hubble Space Telescope observations with Wide Field Camera 3/IR reveal that galaxies at z~7 have very blue ultraviolet (UV) colors, consistent with these systems being dominated by young stellar populations with moderate or little attenuation by dust. We investigate UV and optical properties of the high-z galaxies in the standard cold dark matter model using a high-resolution adaptive mesh refinement cosmological hydrodynamic simulation. For this purpose, we perform panchromatic three-dimensional dust radiative transfer calculations on 198 galaxies of stellar mass 5x10^8-3x10^{10} Msun with th…
In this work, we study the evolution with redshift of the colour-magnitude relation (CMR) of early-type galaxies. This evolution is analyzed through cosmological numerical simulations from z = 2 to z = 0. The preliminary results shown here represent the starting point of a study aimed at identifying the processes that originated the observed CMR of early-type galaxies at z = 0.
The circumgalactic medium (CGM) of galaxies consists of a multiphase gas with components at very different temperatures, from $10^ {4}$ K to $10^ {7}$ K. One of the greatest puzzle about this medium is the presence of a large amount of low-temperature ($T\sim10^4$ K) gas around quiescent early-type galaxies (ETGs). Using semi-analytical parametric models, we describe the cool CGM around massive, low-redshift ETGs as the cosmological accretion of gas into their dark matter halos, resulting in an inflow of clouds from the external parts of the halos to the central galaxies. We compare our predic…
We study the density structures of dark matter subhalos for both cold dark matter and self-interacting dark matter models using high-resolution cosmological $N$-body simulations. We quantify subhalo's central density at 150 pc from the center of each subhalo at the classical dwarf spheroidal and ultrafaint dwarf scales found in Milky-Way sized halos. By comparing them with observations, we find that the self-interacting scattering cross-section of $σ/m<3\ \rm{cm^{2}g^{-1}}$ is favored. Due to the combination of hosts' tide and self-interactions, the central density of subhalos with small peric…
The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), which has recently become operational, is capable of detecting objects at record-breaking redshifts, $z \gtrsim 15$. This is a crucial advance for observational cosmology, as at these redshifts the differences between alternative cosmological models manifest themselves in the most obvious way. In recent years, some observational hints have emerged indicating that the Standard Cosmological Model could require correcting. One of these hints is related to the discovery of remote galaxies whose redshifts correspond to the very young Universe (less than one bi…
We analyze 40 cosmological re-simulations of individual massive galaxies with present-day stellar masses of $M_{*} > 6.3 \times 10^{10} M_{\odot}$ in order to investigate the physical origin of the observed strong increase in galaxy sizes and the decrease of the stellar velocity dispersions since redshift $z \approx 2$. At present 25 out of 40 galaxies are quiescent with structural parameters (sizes and velocity dispersions) in agreement with local early type galaxies. At z=2 all simulated galaxies with $M_* \gtrsim 10^{11}M_{\odot}$ (11 out of 40) at z=2 are compact with projected half-mass r…
The Lambda Cold Dark Matter (LCDM) paradigm makes specific predictions for the abundance, structure, substructure and clustering of dark matter halos, the sites of galaxy formation. These predictions can be directly tested, in the low-mass halo regime, by dark matter-dominated dwarf galaxies. A number of potential challenges to LCDM have been identified when confronting the expected properties of dwarfs with observation. I review our understanding of a few of these issues, including the `missing satellites' and the `too-big-to-fail' problems, and argue that neither poses an insurmountable chal…
Observationally, magnetic fields reach equipartition with thermal energy and cosmic rays in the interstellar medium of disk galaxies such as the Milky Way. However, thus far cosmological simulations of the formation and evolution of galaxies have usually neglected magnetic fields. We employ the moving-mesh code \textsc{Arepo} to follow for the first time the formation and evolution of a Milky Way-like disk galaxy in its full cosmological context while taking into account magnetic fields. We find that a prescribed tiny magnetic seed field grows exponentially by a small-scale dynamo until it sat…
We present new high spectral resolution observations of 15 high-z ($1.3 \leq$ z $\leq 2.5$) HII Galaxies (HIIG) obtained with MOSFIRE at the Keck Observatory. These data, combined with already published data for another 31 high-z and 107 z $\leq 0.15$ HIIG, are used to obtain new independent cosmological results using the distance estimator based on the established correlation between the Balmer emission line velocity dispersion and luminosity for HIIG. Our results are in excellent agreement with the latest cosmological concordance model ($Λ$CDM) published results. From our analysis, we find a…
Context. A possible correlation between CO luminosity (L_CO ) and its line width (FWHM) has been suggested and denied in the literature. Such claims were often based on a small, or heterogeneous sample of galaxies, and thus inconclusive. Aims. We aim to prove or dis-prove the L_CO -FWHM correlation. Methods. We compile a large sample of submm galaxies at z>2 from the literature, and investigate the L_CO-FWHM relation. Results. After carefully evaluating the selection effects and uncertainties such as inclination and magnification via gravitational lensing, we show that there exist a weak but s…
CASCO: Cosmological and AStrophysical parameters from Cosmological simulations and Observations -- II. Constraining cosmology and astrophysical processes with early- and late-type galaxies
Recent photometric detections of extreme $(z>10)$ redshift galaxies from the JWST have been shown to be in strong tension with existing simulation models for galaxy formation, and in the most acute case, in tension with $ΛCDM$ itself. These results, however, all rest on the confirmation of these distances by spectroscopy. Recently, the JADES survey has detected the most distant galaxies with spectroscopically confirmed redshifts, with four galaxies found with redshifts between $z=10.38$ and $z=13.2$. In this paper, we compare simulation predictions from four large cosmological volumes and two …
In this paper, we analyse the effect of the expansion of the universe on the clustering of galaxies. We evaluate the configurational integral for interacting system of galaxies in an expanding universe by including effects produced by the cosmological constant. The gravitational partition function is obtained using this configuration integral. Thermodynamic quantities, specifically, Helmholtz free energy, entropy, internal energy, pressure and chemical potential are also derived for this system. It is observed that they depend on the modified clustering parameter for this system of galaxies. I…
Current data broadly support trends of galaxy surface brightness profile amplitude and shape with total stellar mass predicted by state-of-the-art Lambda-CDM cosmological simulations, although recent results show signs of interesting discrepancies, particularly for galaxies less massive than the Milky Way. Here I discuss how perhaps the largest contribution to such discrepancies can be inferred almost directly from how well a given model agrees with the observed present-day galaxy stellar mass function.
The formation and evolution of gravitationally bound, star forming substructures in tidal tails of interacting galaxies, called tidal dwarf galaxies (TDG), has been studied, until now, only in idealised simulations of individual pairs of interacting galaxies for pre-determined orbits, mass ratios, and gas fractions. Here, we present the first identification of TDG candidates in fully cosmological simulations, specifically the high-resolution simulations of the EAGLE suite. The finite resolution of the simulation limits their ability to predict the exact formation rate and survival timescale of…
Integral field spectroscopy surveys provide spatially resolved gas and stellar kinematics of galaxies. They have unveiled a range of atypical kinematic phenomena, which require detailed modelling to understand. We present results from a cosmological simulation that includes stellar and AGN feedback. We find that the distribution of angles between the gas and stellar angular momenta of galaxies is not affected by projection effects. We examine five galaxies ($\approx 6$ per cent of well resolved galaxies) that display atypical kinematics; two of the galaxies have kinematically distinct cores (K…
The standard cold dark matter plus cosmological constant model predicts that galaxies form within dark-matter haloes, and that low-mass galaxies are more dark-matter dominated than massive ones. The unexpected discovery of two low-mass galaxies lacking dark matter immediately provoked concerns about the standard cosmology and ignited explorations of alternatives, including self-interacting dark matter and modified gravity. Apprehension grew after several cosmological simulations using the conventional model failed to form adequate numerical analogues with comparable internal characteristics (s…
Massive early-type galaxies have higher metallicities and higher ratios of $α$ elements to iron than their less massive counterparts. Reproducing these correlations has long been a problem for hierarchical galaxy formation theory, both in semi-analytic models and cosmological hydrodynamic simulations. We show that a simulation in which gas cooling in massive dark haloes is quenched by radio-mode active galactic nuclei (AGNs) feedback naturally reproduces the observed trend between $α$/Fe and the velocity dispersion of galaxies, $σ$. The quenching occurs earlier for more massive galaxies. Conse…
We study influence by models of inter-stellar medium (ISM) on properties of galaxies in cosmological simulations. We examine three models widely used in previous studies. The ISM models impose different equations of state on dense gas. Using zoom-in simulations, we demonstrate that switching the ISM models can control formation of giant clumps in massive discs at redshifts $z\sim1$--$2$ while their initial conditions and the other settings such as stellar feedback are unchanged. Thus, not only feedback but ISM models can also be responsible for clumpy morphologies of simulated galaxies. We fin…
Supermassive black holes (SMBHs) are ubiquitous in galaxies with a sizable mass. It is expected that a pair of SMBHs originally in the nuclei of two merging galaxies would form a binary and eventually coalesce via a burst of gravitational waves. So far theoretical models and simulations have been unable to predict directly the SMBH merger timescale from ab-initio galaxy formation theory, focusing only on limited phases of the orbital decay of SMBHs under idealized conditions of the galaxy hosts. The predicted SMBH merger timescales are long, of order Gyrs, which could be problematic for future…
We perform zoom-in cosmological simulations of a suite of dwarf galaxies, examining the impact of cosmic-rays generated by supernovae, including the effect of diffusion. We first look at the effect of varying the uncertain cosmic ray parameters by repeatedly simulating a single galaxy. Then we fix the comic ray model and simulate five dwarf systems with virial masses range from 8-30 $\times 10^{10}$ Msun. We find that including cosmic ray feedback (with diffusion) consistently leads to disk dominated systems with relatively flat rotation curves and constant star formation rates. In contrast, o…
Stellar prolate rotation in dwarf galaxies is rather uncommon, with only two known galaxies in the Local Group showing such feature (Phoenix and And II). Cosmological simulations show that in massive early-type galaxies prolate rotation likely arises from major mergers. However, the origin of such kinematics in the dwarf galaxies regime has only been explored using idealized simulations. Here we made use of hydrodynamical cosmological simulations of dwarfs galaxies with stellar mass between $3\times10^5$ and $5\times10^8$ M$_{\odot}$ to explore the formation of prolate rotators. Out of $27$ dw…
We present the first measurement of the lifetimes of Giant Molecular Clouds (GMCs) in cosmological simulations at $z = 0$, using the Latte suite of FIRE-2 simulations of Milky Way-mass galaxies. We track GMCs with total gas mass $\gtrsim 10^5$ M$_\odot$ at high spatial ($\sim1$ pc), mass ($7100$ M$_{\odot}$), and temporal (1 Myr) resolution. Our simulated GMCs are consistent with the distribution of masses for massive GMCs in the Milky Way and nearby galaxies. We find GMC lifetimes of $5-7$ Myr, or 1-2 freefall times, on average, with less than 2$\%$ of clouds living longer than 20 Myr. We fin…
We homogeneously analyzed the \chandra\ X-ray observations of 10 gravitational lenses, HE 0047-1756, QJ 0158-4325, SDSS 0246-0805, HE 0435-1223, SDSS 0924+0219, SDSS 1004+4112, HE 1104-1805, PG 1115+080, Q 1355-2257, and Q 2237+0305, to measure the differential X-ray absorption between images, the metallicity, and the dust-to-gas ratio of the lens galaxies. We detected differential absorption in all lenses except SDSS 0924+0219 and HE 1104-1805. This doubles the sample of dust-to-gas ratio measurements in cosmologically distant lens galaxies. We successfully measured the gas phase metallicity …
Accurately reproducing the thin cold gas discs observed in nearby spiral galaxies has been a long standing issue in cosmological simulations. Here, we present measurements of the radially resolved HI scale height in 22 non-interacting Milky Way-mass galaxies from the FIREbox cosmological volume. We measure the HI scale heights using five different approaches commonly used in the literature: fitting the vertical volume density distribution with a Gaussian, the distance between maximum and half-maximum of the vertical volume density distribution, a semi-empirical description using the velocity d…
A wide range of mechanisms have been put forward to explain the quenching of star formation in galaxies with cosmic time, however, the true balance of responsible mechanisms remains unknown. The identification and study of galaxies that have shut down their star formation on different timescales might elucidate which mechanisms dominate at different epochs and masses. Here we study the population of rapidly quenched galaxies (RQGs) in the SIMBA cosmological hydrodynamic simulation at $0.5<z<2$, comparing directly to observational post-starburst galaxies in the UKIDSS Ultra Deep Survey via thei…
Over the past decade, rest-frame color-color diagrams have become popular tools for selecting quiescent galaxies at high redshift, breaking the color degeneracy between quiescent and dust-reddened star-forming galaxies. In this work, we study one such color-color selection tool -- the rest-frame $U-V$ vs. $V-J$ diagram -- by employing mock observations of cosmological galaxy formation simulations. In particular, we conduct numerical experiments assessing both trends in galaxy properties in UVJ space and the color-color evolution of massive galaxies as they quench at redshifts $z\sim 1$--$2$. W…
High-redshift star-forming galaxies often have irregular morphologies with {\it giant clumps} containing up to $10^{8-9}$ solar masses of gas and stars. The origin and evolution of giant clumps are debated both theoretically and observationally. In most cosmological simulations, high-redshift galaxies have regular spiral structures or short-lived clumps, in contradiction with many idealised high-redshift disc models. Here we test whether this discrepancy can be explained by the low gas fractions of galaxies in cosmological simulations. We present a series of simulations with varying gas fracti…
We present the first cosmological galaxy evolved using the modern smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH) code GASOLINE2 with superbubble feedback. We show that superbubble-driven galactic outflows powered by Type II supernovae alone can produce $\rm{L^*}$ galaxies with flat rotation curves with circular velocities $\sim 200\; \rm{km/s}$, low bulge-to-disc ratios, and stellar mass fractions that match observed values from high redshift to the present. These features are made possible by the high mass loadings generated by the evaporative growth of superbubbles. Outflows are driven extremely effe…
We investigate the color-magnitude diagram (CMD) of cluster galaxies in the hierarchical $Λ$-CDM cosmological scenario using both single stellar populations and simple galaxy models. First, we analyze the effect of bursts and mergers and companion chemical pollution and rejuvenation of the stellar content on the integrated light emitted by galaxies. The dispersion of the galaxy magnitudes and colors on the $M_V-(B-V)$ plane is mainly due to mixing of ages and metallicities of the stellar populations, with mergers weighting more than bursts of similar mass fractions. The analysis is made using …
Negative feedback from active galactic nuclei (AGN) is the leading mechanism for the quenching of massive galaxies in the vast majority of modern galaxy evolution models. However, direct observational evidence that AGN feedback causes quenching on a population scale is lacking. Studies have shown that luminous AGN are preferentially located in gas-rich and star-forming galaxies, an observation that has sometimes been suggested to be in tension with a negative AGN feedback picture. We investigate three of the current cosmological simulations (IllustrisTNG, EAGLE and SIMBA) along with post-proce…
We apply the Jeans Anisotropic MGE (JAM) dynamical modelling method to SAGES Legacy Unifying Globulars and GalaxieS (SLUGGS) survey data of early-type galaxies in the stellar mass range $10^{10}<M_*/{\rm M}_{\odot}<10^{11.6}$ that cover a large radial range of $0.1-4.0$ effective radii. We combine SLUGGS and ATLAS$^{\rm 3D}$ datasets to model the total-mass profiles of a sample of 21 fast-rotator galaxies, utilising a hyperparameter method to combine the two independent datasets. The total-mass density profile slope values derived for these galaxies are consistent with those measured in the in…
We investigate the structure of galaxies formed in a suite of high-resolution cosmological simulations. Consistent with observations of high-redshift galaxies, our simulated galaxies show irregular, prolate shapes, which are dominated by turbulent motions instead of rotation. Yet molecular gas and young stars are restricted to a relatively thin plane. We examine the accuracy of applying the Toomre linear stability analysis to predict the location and amount of gas available for star formation. We find that the Toomre criterion still works for these irregular galaxies, after correcting for mult…
Vertically extended, high velocity dispersion stellar distributions appear to be a ubiquitous feature of disc galaxies, and both internal and external mechanisms have been proposed to be the major driver of their formation. However, it is unclear to what extent each mechanism can generate such a distribution, which is likely to depend on the assembly history of the galaxy. To this end, we perform 16 high resolution cosmological-zoom simulations of Milky Way-sized galaxies using the state-of-the-art cosmological magneto-hydrodynamical code \textlcsc{AREPO}, and analyse the evolution of the vert…
The environmental effect is commonly used to explain the excess of gas-poor galaxies in galaxy clusters. Meanwhile, the presence of gas-poor galaxies at cluster outskirts, where galaxies have not spent enough time to feel the cluster environmental effect, hints for the presence of pre-processing. Using cosmological hydrodynamic simulations on 16 clusters, we investigate the mechanisms of gas depletion of galaxies found inside clusters. The gas depletion mechanisms can be categorized into three channels based on where and when they took place. First, 34$\%$ of our galaxies are gas poor before e…
In this work we analyse the structural and photometric properties of 21 barred simulated galaxies from the Auriga Project. These consist of Milky Way-mass magneto-hydrodynamical simulations in a $Λ$CDM cosmological context. In order to compare with observations, we generate synthetic SDSS-like broad-band images from the numerical data at z = 0 with different inclinations (from face-on to edge-on). Ellipse fits are used to determine the bar lengths, and 2D bulge/disc/bar decompositions with galfit are also performed, modelling the bar component with the modified Ferrer profile. We find a wide r…
We utilise a series of high-resolution cosmological zoom simulations of galaxy formation to investigate the relationship between the ultraviolet (UV) slope, beta, and the ratio of the infrared luminosity to UV luminosity (IRX) in the spectral energy distributions (SEDs) of galaxies. We employ dust radiative transfer calculations in which the SEDs of the stars in galaxies propagate through the dusty interstellar medium. Our main goals are to understand the origin of, and scatter in the IRX-beta relation; to assess the efficacy of simplified stellar population synthesis screen models in capturin…
To provide a quantitative cosmological context to ongoing observational work on the formation histories and location of compact massive galaxies, we locate and study a sample of exceptionally compact systems in the Bolshoi simulation, using the dark matter structural parameters from a real, compact massive galaxy (NGC 1277) as a basis for our working criteria. We find that over 80% of objects in this nominal compact category are substructures of more massive groups or clusters, and that the probability of a given massive substructure being this compact increases significantly with the mass of …
We predict the evolution of galaxy scaling relationships from cosmological, hydrodynamical simulations, that reproduce the scaling relations of present-day galaxies. Although we do not assume co-evolution between galaxies and black holes a priori, we are able to reproduce the black hole mass--velocity dispersion relation. This relation does not evolve, and black holes actually grow along the relation from significantly less massive seeds than have previously been used. AGN feedback does not very much affect the chemical evolution of our galaxies. In our predictions, the stellar mass--metallici…
One of the key observations regarding the stellar initial mass function (IMF) is its near-universality in the Milky Way (MW), which provides a powerful way to constrain different star formation models that predict the IMF. However, those models are almost universally "cloud-scale" or smaller -- they take as input or simulate single molecular clouds (GMCs), clumps, or cores, and predict the resulting IMF as a function of the cloud properties. Without a model for the progenitor properties of all clouds which formed the stars at different locations in the MW (including ancient stellar populations…
