您选择的条件: Shihong Liao
  • Modelling the accretion and feedback of supermassive black hole binaries in gas-rich galaxy mergers

    分类: 天文学 >> 天文学 提交时间: 2023-02-19

    摘要: We introduce a new model for the accretion and feedback of supermassive black hole (SMBH) binaries to the KETJU code, which enables us to resolve the evolution of SMBH binaries down to separations of tens of Schwarzschild radii in gas-rich galaxy mergers. Our subgrid binary accretion model extends the widely used Bondi--Hoyle--Lyttleton accretion into the binary phase and incorporates preferential mass accretion onto the secondary SMBH, which is motivated by results from small-scale hydrodynamical circumbinary disc simulations. We perform idealised gas-rich disc galaxy merger simulations using pure thermal or pure kinetic active galactic nuclei (AGN) feedback. Our binary accretion model provides more physically motivated SMBH mass ratios, which are one of the key parameters for computing gravitational wave (GW) induced recoil velocities. The merger time-scales of our simulated SMBH binaries are in the range $t_{\rm merge}{\sim} 10$--$400$ Myr. Prograde in-plane equal-mass galaxy mergers lead to the shortest merger time-scales, as they experience the strongest starbursts, with the ensuing high stellar density resulting in a rapid SMBH coalescence. Compared to the thermal AGN feedback, the kinetic AGN feedback predicts longer merger time-scales and results in more core-like stellar profiles, as it is more effective in removing gas from the galaxy centre and quenching star formation. This suggests that the AGN feedback implementation plays a critical role in modelling SMBH coalescences. Our model will be useful for improving the modelling of SMBH mergers in gas-rich galaxies, the prime targets for the upcoming LISA GW observatory.

  • Baryonic Effects on Lagrangian Clustering and Angular Momentum Reconstruction

    分类: 天文学 >> 天文学 提交时间: 2023-02-19

    摘要: Recent studies illustrate the correlation between the angular momenta of cosmic structures and their Lagrangian properties. However, only baryons are observable and it is unclear whether they reliably trace the cosmic angular momenta. We study the Lagrangian mass distribution, spin correlation, and predictability of dark matter, gas, and stellar components of galaxy-halo systems using IllustrisTNG, and show that the primordial segregations between components are typically small. Their protoshapes are also similar in terms of the statistics of moment of inertia tensors. Under the common gravitational potential they are expected to exert the same tidal torque and the strong spin correlations are not destroyed by the nonlinear evolution and complicated baryonic effects, as confirmed by the high-resolution hydrodynamic simulations. We further show that their late-time angular momenta traced by total gas, stars, or the central galaxies, can be reliably reconstructed by the initial perturbations. These results suggest that baryonic angular momenta can potentially be used in reconstructing the parameters and models related to the initial perturbations.

  • The impact of filaments on dwarf galaxy properties in the Auriga simulations

    分类: 天文学 >> 天文学 提交时间: 2023-02-19

    摘要: With a hydrodynamical simulation using a simple galaxy formation model without taking into account feedback, our previous work has shown that dense and massive filaments at high redshift can provide potential wells to trap and compress gas, and hence affect galaxy formation in their resident low-mass haloes. In this paper, we make use of the Auriga simulations, a suite of high-resolution zoom-in hydrodynamical simulations of Milky Way-like galaxies, to study whether the conclusion still holds in the simulations with a sophisticated galaxy formation model. In agreement with the results of our previous work, we find that, comparing to their counterparts with similar halo masses in field, dwarf galaxies residing in filaments tend to have higher baryonic and stellar fractions. At the fixed parent halo mass, the filament dwarfs tend to have slightly higher star formation rates than those of field ones. But overall we do not find a clear difference in galaxy g - r colours between the filament and field populations. We also show that at high redshifts, the gas components in dwarf galaxies tend to have their spins aligned with the filaments in which they reside. Our results support a picture in which massive filaments at high redshift assist gas accretion and enhance star formation in their resident dwarf sized dark matter haloes.

  • Constraining interacting dark energy models with the halo concentration - mass relation

    分类: 天文学 >> 天文学 提交时间: 2023-02-19

    摘要: The interacting dark energy (IDE) model is a promising alternative cosmological model which 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 sectors in this model can significantly affect the dark matter halo properties. In this study, utilising 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 $\xi_2$, especially at lower redshifts. Furthermore, we construct parametrized formulae to quantify the dependence of the $c$ - $M$ relation on $\xi_2$ at redshifts ranging from $z=0$ to $0.6$. Our parametrized formulae provide a useful tool in constraining $\xi_2$ 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 $\xi_2$, i.e. $\xi_2 = 0.071 \pm 0.034$. Our work demonstrates that the halo $c$ - $M$ relation, which reflects the halo assembly history, is a powerful probe to constrain the IDE model.

  • Numerical convergence of pre-initial conditions on dark matter halo properties

    分类: 天文学 >> 天文学 提交时间: 2023-02-19

    摘要: Generating pre-initial conditions (or particle loads) is the very first step to set up a cosmological N-body simulation. In this work, we revisit the numerical convergence of pre-initial conditions on dark matter halo properties using a set of simulations which only differs in initial particle loads, i.e. grid, glass, and the newly introduced capacity constrained Voronoi tessellation (CCVT). We find that the median halo properties agree fairly well (i.e. within a convergence level of a few per cent) among simulations running from different initial loads. We also notice that for some individual haloes cross-matched among different simulations, the relative difference of their properties sometimes can be several tens of per cent. By looking at the evolution history of these poorly converged haloes, we find that they are usually merging haloes or haloes have experienced recent merger events, and their merging processes in different simulations are out-of-sync, making the convergence of halo properties become poor temporarily. We show that, comparing to the simulation starting with an anisotropic grid load, the simulation with an isotropic CCVT load converges slightly better to the simulation with a glass load, which is also isotropic. Among simulations with different pre-initial conditions, haloes in higher density environments tend to have their properties converged slightly better. Our results confirm that CCVT loads behave as well as the widely used grid and glass loads at small scales, and for the first time we quantify the convergence of two independent isotropic particle loads (i.e. glass and CCVT) on halo properties.

  • Constraining interacting dark energy models with the halo concentration - mass relation

    分类: 天文学 >> 天文学 提交时间: 2023-02-19

    摘要: The interacting dark energy (IDE) model is a promising alternative cosmological model which 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 sectors in this model can significantly affect the dark matter halo properties. In this study, utilising 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 $\xi_2$, especially at lower redshifts. Furthermore, we construct parametrized formulae to quantify the dependence of the $c$ - $M$ relation on $\xi_2$ at redshifts ranging from $z=0$ to $0.6$. Our parametrized formulae provide a useful tool in constraining $\xi_2$ 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 $\xi_2$, i.e. $\xi_2 = 0.071 \pm 0.034$. Our work demonstrates that the halo $c$ - $M$ relation, which reflects the halo assembly history, is a powerful probe to constrain the IDE model.

  • The growth of intermediate mass black holes through tidal captures and tidal disruption events

    分类: 天文学 >> 天文学 提交时间: 2023-02-19

    摘要: We present $N\mathrm{-body} $ simulations, including post-Newtonian dynamics, of dense clusters of low-mass stars harbouring central black holes (BHs) with initial masses of 50, 300, and 2000 $\mathrm{M_{\odot}}$. The models are evolved with the $N\mathrm{-body} $ code \textsc{bifrost} to investigate the possible formation and growth of massive BHs by the tidal capture of stars and tidal disruption events (TDEs). We model star-BH tidal interactions using a velocity-dependent drag force, which causes orbital energy and angular momentum loss near the BH. About $\sim 20-30$ per cent of the stars within the spheres of influence of the black holes form Bahcall-Wolf cusps and prevent the systems from core collapse. Within the first 40 Myr of evolution, the systems experience 500 up to 1300 TDEs, depending on the initial cluster structure. Most ($> 95$ per cent) of the TDEs originate from stars in the Bahcall-Wolf cusp. We derive an analytical formula for the TDE rate as a function of the central BH mass, density and velocity dispersion of the clusters ($\dot{N}_{\mathrm{TDE}} \propto M\mathrm{_{BH}} \rho \sigma^{-3}$). We find that TDEs can lead a 300 $\mathrm{M_{\odot}}$ BH to reach $\sim 7000 \mathrm{M_{\odot}}$ within a Gyr. This indicates that TDEs can drive the formation and growth of massive BHs in sufficiently dense environments, which might be present in the central regions of nuclear star clusters.

  • Dark Matter Halos in Interacting Dark Energy Models: Formation History, Density Profile, Spin and Shape

    分类: 天文学 >> 天文学 提交时间: 2023-02-19

    摘要: 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 $\Lambda$CDM 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 $\Lambda$CDM 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 halos, and compare with their $\Lambda$CDM counterparts. For the model with dark matter decaying into dark energy and the parameters being the best-fit values from previous constraints, the structure formation is markedly slowed down, and the halos 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 $\Lambda$CDM 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 Effects on Lagrangian Clustering and Angular Momentum Reconstruction

    分类: 天文学 >> 天文学 提交时间: 2023-02-19

    摘要: Recent studies illustrate the correlation between the angular momenta of cosmic structures and their Lagrangian properties. However, only baryons are observable and it is unclear whether they reliably trace the cosmic angular momenta. We study the Lagrangian mass distribution, spin correlation, and predictability of dark matter, gas, and stellar components of galaxy-halo systems using IllustrisTNG, and show that the primordial segregations between components are typically small. Their protoshapes are also similar in terms of the statistics of moment of inertia tensors. Under the common gravitational potential they are expected to exert the same tidal torque and the strong spin correlations are not destroyed by the nonlinear evolution and complicated baryonic effects, as confirmed by the high-resolution hydrodynamic simulations. We further show that their late-time angular momenta traced by total gas, stars, or the central galaxies, can be reliably reconstructed by the initial perturbations. These results suggest that baryonic angular momenta can potentially be used in reconstructing the parameters and models related to the initial perturbations.