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Spin flips - II. Evolution of dark matter halo spin orientation, and its correlation with major mergers

Bett, P.E.; Frenk, C.S.

Spin flips - II. Evolution of dark matter halo spin orientation, and its correlation with major mergers Thumbnail


Authors

P.E. Bett



Abstract

We expand our previous study on the relationship between changes in the orientation of the angular momentum vector of dark matter haloes (‘spin flips’) and changes in their mass, to cover the full range of halo masses in a simulation cube of length 100 h−1 Mpc. Since strong disturbances to a halo (such as might be indicated by a large change in the spin direction) are likely also to disturb the galaxy evolving within, spin flips could be a mechanism for galaxy morphological transformation without involving major mergers. We find that 35 per cent of haloes have, at some point in their lifetimes, had a spin flip of at least 45° that does not coincide with a major merger. Over 75 per cent of large spin flips coincide with non-major mergers; only a quarter coincide with major mergers. We find a similar picture for changes to the inner halo spin orientation, although here there is an increased likelihood of a flip occurring. Changes in halo angular momentum orientation, and other such measures of halo perturbation, are therefore very important quantities to consider, in addition to halo mergers, when modelling the formation and evolution of galaxies and confronting such models with observations.

Citation

Bett, P., & Frenk, C. (2016). Spin flips - II. Evolution of dark matter halo spin orientation, and its correlation with major mergers. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 461(2), 1338-1355. https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stw1395

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Jun 8, 2016
Online Publication Date Jun 10, 2016
Publication Date Sep 11, 2016
Deposit Date Sep 28, 2016
Publicly Available Date Mar 28, 2024
Journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Print ISSN 0035-8711
Electronic ISSN 1365-2966
Publisher Royal Astronomical Society
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 461
Issue 2
Pages 1338-1355
DOI https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stw1395

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Copyright Statement
This article has been accepted for publication in Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society ©: 2016 The Authors Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Royal Astronomical Society. All rights reserved.





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