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Ongoing large stellar spectroscopic surveys of the Milky Way seek to reconstruct the major events in the assembly history of the Galaxy. Chemical and kinematic observations can be used to separate the contributions of different progenitor galaxies to the present-day stellar halo. Here we compute the number of progenitors that contribute to the accreted stellar halos of simulated Milky Way-like galaxies as a function of radius (the radial diversity) in three suites of models: Bullock & Johnston, Aquarius and Auriga. We show that there are significant differences between the predictions of these three models, beyond the halo-to-halo scatter expected in $\Lambda$CDM. Predictions of diversity from numerical simulations are sensitive to model-dependent assumptions regarding the efficiency of star formation in dwarf galaxies. We compare, at face value, to current constraints on the radial diversity of the Milky Way's accreted halo. These constraints imply that the halo of our Galaxy is dominated by $\sim2$ progenitors in the range $8-45\,\mathrm{kpc}$, in contrast to averages of $7$ progenitors in the Bullock & Johnston models, $3.5$ in Aquarius and $4.2$ in Auriga over the same region. We additionally find that the models with radial diversity most similar to that of the Milky Way are predominantly those with ongoing merger events. The Milky Way therefore appears unusual in having an accreted stellar halo dominated by a small number of progenitors accreted at very early times., Comment: 20 pages, 10 figures, submitted to ApJ. This paper describes the first public release of the particle-tagging stellar halo data from Cooper et al. (2010), see https://github.com/nthu-ga/aquarius-halos

In a hierarchically formed Universe, galaxies accrete smaller systems that tidally disrupt as they evolve in the host's potential. We present a complete catalogue of disrupting galaxies accreted onto Milky Way-mass haloes from the Auriga suite of cosmological magnetohydrodynamic zoom-in simulations. We classify accretion events as intact satellites, stellar streams, or phase-mixed systems based on automated criteria calibrated to a visually classified sample, and match accretions to their counterparts in haloes re-simulated at higher resolution. Most satellites with a bound progenitor at the present day have lost substantial amounts of stellar mass -- 67 per cent have $f_\text{bound} < 0.97$ (our threshold to no longer be considered intact), while 53 per cent satisfy a more stringent $f_\text{bound} < 0.8$. Streams typically outnumber intact systems, contribute a smaller fraction of overall accreted stars, and are substantial contributors at intermediate distances from the host centre ($\sim$0.1 to $\sim$0.7$R_\text{200m}$, or $\sim$35 to $\sim$250 kpc for the Milky Way). We also identify accretion events that disrupt to form streams around massive intact satellites instead of the main host. Streams are more likely than intact or phase-mixed systems to have experienced preprocessing, suggesting this mechanism is important for setting disruption rates around Milky Way-mass haloes. All of these results are preserved across different simulation resolutions, though we do find some hints that satellites disrupt more readily at lower resolution. The Auriga haloes suggest that disrupting satellites surrounding Milky Way-mass galaxies are the norm and that a wealth of tidal features waits to be uncovered in upcoming surveys., Comment: 16+4 pages, 13+2 figures, 1+1 tables. Submitted to MNRAS, comments are welcome

Galaxies like the Milky Way are surrounded by complex populations of satellites at all stages of tidal disruption. In this paper, we present a dynamical study of the disrupting satellite galaxies in the Auriga simulations that are orbiting 28 distinct Milky Way-mass hosts across three resolutions. We find that the satellite galaxy populations are highly disrupted. The majority of satellites that remain fully intact at present day were accreted recently without experiencing more than one pericentre ($n_{\rm peri} \lesssim 1$) and have large apocentres ($r_{\rm apo} \gtrsim 200$ kpc) and pericentres ($r_{\rm peri} \gtrsim 50$ kpc). The remaining satellites have experienced significant tidal disruption and, given full knowledge of the system, would be classified as stellar streams. We find stellar streams in Auriga across the range of pericentres and apocentres of the known Milky Way dwarf galaxy streams and, interestingly, overlapping significantly with the Milky Way intact satellite population. We find no significant change in satellite orbital distributions across resolution. However, we do see substantial halo-to-halo variance of $(r_\text{peri}, r_\text{apo})$ distributions across host galaxies, as well as a dependence of satellite orbits on host halo mass - systems disrupt at larger pericentres and apocentres in more massive hosts. Our results suggest that either cosmological simulations (including, but not limited to, Auriga) are disrupting satellites far too readily, or that the Milky Way's satellites are more disrupted than current imaging surveys have revealed. Future observing facilities and careful mock observations of these systems will be key to revealing the nature of this apparent discrepancy., Comment: 16 pages, 10 figures, 1 table, submitted to MNRAS

The infall of the LMC into the Milky Way's halo impacts the distribution of stars and dark matter in our Galaxy. Mapping the observational consequences of this encounter can inform us about the properties of both galaxies, details of their interaction, and possibly even distinguish between different dark matter models. N-body simulations predict large-scale density asymmetries in the Galactic halo both in baryonic and dark matter due to the passage of the LMC, with the overdensity directly trailing its current orbit through the Southern hemisphere known as the wake. Using the VIRCAM and DECam instruments, we collected wide-field deep near-infrared and optical photometry in four fields chosen to cover the region of the sky expected to span most of the predicted density contrast of the wake. We identify more than 400 stars comprising two different tracers, near main sequence turn-off stars and red giants, that map the distant halo between $\sim 60$ - $100$ kpc, and use them to derive stellar halo densities as a function of position in the sky and Galactocentric radius. We detect (1) a break in the radial density profile of halo stars at 70 kpc that has not been seen in halo studies done from the North, and (2) a clear halo overdensity that starts also at 70 kpc and exhibits a density contrast that increases steadily when moving across the sky into the predicted current location of the LMC wake. If identifying this overdensity with the LMC wake, the peak density contrast we measure is more pronounced than in all available models of the LMC infall, which would indicate the need for a more massive LMC and/or with a different orbit than presently favored. Alternatively, contamination from unidentified substructure may be biasing our detections, so wider-area surveys with similar depth would be needed for confirmation., Comment: 21 pages, 10 figures, submitted to ApJ, comments are welcome!

Galaxy groups and clusters are the most massive collapsed structures in the Universe. Those structures are formed by collapsing with other smaller structures. Groups and cluster mergers provide an appropriate environment for the evolution and transformation of their galaxies. The merging process of groups and clusters can affect the properties of their galaxy populations. Our aim is to characterise the distribution of galaxies' colour, specific star formation rate, quenched galaxy fraction, and gas availability in galaxies bounded to groups and clusters and to examine how these properties relate to the dynamical state of their host environments. We used the most massive halos ($M > 10^{13} M_{\odot}$) in Illustris TNG100 simulations and separated the sample into two categories: relaxed and disturbed halos. This classification was done based on the offset between the position of the Brightest Cluster Galaxy (BCG) and the centre of mass of the gas. Subsequently, we classified their galaxy populations into red and blue galaxies using a threshold derived from a double Gaussian fit to their colour distribution. Our findings reveal differences in physical properties such as colour, star formation rates, and gas availability among satellite galaxies bound to interacting clusters compared to relaxed clusters. Disturbed clusters exhibit more blue, star-forming galaxies than their relaxed counterparts. This discrepancy in the fraction of blue and star-forming galaxies can be attributed to higher gas availability, including hot, diffuse, and condensed gas in satellite galaxies in disturbed clusters compared to relaxed ones. Furthermore, our study shows that during cluster mergers, there are two crucial phases; at the beginning of the interaction, there is an important boost in the star formation rate followed by suppression as the cluster reaches the equilibrium state.

Stellar halos of galaxies, primarily formed through the accretion of smaller objects, are important to understand the hierarchical mass assembly of galaxies. However, the inner regions of stellar halos in disk galaxies are predicted to have an in-situ component that is expected to be prominent along the major axis. Kinematic information is crucial to disentangle the contribution of the in-situ component from the accreted stellar halos. The low surface brightness of stellar halos makes it inaccessible with traditional integrated light spectroscopy. In this work, using a novel technique, we study the kinematics of the stellar halo of the edge-on galaxy NGC 4945. We couple new deep Multi Unit Spectroscopic Explorer spectroscopic observations with existing Hubble Space Telescope imaging data to spectroscopically measure the line-of-sight (LOS) heliocentric velocity and velocity dispersion in two fields at a galactocentric distance of 12.2 kpc (outer disk field) and 34.6 kpc (stellar halo field) along NGC 4945 major axis, by stacking individual spectra of red giant branch and asymptotic giant branch stars. We obtain a LOS velocity and dispersion of 673+/-11 km/s and 73+/-14 km/s, respectively, for the outer disk field. This is consistent with the mean HI velocity of the disk at that distance. For the halo field we obtain a LOS velocity and dispersion of 519+/-12 km/s and 42+/-22 km/s. The halo fields' velocity measurement is within ~40 km/s from the systemic LOS velocity of NGC 4945, which is 563 km/s, suggesting that its stellar halo at 34.6 kpc along the major axis is counter-rotating and is of likely accretion origin. This provides the first ever kinematic measurement of the stellar halo of a Milky Way-mass galaxy outside the Local Group from its resolved stellar population, and establishes a powerful technique for measuring the velocity field of the stellar halos of nearby galaxies., Comment: Accepted to A&A. 23 pages, 12 figures, 2 appendices

Compact groups (CGs) of galaxies are extreme environments for morphological transformations and the cessation of star formation. Our objective is to understand the dynamics of CGs and how their surrounding environment impacts galaxy properties. We selected a sample of 340 CGs in the Stripe 82 region, totaling 1083 galaxies, and a control sample of 2281 field galaxies. We find that at least 27\% of our sample of CGs are part of major structures, i.e. non-isolated CGs. We find a bimodality in the effective radius ($R_e$)-S\'ersic index ($n$) plane for all transition galaxies (those with $(u-r) > 2.3$ and $n<2.5$) in CGs. Additionally, transition galaxies in isolated CGs populate more densely the $R_e-n$ plane for $n < 1.75$. In contrast, transition galaxies in non-isolated CGs have smoothly increasing $n$ values, suggesting these galaxies have already suffered morphological transformation, and primarily contribute to the distribution of more compact galaxies in the $R_e-n$ plane for all transition galaxies in CGs. We also find significant differences in the specific star-formation rate (sSFR) distribution between the late-type galaxies (LTGs) ($(u-r)<2.3$ and $n< 2.5$) in non-isolated CGs and the same type of galaxies in the control sample, suggesting that the evolution of LTGs differs in non-isolated CGs. Early-type galaxies ($(u-r)>2.3$ and $n>2.5$) and transition galaxies in non-isolated CGs have lower sSFR values and a higher fraction of quenched galaxies, compared to those in isolated CGs. Based on our results, we propose an evolutionary scenario where the major structures in which the CGs are embedded accelerate the morphological transformations of their members. Our findings highlight the importance of considering the larger structures in which CGs may be located, when analysing the properties of their galaxy, as this can significantly affect the evolution of CGs and their galaxies., Comment: Submitted to A&A, 13 pages, 9 figures

Galactic bars drive the internal evolution of spiral galaxies, while their formation is tightly coupled to the properties of their host galaxy and dark matter halo. To explore what drives bar formation in the cosmological context and how these structures evolve throughout cosmic history, we use the Auriga suite of magneto-hydrodynamical cosmological zoom-in simulations. We find that bars are robust and long-lived structures, and we recover a decreasing bar fraction with increasing redshift which plateaus around $\sim20\%$ at $z\sim3$. We find that bars which form at low and intermediate redshifts grow longer with time, while bars that form at high redshifts are born `saturated' in length, likely due to their merger-induced formation pathway. This leads to a larger bar-to-disc size ratio at high redshifts as compared to the local Universe. We subsequently examine the multi-dimensional parameter space thought to drive bar formation. We find that barred galaxies tend to have lower Toomre $Q$ values at the time of their formation, while we do not find a difference in the gas fraction of barred and unbarred populations when controlling for stellar mass. Barred galaxies tend to be more baryon-dominated at all redshifts, assembling their stellar mass earlier, while galaxies that are baryon-dominated but that do not host a bar, have a higher ex-situ bulge fraction. We explore the implications of the baryon-dominance of barred galaxies on the Tully-Fisher relation, finding an offset from the unbarred relation; confirming this in observations would serve as additional evidence for dark matter, as this behaviour is not readily explained in modified gravity scenarios., Comment: 21 pages including Appendices, 17 figures, submitted to MNRAS

We investigate the growth of stellar discs in Milky Way-mass galaxies using the magnetohydrodynamical simulations of the Auriga Project in a full cosmological context. We focus on the gas accretion process along the discs, calculating the net, infall and outflow rates as a function of galactocentric distance, and investigate the relation between them and the star formation activity. The stellar distributions of around 70% of the simulated galaxies exhibit an ``inside-out'' pattern, with older (younger) stellar populations preferentially located in the inner (outer) disc regions. In all cases, we find a very tight correlation between the infall, outflow and net accretion rates, as well as between these three quantities and the star formation rate. This is because the amount of gas which is ultimately available for star formation in each radial ring depends not only on the infall rates, but also on the amount of gas leaving the disc in outflows, which directly relates to the local star formation level. Therefore, any of these rates can be used to identify galaxies with inside-out growth. For these galaxies, the correlation between the dominant times of accretion/star formation and disc radius is well fitted by a linear function. We also find that, when averaged over galaxies with formation histories similar to the Milky Way, the simulated accretion rates show a similar evolution (both temporally- and radially-integrated) to the usual accretion prescriptions used in chemical evolution models, although some major differences arise at early times and in the inner disc regions., Comment: 19 pages, 13 figures

We study the cosmological evolution of the two-point correlation functions of galactic gas-phase metal distributions using the 28 simulated galaxies from the Auriga Project. Using mock observations of the $z = 0$ snapshots to mimic our past work, we show that the correlation functions of the simulated mock observations are well matched to the correlation functions measured from local galaxy surveys. This comparison suggests that the simulations capture the processes important for determining metal correlation lengths, the key parameter in metallicity correlation functions. We investigate the evolution of metallicity correlations over cosmic time using the true simulation data, showing that individual galaxies undergo no significant systematic evolution in their metal correlation functions from $z\sim 3$ to today. In addition, the fluctuations in metal correlation length are correlated with but lag ahead fluctuations in star formation rate. This suggests that re-arrangement of metals within galaxies occurs at a higher cadence than star formation activity, and is more sensitive to the changes of environment, such as galaxy mergers, gas inflows / outflows, and fly-bys., Comment: 12 pages, 10 figures, 1 table, accepted for publication in MNRAS

We present an extended suite of the Auriga cosmological gravo-magnetohydrodynamical "zoom-in" simulations of 40 Milky Way-mass halos and 26 dwarf galaxy-mass halos run with the moving-mesh code Arepo. Auriga adopts the $\Lambda$ Cold Dark Matter ($\Lambda$CDM) cosmogony and includes a comprehensive galaxy formation physics model following the coupled cosmic evolution of dark matter, gas, stars, and supermassive black holes which has been shown to produce numerically well-converged galaxy properties for Milky Way-mass systems. We describe the first public data release of this augmented suite of Auriga simulations, which includes raw snapshots, group catalogues, merger trees, initial conditions, and supplementary data, as well as public analysis tools with worked examples of how to use the data. To demonstrate the value and robustness of the simulation predictions, we analyse a series of low-redshift global properties that compare well with many observed scaling relations, such as the Tully-Fisher relation, the star-forming main sequence, and HI gas fraction/disc thickness. Finally, we show that star-forming gas discs appear to build rotation and velocity dispersion rapidly for $z\gtrsim 3$ before they "settle" into ever-increasing rotation-dispersion ratios ($V/\sigma$). This evolution appears to be in rough agreement with some kinematic measurements from H$\alpha$ observations, and demonstrates an application of how to utilise the released data., Comment: Matches final MNRAS version

The origin of thick disks and their evolutionary connection with thin disks are still a matter of debate. We provide new insights into this topic by connecting the stellar populations of thick disks at redshift $z=0$ with their past formation and growth, in 24 Milky Way-mass galaxies from the AURIGA zoom-in cosmological simulations. We projected each galaxy edge on, and decomposed it morphologically into two disk components, in order to define geometrically the thin and the thick disks as usually done in observations. We produced age, metallicity and [Mg/Fe] edge-on maps. We quantified the impact of satellite mergers by mapping the distribution of ex-situ stars. Thick disks are on average $\sim 3$~Gyr older, $\sim 0.25$~dex more metal poor and $\sim 0.06$~dex more [Mg/Fe]-enhanced than thin disks. Their average ages range from $\sim 6$ to $\sim 9$~Gyr, metallicities from $\sim -0.15$ to $\sim 0.1$~dex, and [Mg/Fe] from $\sim 0.12$ to $\sim 0.16$~dex. These properties are the result of an early initial in-situ formation, followed by a later growth driven by the combination of direct accretion of stars, some in-situ star formation fueled by mergers, and dynamical heating of stars. The balance between these processes varies from galaxy to galaxy. Mergers play a key role in the mass assembly of thick disks, contributing an average accreted mass fraction of $\sim 22$\% in the analyzed thick-disk dominated regions. In two galaxies, about half of the geometric thick-disk mass was directly accreted. While primordial thick disks form at high redshift in all galaxies, young metal-rich thin disks, with much lower [Mg/Fe] abundances, start to form later but at different times (higher or lower redshift) depending on the galaxy. We conclude that thick disks result from the interplay of external processes with the internal evolution of the galaxy., Comment: 57 pages, 43 figures, 3 tables; Published in Astronomy & Astrophysics

We present a quantitative analysis of the properties of galaxies and structures evolving in universes dominated by different modified gravitational models, including two variants of the f(R)-gravity (F) and two of the Dvali-Gabdadze-Poratti (N) braneworld model, which respectively feature the chameleon and Vainshtein screening mechanisms. Using the Simulation HYdrodynamics BeyONd Einstein (SHYBONE) cosmological hydrodynamical full-physics simulations suite, we study the departures in the properties of galaxies residing in different environments with respect to the standard model (GR). Using two different criteria to compare, we find that structures formed within modified gravity tend to show a denser gas density profile than their GR counterparts. Within the different modified gravity models, N1 and F5 gravity models show greater departures from the standard model, with gas density profiles $\rho_{\rm IGM} \geq 30\%$ denser in the outskirts for the N1 model, and in the inner parts for the F5 model. Additionally, we find that haloes evolving in MG universes show, in general, larger quenched fractions than GR, reaching up to $20\%$ larger quenching fractions in F5 regardless of the stellar mass of the galaxy. With respect to the other models, F6, N1 and N5 show slightly larger quenched fractions, but no strong differences can be found. These results directly impact the colour distribution of galaxies, making them in MG models redder and older than their GR counterparts. Like GR, once the environment starts to play a role, galaxies rapidly get quenched and the differences between models vanish., Comment: 17 pages, 12 figures, submitted to MNRAS

Merging of galaxy clusters are some of the most energetic events in the Universe, and they provide a unique environment to study galaxy evolution. We use a sample of 84 merging and relaxed SPT galaxy clusters candidates, observed with the Dark Energy Camera in the $0.11

Compact groups of galaxies (CGs) show members with morphological disturbances, mainly products of galaxy-galaxy interactions, thus making them ideal systems to study galaxy evolution, in high-density environment. To understand how this environment affects the properties of galaxies, we select a sample of 340 CGs in the Stripe 82 region, for a total of 1083 galaxies, and a sample of 2281 field galaxies as a control sample. By performing a multi-wavelength morphological fitting process using S-PLUS data, we divide our sample into early-type (ETG), late-type (LTG), and transition galaxies using the r-band S\'ersic index and the colour (u-r). We find a bimodal distribution in the plane of the effective radius-S\'ersic index, where a secondary "peculiar" galaxy population of smaller and more compact galaxies is found in CGs, which is not observed in the control sample. This indicates that galaxies are undergoing a morphological transformation in CGs. In addition, we find significant statistical differences in the distribution of specific Star Formation Rate (sSFR) when we compare both environments for LTGs and ETGs. We also find a higher fraction of quenched galaxies and a lower median sSFR in CGs than in the control sample, suggesting the existence of environmental effects favoring the cessation of star formation, regardless of galaxy type. Our results support the notion that CGs promote morphological and physical transformations, highlighting their potential as ideal systems for galaxy pre-processing., Comment: 17 pages, 15 figures. Accepted for publication in MNRAS

Magnetic fields are of critical importance for our understanding of the origin and long-term evolution of the Milky Way. This is due to their decisive role in the dynamical evolution of the interstellar medium (ISM) and their influence on the star-formation process. Faraday rotation measures (RM) along many different sightlines across the Galaxy are a primary means to infer the magnetic field topology and strength from observations. However, the interpretation of the data has been hampered by the failure of previous attempts to explain the observations in theoretical models and to synthesize a realistic multi-scale all-sky RM map. We here utilize a cosmological magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) simulation of the formation of the Milky Way, augment it with a novel star cluster population synthesis model for a more realistic structure of the local interstellar medium, and perform detailed polarized radiative transfer calculations on the resulting model. This yields a faithful first principles prediction of the Faraday sky as observed on Earth. The results reproduce the observations of the Galaxy not only on global scales, but also on local scales of individual star-forming clouds. They also imply that the Local Bubble containing our Sun dominates the RM signal over large regions of the sky. Modern cosmological MHD simulations of the Milky Way's formation, combined with a simple and plausible model for the fraction of free electrons in the ISM, explain the RM observations remarkably well, thus indicating the emergence of a firm theoretical understanding of the genesis of magnetic fields in our Universe across cosmic time., Comment: 14 pages, 3 figures

The Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) will induce a dynamical friction (DF) wake on infall to the Milky Way (MW). The MW's stellar halo will respond to the gravity of the LMC and the dark matter (DM) wake, forming a stellar counterpart to the DM wake. This provides a novel opportunity to constrain the properties of the DM particle. We present a suite of high-resolution, windtunnel-style simulations of the LMC's DF wake that compare the structure, kinematics, and stellar tracer response of the DM wake in cold DM (CDM), with and without self-gravity, vs. fuzzy DM (FDM) with $m_a = 10^{-23}$ eV. We conclude that the self-gravity of the DM wake cannot be ignored. Its inclusion raises the wake's density by $\sim 10\%$, and holds the wake together over larger distances ($\sim$ 50 kpc) than if self-gravity is ignored. The DM wake's mass is comparable to the LMC's infall mass, meaning the DM wake is a significant perturber to the dynamics of MW halo tracers. An FDM wake is more granular in structure and is $\sim 20\%$ dynamically colder than a CDM wake, but with comparable density. The granularity of an FDM wake increases the stars' kinematic response at the percent level compared to CDM, providing a possible avenue of distinguishing a CDM vs. FDM wake. This underscores the need for kinematic measurements of stars in the stellar halo at distances of 70-100 kpc., Comment: 38 pages, 31 figures. Updated to published version

Large-scale asymmetries (i.e. lopsidedness) are a common feature in the stellar density distribution of nearby disk galaxies both in low- and high-density environments. In this work, we characterize the present-day lopsidedness in a sample of 1435 disk-like galaxies selected from the TNG50 simulation. We find that the percentage of lopsided galaxies (10%-30%) is in good agreement with observations if we use similar radial ranges to the observations. However, the percentage (58%) significantly increases if we extend our measurement to larger radii. We find a mild or lack of correlation between lopsidedness amplitude and environment at z=0 and a strong correlation between lopsidedness and galaxy morphology regardless of the environment. Present-day galaxies with more extended disks, flatter inner galactic regions and lower central stellar mass density (i.e. late-type disk galaxies) are typically more lopsided than galaxies with smaller disks, rounder inner galactic regions and higher central stellar mass density (i.e. early-type disk galaxies). Interestingly, we find that lopsided galaxies have, on average, a very distinct star formation history within the last 10 Gyr, with respect to their symmetric counterparts. Symmetric galaxies have typically assembled at early times (~8-6 Gyr ago) with relatively short and intense bursts of central star formation, while lopsided galaxies have assembled on longer timescales and with milder initial bursts of star formation, continuing building up their mass until z=0. Overall, these results indicate that lopsidedness in present-day disk galaxies is connected to the specific evolutionary histories of the galaxies that shaped their distinct internal properties., Comment: Submitted to MNRAS, 23 pages (including the Appendix), 23 figures

We investigate the properties of mergers comparable to the Gaia-Sausage-Enceladus (GSE) using cosmological hydrodynamical simulations of Milky Way-like galaxies. The merger progenitors span an order of magnitude in their peak stellar mass ($3\times10^810^6\,\rm{M}_{\odot}$), but most of these do not follow the merger to low orbital energies. Between $0-1$ of these satellites may survive to $z=0$, but with no clear signatures of their past association. We show that the fraction of stars originating from GSE-like mergers is reduced for lower metallicities (reaching a minimum around $\text{[Fe/H]} = -2$), and also within $5\,$kpc of the galactic centre. Whilst these central regions are dominated by in-situ stars, the ex-situ fraction trends towards a 100 per cent asymptote when considering the most metal-poor stars ($\text{[Fe/H]}\ll-2.5$). Considering this, its near proximity, and its small volume on the sky, the Galactic centre lends itself as a prime environment in the search for the stars from the earliest galaxies, whilst avoiding contamination from GSE stars., Comment: 23 pages, 18 figures, accepted by MNRAS

We study the effect of the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) on the dark matter (DM) distribution in the Solar neighborhood, utilizing the Auriga magneto-hydrodynamical simulations of Milky Way (MW) analogues that have an LMC-like system. We extract the local DM velocity distribution at different times during the orbit of the LMC around the MW in the simulations. As found in previous idealized simulations of the MW-LMC system, we find that the DM particles in the Solar neighborhood originating from the LMC analogue dominate the high speed tail of the local DM speed distribution. Furthermore, the native DM particles of the MW in the Solar region are boosted to higher speeds as a result of a response to the LMC's motion. We simulate the signals expected in near future xenon, germanium, and silicon direct detection experiments, considering DM interactions with target nuclei or electrons. We find that the presence of the LMC causes a considerable shift in the expected direct detection exclusion limits towards smaller cross sections and DM masses, with the effect being more prominent for low mass DM. Hence, our study shows, for the first time, that the LMC's influence on the local DM distribution is significant even in fully cosmological MW analogues., Comment: 35 pages, 14 figures, 3 tables, JCAP accepted version

Disc galaxies commonly show asymmetric features in their morphology, such as warps and lopsidedness. These features can provide key information regarding the recent evolution of a given disc galaxy. In the nearby Universe, up to $\sim30$ percent of late-type galaxies display a global non-axisymmetric lopsided mass distribution. However, the origin of this perturbation is not well understood. In this work, we study the origin of lopsided perturbations in simulated disc galaxies extracted from the TNG50 simulation of the IllustrisTNG project. We statistically explore different excitation mechanisms for this perturbation, such as direct satellite tidal interactions and distortions of the underlying dark matter distributions. We also characterize the main physical conditions that lead to lopsided perturbations. 50 percent of our sample galaxy have lopsided modes $m=1$ greater than $\sim 0.12$. We find a strong correlation between internal galaxy properties, such as central stellar surface density and disc radial extension with the strength of lopsided modes. The majority of lopsided galaxies have lower central surface densities and more extended discs than symmetric galaxies. As a result, such lopsided galaxies are less self-gravitationally cohesive, and their outer disc region is more susceptible to different types of external perturbations. However, we do not find strong evidence that tidal interactions with satellite galaxies are the main driving agent of lopsided modes. Lopsided galaxies tend to live in asymmetric dark matter halos with high spin, indicating strong galaxy-halo connections in late-type lopsided galaxies., Comment: 16 pages, 16 figures, accepted for publication in MNRAS

We utilize a novel numerical technique to model star formation in cosmological simulations of galaxy formation - called Superstars - to simulate a Milky Way-like galaxy with $\gtrsim10^8$ star particles to study the formation and evolution of out-of-equilibrium stellar disc structures in a full cosmological setting. In the plane defined by the coordinate and velocity perpendicular to the mid-plane (vertical phase space, $\{Z,V_Z\}$), stars in Solar-like volumes at late times exhibit clear spirals qualitatively similar in shape and amplitude to the $Gaia$ ``Snail shell'' phase spiral. We show that the phase spiral forms at a look back time of $\sim 6$ Gyr during the pericentric passage of a $\sim10^{10}$ $\rm M_{\odot}$ satellite on a polar orbit. This satellite stimulates the formation of a resonant wake in the dark matter halo while losing mass at a rate of $\sim0.5$-$1$ dex per orbit loop. The peak magnitude of the wake-induced gravitational torque at the Solar radius is $\sim 8$ times that from the satellite, and triggers the formation of a disc warp that wraps up into a vertical phase spiral over time. As the wake decays, the phase spiral propagates several Gigayears to present-day and can be described as ``ever-present'' once stable disc evolution is established. These results suggest an alternative scenario to explain the $Gaia$ phase spiral which does not rely on a perturbation from bar buckling or a recent direct hit from a satellite., Comment: accepted for pub in mnras. 11 + 5 pages. For a high-cadence animated version of figure 1, see https://wwwmpa.mpa-garching.mpg.de/auriga/movies/multi_halo_6_sf64.mp4

We use the 30 simulations of the Auriga Project to estimate the temporal dependency of the inflow, outflow and net accretion rates onto the discs of Milky Way-like galaxies. The net accretion rates are found to be similar for all galaxies at early times, increasing rapidly up to $\sim 10~\mathrm{M}_\odot \, \mathrm{yr}^{-1}$. After $\sim 6~\mathrm{Gyr}$ of evolution, however, the net accretion rates are diverse: in most galaxies, these exhibit an exponential-like decay, but some systems instead present increasing or approximately constant levels up to the present time. An exponential fit to the net accretion rates averaged over the MW analogues yields typical decay time-scale of $7.2~\mathrm{Gyr}$. The analysis of the time-evolution of the inflow and outflow rates, and their relation to the star formation rate (SFR) in the discs, confirms the close connection between these quantities. First, the inflow$/$outflow ratio stays approximately constant, with typical values of $\dot{M}_\mathrm{out}/ \dot{M}_\mathrm{in} \sim 0.75$, indicating that the gas mass involved in outflows is of the order of 25% lower compared to that involved in inflows. A similar behaviour is found for the SFR$/$inflow rate ratio, with typical values between 0.1 and 0.3, and for the outflow rate$/$SFR which varies in the range $3.5$--$5.5$. Our results show that continuous inflow is key to the SFR levels in disc galaxies, and that the star formation activity and the subsequent feedback in the discs is able to produce mass-loaded galaxy winds in the disc-halo interface., Comment: 21 pages, 15 figures

We use the Auriga simulations to probe different satellite quenching mechanisms operating at different mass scales ($10^5 M_\odot \lesssim M_\star \lesssim 10^{11} M_\odot$) in Milky Way-like hosts. Our goal is to understand the origin of the satellite colour distribution and star-forming properties in both observations and simulations. We find that the satellite populations in the Auriga simulations, which was originally designed to model Milky Way-like host galaxies, resemble the populations in the Exploration of Local VolumE Satellites (ELVES) Survey and the Satellites Around Galactic Analogs (SAGA) survey in their luminosity function in the luminosity range $-12 \lesssim M_V \lesssim -15$ and resemble ELVES in their quenched fraction and colour--magnitude distribution in the luminosity range $-12 \lesssim M_g \lesssim -15$. We find that satellites transition from blue colours to red colours at the luminosity range $-15 \lesssim M_g \lesssim -12$ in both the simulations and observations and we show that this shift is driven by environmental effects in the simulations. We demonstrate also that the colour distribution in both simulations and observations can be decomposed into two statistically distinct populations based on their morphological type or star-forming status that are statistically distinct. In the simulations, these two populations also have statistically distinct infall time distributions. The comparison presented here seems to indicate that the tension between the quenched fraction in SAGA and simulations is resolved by the improved target selection of ELVES, but there are still tensions in understanding the colours of faint galaxies, of which ELVES appears to have a significant population of faint blue satellites not recovered in Auriga., Comment: 15 pages, 10 figures. Published in MNRAS on December 15, 2022

We develop a method ('Galactic Archaeology Neural Network', GANN) based on neural network models (NNMs) to identify accreted stars in galactic discs by only their chemical fingerprint and age, using a suite of simulated galaxies from the Auriga Project. We train the network on the target galaxy's own local environment defined by the stellar halo and the surviving satellites. We demonstrate that this approach allows the detection of accreted stars that are spatially mixed into the disc. Two performance measures are defined - recovery fraction of accreted stars, and the probability that a star with a positive (accreted) classification is a true-positive result, P(TP). As the NNM output is akin to an assigned probability, we are able to determine positivity based on flexible threshold values that can be adjusted easily to refine the selection of presumed-accreted stars. We find that GANN identifies accreted disc stars within simulated galaxies, with high recovery fraction and/or high P(TP). We also find that stars in Gaia-Enceladus-Sausage (GES) mass systems are over 50% recovered by our NNMs in the majority (18/24) of cases. Additionally, nearly every individual source of accreted stars is detected at 10% or more of its peak stellar mass in the disc. We also demonstrate that a conglomerated NNM, trained on the halo and satellite stars from all of the Auriga galaxies provides the most consistent results, and could prove to be an intriguing future approach as our observational capabilities expand., Comment: 19 pages, 12 figures

Mock member stars for 28 dwarf galaxies are constructed from the cosmological Auriga simulation, which reflect the dynamical status of realistic stellar tracers. The axis-symmetric Jeans Anisotropic Multi-Gaussian Expansion (JAM) modeling is applied to 6,000 star particles for each system, to recover the underlying matter distribution. The stellar or dark matter component individually is poorly recovered, but the total profile is constrained more reasonably. The mass within the half-mass radius of tracers is recovered the tightest, and the mass between 200 and 300 pc, $M(200-300\mathrm{pc})$, is constrained ensemble unbiasedly, with a scatter of 0.167 dex. If using 2,000 particles and only line-of-sight velocities with typical errors, the scatter in $M(200-300\mathrm{pc})$ is increased by $\sim$50%. Quiescent Sagittarius dSph-like systems and star-forming systems with strong outflows show distinct features, with $M(200-300\mathrm{pc})$ mostly under-estimated for the former, and likely over-estimated for the latter. The biases correlate with the dynamical status, which is a result of contraction motions due to tidal effects in quiescent systems or galactic winds in star-forming systems, driving them out of equilibrium. After including Gaia DR3 proper motion errors, we find proper motions can be as useful as line-of-sight velocities for nearby systems at $<\sim$60 kpc. By extrapolating the actual density profiles and the dynamical constraints down to scales below the resolution, we find the mass within 150 pc can be constrained ensemble unbiasedly, with a scatter of $\sim$0.255 dex. In the end, we show that the contraction of member stars in nearby systems is detectable based on Gaia DR3 proper motion errors., Comment: accepted by ApJ

We present the Waves in Nearby Disk galaxies Survey (WiNDS) consisting of 40 nearby low inclination disk galaxies observed through H$\alpha$ high-resolution Fabry Perot interferometry. WiNDS consists of 12 new galaxy observations and 28 data archived observations obtained from different galaxy surveys. We derive two-dimensional line-of-sight velocity fields that are analyzed to identify the possible presence of vertical velocity flows in the galactic disks of these low-inclination late-type galaxies using velocity residual maps, derived from the subtraction of an axisymmetric rotation model to rotational velocity map. Large and globally coherent flows in the line-of-sight velocity of nearly face-on galaxies can be associated with large vertical displacement of the disk with respect to its mid-plane. Our goal is to characterize how frequent vertical perturbations, such as those observed in the Milky Way, arise in the Local Universe. Our currently available data have allowed us to identify 20$\%$ of WiNDS galaxies with strong velocity perturbations that are consistent with vertically perturbed galactic disks., Comment: 37 pages, 30 figures. Accepted for publication in ApJ

We identify and characterise a Milky Way-like realisation from the Auriga simulations with two consecutive massive mergers $\sim2\,$Gyr apart at high redshift, comparable to the reported Kraken and Gaia-Sausage-Enceladus. The Kraken-like merger ($z=1.6$, $M_{\rm Tot} = 8\times10^{10}\,$M$_{\odot}$) is gas-rich, deposits most of its mass in the inner $10\,$kpc, and is largely isotropic. The Sausage-like merger ($z=1.14$, $M_{\rm Tot} = 1\times10^{11}\,$M$_{\odot}$) leaves a more extended mass distribution at higher energies, and has a radially anisotropic distribution. For the higher redshift merger, the stellar mass ratio of the satellite to host galaxy is 1:3. As a result, the chemistry of the remnant is indistinguishable from contemporaneous in-situ populations, making it challenging to identify this component through chemical abundances. This naturally explains why all abundance patterns attributed so far to Kraken are in fact fully consistent with the metal-poor in-situ so-called Aurora population and thick disc. However, our model makes a falsifiable prediction: if the Milky Way underwent a gas-rich double merger at high redshift, then this should be imprinted on its star formation history with bursts about $\sim2\,$Gyrs apart. This may offer constraining power on the highest-redshift major mergers., Comment: 5 pages, 5 figures, published by MNRAS letters. Comments welcome

The Milky Way has accreted many ultra-faint dwarf galaxies (UFDs), and stars from these galaxies can be found throughout our Galaxy today. Studying these stars provides insight into galaxy formation and early chemical enrichment, but identifying them is difficult. Clustering stellar dynamics in 4D phase space ($E$, $L_z$, $J_r$, $J_z$) is one method of identifying accreted structure which is currently being utilized in the search for accreted UFDs. We produce 32 simulated stellar halos using particle tagging with the \textit{Caterpillar} simulation suite and thoroughly test the abilities of different clustering algorithms to recover tidally disrupted UFD remnants. We perform over 10,000 clustering runs, testing seven clustering algorithms, roughly twenty hyperparameter choices per algorithm, and six different types of data sets each with up to 32 simulated samples. Of the seven algorithms, HDBSCAN most consistently balances UFD recovery rates and cluster realness rates. We find that even in highly idealized cases, the vast majority of clusters found by clustering algorithms do not correspond to real accreted UFD remnants and we can generally only recover $6\%$ of UFDs remnants at best. These results focus exclusively on groups of stars from UFDs, which have weak dynamic signatures compared to the background of other stars. The recoverable UFD remnants are those that accreted recently, $z_{\text{accretion}}\lesssim 0.5$. Based on these results, we make recommendations to help guide the search for dynamically-linked clusters of UFD stars in observational data. We find that real clusters generally have higher median energy and $J_r$, providing a way to help identify real vs. fake clusters. We also recommend incorporating chemical tagging as a way to improve clustering results., Comment: 21 pages, 14 figures, accepted to ApJ

Since the chemical abundances of stars are the fossil records of the physical conditions in galaxies, they provide the key information for recovering the assembly history of galaxies. In this work, we explore the chemo-chrono-kinematics of accreted and in-situ stars, by analyzing six M31/MW analogues from the HESTIA suite of cosmological hydrodynamics zoom-in simulations of the Local Group. We found that the merger debris are chemically distinct from the survived dwarf galaxies. The mergers debris have abundances expected for stars originating from dwarfs that had their star formation activity quenched at early times. Accreted stellar haloes, including individual debris, reveal abundance gradients in the ELz, where the most metal-rich stars have formed in the inner parts of the disrupted systems before the merger and mainly contribute to the central regions of the hosts. Therefore, we suggest that abundance measurements in the inner MW will allow constraining better the parameters of building blocks of the MW stellar halo. The MDFs of the individual debris show several peaks and the majority of debris have lower metallicity than the in-situ stars for Lz>0, while non-rotating and retrograde accreted stars are similar to the in-situ. Prograde accreted stars show a prominent knee in the [Fe/H]-[Mg/Fe] plane while the retrograde stars typically deposit to a high-[Mg/Fe] sequence. We found that the metal-poor stars ([Fe/H]<-1) of the HESTIA galaxies exhibit between zero to 80 km/s net rotation which is consistent with the Aurora population. At higher metallicities, we detect a sharp transition (spin-up) from the turbulent phase to a disk-like rotation. Mergers debris are similar in the [Fe/H]-[Mg/Fe] plane. However, combining a set of abundances allows to capture chemical patterns corresponding to different debris, which are the most prominent as a function of stellar age., Comment: Paper III in series of III, 21 pages, 17 figures, A&A in press

In the Milky Way, recent progress in the exploration of its assembly history is driven by the tremendous amount of high-quality data delivered by Gaia, which has revealed a number of substructures potentially linked to several ancient accretion events. In this work, aiming to explore the phase-space structure of accreted stars, we analyze six M31/MW analogues from the HESTIA suite of cosmological hydrodynamics zoom-in simulations of the Local Group. We found that all the HESTIA galaxies experience a few dozen mergers but only 1-4 mergers have the stellar mass ratio >0.2 where, depending on the halo definition, the most massive merger contributes from 20% to 70% of the total stellar halo. Individual merger remnants show diverse density distributions at z=0, significantly overlapping with each other and with the in-situ stars in the ELz, UV and RVphi coordinates. The mergers debris often change their position in the ELz with time due to the galactic mass growth and the non-axisymmetry of the potential. In agreement with previous works, we show that even individual merger debris exhibit a number of distinct ELz features. In the UV plane, all HESTIA galaxies reveal radially hot, non-rotating or weakly counter-rotating, Gaia-Sausage-like features. We found an age gradient in Elz space for the individual debris, where the youngest stars, formed in the inner regions of accreting systems, deposit to the innermost regions of the host. The bulk of these stars is being formed during the last stages of accretion, making it possible to date the merger. In actions space (Jr, Jz, J\phi), the mergers debris do not appear as isolated substructures but are instead scattered over a large parameters area and overlapping with the in-situ stars. We also introduce a purely kinematic space (Jz/Jr-eccentricity), where different merger debris can be disentangled better from each other and from the in-situ stars., Comment: Paper II in a series of III, 22 pages, 16 figures, A&A in press

Theory suggests that mergers play an important role in shaping galactic discs and stellar haloes, which was observationally confirmed in the MW thanks to Gaia data. In this work, aiming to probe the contribution of mergers to the in situ stellar halo formation, we analyse six M31/MW analogues from the HESTIA suite of cosmological hydrodynamical zoom-in simulations of the LG. We found that all the HESTIA galaxies experience between one to four mergers with stellar mass ratios between 0.2 and 1 relative to the host at the time of the merger. These significant mergers, with a single exception, happened 7-11Gyr ago. The overall impact of the most massive mergers in HESTIA is clearly seen as a sharp increase in the orbital eccentricity (and a corresponding decrease in the rotational velocity Vphi of pre-existing disc stars of the main progenitor, thus nicely reproducing the Splash-, Plume-like feature that was discovered in the MW. We do find a correlation between mergers and close pericentric passages of massive satellites and bursts of star formation in the in situ component. Massive mergers sharply increase the disc velocity dispersion of the in situ stars; however, the latest significant merger often heats up the disc up to the numbers when the contribution of the previous ones is less prominent in the age-velocity dispersion relation. In HESTIA galaxies, the in situ halo is an important component of the inner stellar halo where its fraction is about 30-40%, while in the outer parts it typically does not exceed ~5% beyond 15 kpc. The simulations suggest that this component of the stellar haloes continues to grow well after mergers conclude; however, the most significant contribution comes from stars that formed recently before the merger. The orbital analysis of the HESTIA galaxies suggests that wedges in Rmax-Zmax space are mainly populated by the stars born between significant mergers., Comment: Paper I in a series of III, 17 pages, 15 figures, A&A in press

Modern astronomical potentials modeling galaxies or stellar systems can be rather involved, and deriving their first derivatives (accelerations) and second derivatives (variational equations) in order to compute orbits and their chaoticity may be a formidable task. We present here a fully automated routine, dubbed Smart, with which the accelerations and the variational equations of an arbitrary potential that has been written in the Fortran 77 language can be computed. Almost any Fortran 77 statement is admitted in the potential, and the output are standard Fortran 77 routines ready to use. We validate our algorithm with a set of potentials including time-dependent, velocity-dependent and very complex potentials that even involve auxiliary routines. We also describe with some detail a realistic seven-component Galactic potential, MilkyWayHydra, which yields very involved derivatives, thus being a good test bed for Smart., Comment: 37 pages, 5 figures. To be published in Astronomy and Computing, in press

Observations show that the surface brightness of disc galaxies can be well-described by a single exponential (TI), up-bending (TIII) or down-bending (TII) profiles in the outskirts. Here we characterize the mass surface densities of simulated late-type galaxies from the EAGLE project according to their distribution of mono-age stellar populations, the star formation activity and angular momentum content. We find a clear correlation between the inner scale-lengths and the stellar spin parameter, {\lambda}, for all three disc types with {\lambda} > 0.35. The outer scale-lengths of TII and TIII discs show a positive trend with {\lambda}, albeit weaker for the latter. TII discs prefer fast rotating galaxies. With regards to the stellar age distribution, negative and U-shape age profiles are the most common for all disc types. Positive age profiles are determined by a more significant contributions of young stars in the central regions, which decrease rapidly in the outer parts. TII discs prefer relative higher contributions of old stars compared to other mono-age populations across the discs whereas TIII discs become progressively more dominated by intermediate age (2-6 Gyrs) stars for increasing radius. The change in slope of the age profiles is located after the break of the mass surface density. We find evidence of larger flaring for the old stellar populations in TIII systems compared to TI and TII, which could indicate the action of other processes. Overall, the relative distributions of mono-age stellar populations and the dependence of the star formation activity on radius are found to shape the different disc types and age profiles., Comment: 15 pages, 11 figures, 2 Tables. Accepted for the publication in MNRAS

We study bulge formation in MW/M31-like galaxies in a $\Lambda$-cold dark matter scenario, focusing on the origin of high- and low-Sersic index bulges. For this purpose we use TNG50, a simulation of the IllustrisTNG project that combines a resolution of $\sim 8 \times 10^4 M_{\odot}$ in stellar particles with a cosmological volume 52 cMpc in extent. We parametrize bulge surface brightness profiles by the S\'ersic index and the bulge-to-total (B/T) ratio obtained from two-component photometric decompositions. In our sample of 287 MW/M31-like simulated galaxies, $17.1\%$ of photometric bulges exhibit high-S\'ersic indices and $82.9\%$ show low-S\'ersic indices. We study the impact that the environment, mergers and bars have in shaping the surface brightness profiles. We explore two different definitions for local environment and find no correlation between bulge properties and the environment where they reside. Simulated galaxies with higher S\'ersic indices show, on average, a higher fraction of ex-situ stars in their kinematically selected bulges. For this bulge population the last significant merger (total mass ratio $m_{\rm sat}/m_{\rm host} > 0.1$) occurs, on average, at later times. However, a substantial fraction of low-S\'ersic index bulges also experience a late significant merger. We find that bars play an important role in the development of the different types of photometric bulges. We show that the fraction of simulated galaxies with strong bars is smaller for the high- than for the low-S\'ersic index population, reaching differences of $20\%$ at $z > 1$. Simulated galaxies with high fractions of ex-situ stars in the bulge do not develop strong bars. Conversely, simulated galaxies with long-lived strong bars have bulges with ex-situ fractions, $f_{\rm ex-situ} < 0.2$., Comment: 19 pages, 15 figures (+1 in the appendix) , submitted to MNRAS

Feedback from active galactic nuclei (AGN) has become established as a fundamental process in the evolution of the most massive galaxies. Its impact on Milky Way (MW)-mass systems, however, remains comparatively unexplored. In this work, we use the Auriga simulations to probe the impact of AGN feedback on the dynamical and structural properties of galaxies, focussing on the bar, bulge, and disc. We analyse three galaxies -- two strongly and one unbarred/weakly barred -- using three setups: (i) the fiducial Auriga model, which includes both radio and quasar mode feedback, (ii) a setup with no radio mode, and (iii) one with neither the radio nor the quasar mode. When removing the radio mode, gas in the circumgalactic medium cools more efficiently and subsequently settles in an extended disc, with little effect on the inner disc. Contrary to previous studies, we find that although the removal of the quasar mode results in more massive central components, these are in the form of compact discs, rather than spheroidal bulges. Therefore, galaxies without quasar mode feedback are more baryon-dominated and thus prone to forming stronger and shorter bars, which reveals an anti-correlation between the ejective nature of AGN feedback and bar strength. Hence, we report that the effect of AGN feedback (i.e. ejective or preventive) can significantly alter the dynamical properties of MW-like galaxies. Therefore, the observed dynamical and structural properties of MW-mass galaxies can be used as additional constraints for calibrating the efficiency of AGN feedback models., Comment: 21 pages, 11 main (9 old and 2 new) + 5 Appendix figures. Accepted for publications by MNRAS

A significant fraction of Milky Way (MW) satellites exhibit phase-space properties consistent with a coherent orbital plane. Using tailored N--body simulations of a spherical MW halo that recently captured a massive (1.8$\times 10^{11}$M$\odot$) LMC-like satellite, we identify the physical mechanisms that may enhance the clustering of orbital poles of objects orbiting the MW. The LMC deviates the orbital poles of MW dark matter (DM) particles from the present-day random distribution. Instead, the orbital poles of particles beyond $R\approx 50$kpc cluster near the present-day orbital pole of the LMC along a sinusoidal pattern across the sky. The density of orbital poles is enhanced near the LMC by a factor $\delta \rho_{max}$=30\%(50\%) with respect to underdense regions, and $\delta \rho_{iso}$=15\%(30\%) relative to the isolated MW simulation (no LMC) between 50-150 kpc (150-300 kpc). The clustering appears after the LMC's pericenter ($\approx$ 50 Myr ago, 49 kpc) and lasts for at least 1 Gyr. Clustering occurs because of three effects: 1) the LMC shifts the velocity and position of the central density of the MW's halo and disk; 2) the DM dynamical friction wake and collective response induced by the LMC changes the kinematics of particles; 3) observations of particles selected within spatial planes suffer from a bias, such that measuring orbital poles in a great circle in the sky enhances the probability of their orbital poles being clustered. This scenario should be ubiquitous in hosts that recently captured a massive satellite (at least $\approx$ 1:10 mass ratio), causing the clustering of orbital poles of halo tracers., Comment: Submitted to ApJ. 23 pages and 16 figures. Comments are welcome

We compare the star-forming properties of satellites around Milky Way (MW) analogs from the Stage~II release of the Satellites Around Galactic Analogs Survey (SAGA-II) to those from the APOSTLE and Auriga cosmological zoom-in simulation suites. We use archival GALEX UV imaging as a star-formation indicator for the SAGA-II sample and derive star-formation rates (SFRs) to compare with those from APOSTLE and Auriga. We compare our detection rates from the NUV and FUV bands to the SAGA-II H$\alpha$ detections and find that they are broadly consistent with over $85\%$ of observed satellites detected in all three tracers. We apply the same spatial selection criteria used around SAGA-II hosts to select satellites around the MW-like hosts in APOSTLE and Auriga. We find very good overall agreement in the derived SFRs for the star-forming satellites as well as the number of star-forming satellites per host in observed and simulated samples. However, the number and fraction of quenched satellites in the SAGA-II sample are significantly lower than those in APOSTLE and Auriga below a stellar mass of $M_*\sim10^{8}\,M_{\odot}$, even when the SAGA-II incompleteness and interloper corrections are included. This discrepancy is robust with respect to the resolution of the simulations and persists when alternative star-formation tracers are employed. We posit that this disagreement is not readily explained by vagaries in the observed or simulated samples considered here, suggesting a genuine discrepancy that may inform the physics of satellite populations around MW analogs., Comment: Accepted for publication in ApJ Letters after minor changes to text

According to the current galaxy formation paradigm, mergers and interactions play an important role in shaping present-day galaxies. The remnants of this merger activity can be used to constrain galaxy formation models. In this work we use a sample of thirty hydrodynamical simulations of Milky Way-mass halos, from the AURIGA project, to generate surface brightness maps and search for the brightest stream in each halo as a function of varying limiting magnitude. We find that none of the models shows signatures of stellar streams at $\mu_{r}^{lim} \leq 25$ mag arcsec$^{-2}$. The stream detection increases significantly between 27 and 28 mag arcsec$^{-2}$. Nevertheless, even at 30 mag arcsec$^{-2}$, 13 percent of our models show no detectable streams. We study the properties of the brightest streams progenitors (BSPs). We find that BSPs are accreted within a broad range of infall times, from 1.6 to 10 Gyr ago, with only 25 percent accreted within the last 5 Gyrs; thus most BSPs correspond to relatively early accretion events. We also find that 37 percent of the BSPs survive to the present day. The median infall times for surviving and disrupted BSPs are 5.6 and 6.7 Gyr, respectively. We find a clear relation between infall time and infall mass of the BSPs, such that more massive progenitors tend to be accreted at later times. However, we find that the BSPs are not, in most cases, the dominant contributor to the accreted stellar halo of each galaxy., Comment: Accepted for publication in MNRAS, 15 pages, 11 figures

We investigate the formation of the satellite galaxy population of a Milky Way-mass halo in a very highly resolved magneto-hydrodynamic cosmological zoom-in simulation (baryonic mass resolution $m_b =$ 800 $\rm M_{\odot}$). We show that the properties of the central star-forming galaxy, such as the radial stellar surface density profile and star formation history, are: i) robust to stochastic variations associated with the so-called ``Butterfly Effect''; and ii) well converged over 3.5 orders of magnitude in mass resolution. We find that there are approximately five times as many satellite galaxies at this high resolution compared to a standard ($m_b\sim 10^{4-5}\, \rm M_{\odot}$) resolution simulation of the same system. This is primarily because 2/3rds of the high resolution satellites do not form at standard resolution. A smaller fraction (1/6th) of the satellites present at high resolution form and disrupt at standard resolution; these objects are preferentially low-mass satellites on intermediate- to low-eccentricity orbits with impact parameters $\lesssim 30$ kpc. As a result, the radial distribution of satellites becomes substantially more centrally concentrated at higher resolution, in better agreement with recent observations of satellites around Milky Way-mass haloes. Finally, we show that our galaxy formation model successfully forms ultra-faint galaxies and reproduces the stellar velocity dispersion, half-light radii, and $V$-band luminosities of observed Milky Way and Local Group dwarf galaxies across 6 orders of magnitude in luminosity ($10^3$-$10^{9}$ $\rm L_{\odot}$)., Comment: accepted for publication in MNRAS. Main changes include new figure 4 and figure 11

We present a new analytic fitting profile to model the ram pressure exerted over satellite galaxies on different environments and epochs. The profile is built using the information of the gas particle distribution in hydrodynamical simulations of groups and clusters of galaxies to measure the ram pressure directly. We show that predictions obtained by a previously introduced $\beta$-profile model can not consistently reproduce the dependence of the ram pressure on halocentric distance and redshift for a given halo mass. It features a systematic underestimation of the predicted ram pressure at high redshifts ($z > 1.5$), which increases towards the central regions of the haloes and it is independent of halo mass, reaching differences larger than two decades for satellites at $r<0.4R_\mathrm{vir}$. This behaviour reverses as redshift decreases, featuring an increasing over-estimation with halocentric distance at $z=0$. As an alternative, we introduce a new universal analytic model for the profiles which can recover the ram pressure dependence on halo mass, halocentric distance and redshift. We analyse the impact of our new profile on galaxy properties by applying a semi-analytic model of galaxy formation and evolution on top of the simulations. We show that galaxies experiencing large amounts of cumulative ram pressure stripping typically have low stellar masses ($M_\star \leq 10^{9.5} \text{M}_\odot$). Besides, their specific star formation histories depend on the ram pressure modelling applied, particularly at high redshifts ($z > 1.5$)., Comment: 15 pages, 8 figures. Accepted for publication in MNRAS

We study the evolution of satellite galaxies in clusters of the \textsc{c-eagle} simulations, a suite of 30 high-resolution cosmological hydrodynamical zoom-in simulations based on the \textsc{eagle} code. We find that the majority of galaxies that are quenched at $z=0$ ($\gtrsim$ 80$\%$) reached this state in a dense environment (log$_{10}$M$_{200}$[M$_{\odot}$]$\geq$13.5). At low redshift, regardless of the final cluster mass, galaxies appear to reach their quenching state in low-mass clusters. Moreover, galaxies quenched inside the cluster that they reside in at $z=0$ are the dominant population in low-mass clusters, while galaxies quenched in a different halo dominate in the most massive clusters. When looking at clusters at $z>0.5$, their in situ quenched population dominates at all cluster masses. This suggests that galaxies are quenched inside the first cluster they fall into. After galaxies cross the cluster's $r_{200}$ they rapidly become quenched ($\lesssim$ 1Gyr). Just a small fraction of galaxies ($\lesssim 15\%$) is capable of retaining their gas for a longer period of time, but after 4Gyr, almost all galaxies are quenched. This phenomenon is related to ram pressure stripping and is produced when the density of the intracluster medium reaches a threshold of $\rho_{\rm ICM}$ $\sim 3 \times 10 ^{-5}$ n$_{\rm H}$ (cm$^{-3}$). These results suggest that galaxies start a rapid-quenching phase shortly after their first infall inside $r_{200}$ and that, by the time they reach $r_{500}$, most of them are already quenched., Comment: 14 pages, 8 figures, 2 appendices

The pattern speed with which galactic bars rotate is intimately linked to the amount of dark matter in the inner regions of their host galaxies. In particular, dark matter haloes act to slow down bars via torques exerted through dynamical friction. Observational studies of barred galaxies tend to find that bars rotate fast, while hydrodynamical cosmological simulations of galaxy formation and evolution in the $\Lambda$CDM framework have previously found that bars slow down excessively. This has led to a growing tension between fast bars and the $\Lambda$CDM cosmological paradigm. In this study we revisit this issue, using the Auriga suite of high resolution, magneto-hydrodynamical cosmological zoom-in simulations of galaxy formation and evolution in the $\Lambda$CDM framework, finding that bars remain fast down to $z=0$. In Auriga, bars form in galaxies that have higher stellar-to-dark matter ratios and are more baryon-dominated than in previous cosmological simulations; this suggests that in order for bars to remain fast, massive spiral galaxies must lie above the commonly used abundance matching relation. While this reduces the aforementioned tension between the rotation speed of bars and $\Lambda$CDM, it accentuates the recently reported discrepancy between the dynamically inferred stellar-to-dark matter ratios of massive spirals and those inferred from abundance matching. Our results highlight the potential of using bar dynamics to constrain models of galaxy formation and evolution., Comment: 5 pages + 4 pages of appendices; 7 figures; Accepted for publication in A&A Letters

We study the two dimensional (2D) line-of-sight velocity ($V_{\rm los}$) field of the low-inclination, late-type galaxy VV304a. The resulting 2D kinematic map reveals a global, coherent and extended perturbation that is likely associated with a recent interaction with the massive companion VV304b. We use multi-band imaging and a suite of test particle simulations to quantify the plausible strength of in-plane flows due to non-axisymmetric perturbations and show that the observed velocity flows are much too large to be driven either by spiral structure nor by a bar. We use fully cosmological hydrodynamical simulations to characterize the contribution from in- and off-plane velocity flows to the $V_{\rm los}$ field of recently interacting galaxy pairs like the VV304 system. We show that, for recently perturbed low-inclination galactic discs, the structure of the residual velocity field, after subtraction of an axisymmetric rotation model, can be dominated by vertical flows. Our results indicate that the $V_{\rm los}$ perturbations in VV304a are consistent with a corrugation pattern. Its $V_{\rm los}$ map suggests the presence of a structure similar to the Monoceros ring seen in the Milky Way. Our study highlights the possibility of addressing important questions regarding the nature and origin of vertical perturbations by measuring the line-of-sight velocities in low-inclination nearby galaxies., Comment: 11 pages,12 figures. Accepted for publication in ApJ

We use a distribution function analysis to estimate the mass of the Milky Way out to 100 kpc using a large sample of halo stars. These stars are compiled from the literature, and the vast majority (~98%) have 6D phase-space information. We pay particular attention to systematic effects, such as the dynamical influence of the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), and the effect of unrelaxed substructure. The LMC biases the (pre-LMC infall) halo mass estimates towards higher values, while realistic stellar halos from cosmological simulations tend to underestimate the true halo mass. After applying our method to the Milky Way data we find a mass within 100 kpc of M(< 100 kpc) = 6.07 +/- 0.29 (stat.) +/- 1.21 (sys.) x 10^11 M_Sun. For this estimate, we have approximately corrected for the reflex motion induced by the LMC using the Erkal et al. model, which assumes a rigid potential for the LMC and MW. Furthermore, stars that likely belong to the Sagittarius stream are removed, and we include a 5% systematic bias, and a 20% systematic uncertainty based on our tests with cosmological simulations. Assuming the mass-concentration relation for Navarro-Frenk-White haloes, our mass estimate favours a total (pre-LMC infall) Milky Way mass of M_200c = 1.01 +/- 0.24 x 10^12 M_Sun, or (post-LMC infall) mass of M_200c = 1.16 +/- 0.24 x 10^12 M_Sun when a 1.5 x 10^11 M_Sun mass of a rigid LMC is included., Comment: 9 pages, 6 figures. MNRAS accepted

Indications of disequilibrium throughout the Milky Way (MW) highlight the need for compact,flexible, non-parametric descriptions of phase--space distributions of galaxies. We present a new representation of the current Dark Matter (DM) distribution and potential derived from N-body simulations of the Milky Way and Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) system using Basis Function Expansions (BFEs). We incorporate methods to maximize the physical signal in the representation. As a result, the simulations of $10^8$ DM particles representing the MW--LMC system can be described by 354 coefficients. We find that the LMC induces asymmetric perturbations (odd l, m) to the MW's halo, which are not well-described by oblate, prolate, or triaxial halos. Furthermore, the energy in high-order even modes (l,m $\geq$ 2) is similar to average triaxial halos found in cosmological simulations. As such, the response of the MW's halo to the LMC must be accounted for in order to recover the imprints of its assembly history. The LMC causes the outer halo ($\geq$ 30 kpc) to shift from the disk center of mass (COM) by $\sim$15-25 kpc at present day, manifesting as a dipole in the BFE and in the radial velocities of halo stars. The shift depends on the LMC's infall mass, the distortion of the LMC's halo and the MW halo response. Within 30 kpc, halo tracers are expected to orbit the COM of the MW's disk, regardless of LMC infall mass. The LMC's halo is also distorted by MW tides, we discuss the implications for its mass loss and the subsequent effects on current Magellanic satellites., Comment: 35 pages, 25 figures, Accepted for publication in ApJ. 3d movie can be found here: https://vimeo.com/546207117

We present a direct comparison of the Pan-Andromeda Archaeological Survey (PAndAS) observations of the stellar halo of M31 with the stellar halos of 6 galaxies from the Auriga simulations. We process the simulated halos through the Auriga2PAndAS pipeline and create PAndAS-like mocks that fold in all observational limitations of the survey data (foreground contamination from the Milky Way stars, incompleteness of the stellar catalogues, photometric uncertainties, etc). This allows us to study the survey data and the mocks in the same way and generate directly comparable density maps and radial density profiles. We show that the simulations are overall compatible with the observations. Nevertheless, some systematic differences exist, such as a preponderance for metal-rich stars in the mocks. While these differences could suggest that M31 had a different accretion history or has a different mass compared to the simulated systems, it is more likely a consequence of an under-quenching of the star formation history of galaxies, related to the resolution of the Auriga simulations. The direct comparison enabled by our approach offers avenues to improve our understanding of galaxy formation as they can help pinpoint the observable differences between observations and simulations. Ideally, this approach will be further developed through an application to other stellar halo simulations. To facilitate this step, we release the pipeline to generate the mocks, along with the six mocks presented and used in this contribution., Comment: Accepted to ApJ; 23 pages, 12 figures. Pipeline available here: https://github.com/GFThomas/Auriga2PAndAS, and mocks here: https://wwwmpa.mpa-garching.mpg.de/auriga/gaiamock.html

We study the effect of magnetic fields on a simulated galaxy and its surrounding gaseous halo, or circumgalactic medium (CGM), within cosmological 'zoom-in' simulations of a Milky Way-mass galaxy as part of the 'Simulating the Universe with Refined Galaxy Environments' (SURGE) project. We use three different galaxy formation models, each with and without magnetic fields, and include additional spatial refinement in the CGM to improve its resolution. The central galaxy's star formation rate and stellar mass are not strongly affected by the presence of magnetic fields, but the galaxy is more disc-dominated and its central black hole is more massive when $B>0$. The physical properties of the CGM change significantly. With magnetic fields, the circumgalactic gas flows are slower, the atomic hydrogen-dominated extended discs around the galaxy are more massive and the densities in the inner CGM are therefore higher, the temperatures in the outer CGM are higher, and the pressure in the halo is higher and smoother. The total gas fraction and metal mass fraction in the halo are also higher when magnetic fields are included, because less gas escapes the halo. Additionally, we find that the CGM properties depend on azimuthal angle and that magnetic fields reduce the scatter in radial velocity, whilst enhancing the scatter in metallicity at fixed azimuthal angle. The metals are thus less well-mixed throughout the halo, resulting in more metal-poor halo gas. These results together show that magnetic fields in the CGM change the flow of gas in galaxy haloes, making it more difficult for metal-rich outflows to mix with the metal-poor CGM and to escape the halo, and therefore should be included in simulations of galaxy formation., Comment: Accepted for publication in MNRAS. Revised version: added Appendix B (on haloes with different initial conditions) and Appendix C (showing the full probability density function for CGM properties at ~100 kpc distance) and updated figures and minor textual changes

Stellar populations in barred galaxies save an imprint of the influence of the bar on the host galaxy's evolution. We present a detailed analysis of star formation histories (SFHs) and chemical enrichment of stellar populations in nine nearby barred galaxies from the TIMER project. We use integral field observations with the MUSE instrument to derive unprecedented spatially resolved maps of stellar ages, metallicities, [Mg/Fe] abundances and SFHs, as well as H$\alpha$ as a tracer of ongoing star formation. We find a characteristic V-shaped signature in the SFH perpendicular to the bar major axis which supports the scenario where intermediate age stars ($\sim 2$-$6\ \mathrm{Gyr}$) are trapped on more elongated orbits shaping a thinner part of the bar, while older stars ($> 8\ \mathrm{Gyr}$) are trapped on less elongated orbits shaping a rounder and thicker part of the bar. We compare our data to state-of-the-art cosmological magneto-hydrodynamical simulations of barred galaxies and show that such V-shaped SFHs arise naturally due to the dynamical influence of the bar on stellar populations with different ages and kinematic properties. Additionally, we find an excess of very young stars ($< 2\ \mathrm{Gyr}$) on the edges of the bars, predominantly on the leading side, confirming typical star formation patterns in bars. Furthermore, mass-weighted age and metallicity gradients are slightly shallower along the bar than in the disc likely due to orbital mixing in the bar. Finally, we find that bars are mostly more metal-rich and less [Mg/Fe]-enhanced than the surrounding discs. We interpret this as a signature that the bar quenches star formation in the inner region of discs, usually referred to as star formation deserts. We discuss these results and their implications on two different scenarios of bar formation and evolution., Comment: Accepted for publication in Astronomy and Astrophysics; 14 pages, 14 figures, 3 tables (including appendix: 29 pages, 29 figures)

We use magneto-hydrodynamical simulations of Milky Way-mass haloes from the Auriga project to examine the properties of surviving and destroyed dwarf galaxies that are accreted by these haloes over cosmic time. We show that the combined luminosity function of surviving and destroyed dwarfs at infall is similar in the various Auriga haloes, and is dominated by the destroyed dwarfs. There is, however, a strong dependence on infall time: destroyed dwarfs have typically early infall times, $t_{infall}<6$ Gyr, whereas the majority of dwarfs accreted at $t_{infall}>10$ Gyr have survived to the present day. Because of their late infall the surviving satellites today had higher metallicites at infall than their destroyed counterparts of similar infall mass; the difference is even more pronounced for the present-day metallicites of satellites, many of which continue to form stars after infall. In agreement with previous work, we find that a small number of relatively massive destroyed dwarf galaxies dominate the mass of the stellar haloes. However, there is a significant radial dependence: while 90 per cent of the mass in the inner regions ($<\,20\,$kpc) is contributed, on average, by only 3 massive progenitors, the outer regions ($>\,100\,$kpc) typically have $\sim8$ main progenitors of relatively lower mass. Finally, we show that a few massive progenitors dominate the metallicity distribution of accreted stars, even at the metal poor end. Contrary to common assumptions in the literature, dwarf galaxies of mass $M_{*}<10^7 \, M_{\odot}$ make up less than 10 per cent of the accreted, metal poor stars ([Fe/H] $<\,-3$) in the inner $50\,$kpc., Comment: Replaced with the accepted version after minor modifications