The Effects of Photoionization on Galaxy Formation - II: Satellites in the Local Group

Using published data, we have compiled the circular velocity (Vc) distribution function (VDF) of galaxy satellites in the Local Group. We find that within the volumes of radius of 570 kpc (400/h kpc for h=0.7) centered on the Milky Way and Andromeda, the average VDF is roughly approximated as n(>Vc)~ 45(Vc/10 km/s)^{-1} h^3 Mpc^{-3} for Vc in the range ~10-70 km/s. The observed VDF is compared with results of high-resolution cosmological simulations. We find that the VDF in m...

Reionizing the Universe with galaxies appears to require significant star formation in low-mass halos at early times, while local dwarf galaxy counts tell us that star formation has been minimal in small halos around us today. Using simple models and the ELVIS simulation suite, we show that reionization scenarios requiring appreciable star formation in halos with $M_{\rm vir} \approx 10^{8}\,M_{\odot}$ at $z=8$ are in serious tension with galaxy counts in the Local Group. Thi...

We revisit the well known discrepancy between the observed number of Milky Way (MW) dwarf satellite companions and the predicted population of cold dark matter (CDM) sub-halos, in light of the dozen new low luminosity satellites found in SDSS imaging data and our recent calibration of the SDSS satellite detection efficiency, which implies a total population far larger than these dozen discoveries. We combine a dynamical model for the CDM sub-halo population with simple, physi...

Collisionless simulations of the CDM cosmology predict a plethora of dark matter substructures in the halos of Milky Way sized galaxies, yet the number of known luminous satellites galaxies is very much smaller, a discrepancy that has become known as the `missing satellite problem'. The most massive substructures have been shown to be plausibly the hosts of the brightest satellites, but it remains unclear which processes prevent star formation in the many other, purely dark s...

We investigate the properties of satellite galaxies in cosmological N-body/SPH simulations of galaxy formation in Milky Way-sized haloes. Because of their shallow potential wells, satellite galaxies are very sensitive to heating processes which affect their gas content. Their properties can therefore be used to constrain the nature of feedback processes that regulate galaxy formation. In our simulations, we assume that all the energy produced by supernovae is used as kinetic ...

Hierarchical Cold Dark Matter (CDM) models predict that Milky Way (MW) sized halos contain hundreds of dense low-mass dark satellites, an order of magnitude more than the number of observed satellites in the Local Group (LG). If the CDM paradigm is correct, we need to understand why most of these halos failed to form stars and become galaxies. We analyze the dynamical evolution of the satellite halos in a high-resolution cosmological simulation of MW sized halos in the LCDM c...

We trace the cosmological origin of satellites around a dwarf galaxy using a very high resolution (12~pc/h) cosmological hydrodynamic zoom simulation. To realistically describe the formation and evolution of small-mass stellar satellites, our model includes a full baryonic physics treatment including a recipe for UV self-shielding. We find that the mini-halos form objects resembling dwarf galaxies. Despite our high resolution, none of our 'mini-halos' form objects that might ...

We present a semi-analytic model of satellite galaxies, SatGen, which can generate large samples of satellite populations for a host halo of desired mass, redshift, and assembly history. The model combines dark-matter halo merger trees, empirical relations for the galaxy-halo connection, and analytic prescriptions for tidal effects, dynamical friction, and ram pressure stripping. SatGen emulates cosmological zoom-in hydro-simulations in certain aspects. Satellites can reside ...

We develop a coupled model for the evolution of the global properties of the intergalactic medium (IGM) and the formation of galaxies, in the presence of a photoionizing background due to stars and quasars. We use this model to predict the thermodynamic history of the IGM when photoionized by galaxies forming in a cold dark matter (CDM) universe. The evolution of the galaxies is calculated using a semi-analytical model, including a detailed treatment of the effects of tidal s...

We study the formation histories and present-day structure of satellite galaxies formed in a high resolution hydrodynamic simulation of a Milky Way-like galaxy. The simulated satellites span nearly 4 orders of magnitude in luminosity but have a very similar mass within their inner 600 pc, ~ 3 10^7 M_solar, with very little scatter. This result is in agreement with the recent measurements for dwarf spheroidal galaxies (dSphs) in the Milky Way by Strigari et al. In our simulati...