An Investigation Into the Effects of Baryons on Satellite Galaxies in Cosmological Simulations

摘要

Cosmological N-body simulations are essential tools in verifying and analyzing the details of the Lambda Cold Dark Matter (LCDM) paradigm of the Universe. In this work I analyze the effects of baryons in these simulations by comparing cosmological, zoom-in simulations with baryons (gas and stars) to their dark matter-only counterparts, specifically focusing on the statistics and kinematics of satellite galaxies. Initially I investigate the formation of planes of satellites around Milky Way-sized galaxies and compare them to the satellite planes around the Milky Way and Andromeda. Then I focus on the masses and velocities of satellite galaxies around dwarf galaxies (100 to 1000 times less massive than the Milky Way) and quantify the parameters that control the differences that exist in these satellites between the dark matter-only and the baryonic simulations.