Generation of mock tidal streams

Abstract

In this paper we discuss a method for the generation of mock tidal streams. Using an ensemble of simulations in an isochrone potential where the actions and frequencies are known, we derive an empirical recipe for the evolving satellite mass and the corresponding mass loss rate, and the ejection conditions of the stream material. The resulting stream can then be quickly generated either with direct orbital integration, or by using the action-angle formalism. The model naturally produces streaky features within the stream. These are formed due to the radial oscillation of the progenitor and the bursts of stars emitted near pericenter, rather than clumping at particular oscillation phases as sometimes suggested. When detectable, these streaky features are a reliable diagnostic for the stream's direction of motion and encode other information on the progenitor and its orbit. We show several tests of the recipe in alternate potentials, including a case with a chaotic progenitor orbit which displays a marked effect on the width of the stream. Although the specific ejection recipe may need adjusting when elements such as the orbit or satellite density profile are changed significantly, our examples suggest that model tidal streams can be quickly and accurately generated by models of this general type for use in Bayesian sampling.

20 pages, 11 figures, 1 table; submitted to MNRAS

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• The $>100$ kpc Distant Spur of the Sagittarius Stream and the Outer Virgo Overdensity, as Seen in PS1 RR Lyrae Stars
• Variations in the width, density, and direction of the Palomar 5 tidal tails
• The Geometry of Sagittarius Stream from Pan-STARRS1 3$\pi$ RR Lyrae
• Modeling the gravitational potential of a cosmological dark matter halo with stellar streams
• Exploding Satellites -- The Tidal Debris of the Ultra-Faint Dwarf Galaxy Hercules
• The dynamics of the globular cluster NGC3201 out to the Jacobi radius
• The structure of accreted stellar streams
• Uncovering fossils of the distant Milky Way with UNIONS: NGC 5466 and its stellar stream
• Effects of chaos on the detectability of stellar streams
• Searching for the extra-tidal stars of globular clusters using high-dimensional analysis and a core particle spray code
• Regular and chaotic orbits in axisymmetric stellar systems
• walter: A Tool for Predicting Resolved Stellar Population Observations with Applications to the Roman Space Telescope