Living with Neighbors. III. The Origin of the Spin$-$Orbit Alignment of Galaxy Pairs: A Neighbor versus the Large-scale Structure

Abstract

Recent observations revealed a coherence between the spin vector of a galaxy and the orbital motion of its neighbors. We refer to the phenomenon as "the spin$-$orbit alignment (SOA)" and explore its physical origin via the IllustrisTNG simulation. This is the first study to utilize a cosmological hydrodynamic simulation to investigate the SOA of galaxy pairs. In particular, we identify paired galaxies at $z=0$ having the nearest neighbor with mass ratios from 1/10 to 10 and calculate the spin$-$orbit angle for each pair. Our results are as follows. (a) There exists a clear preference for prograde orientations (i.e., SOA) for galaxy pairs, qualitatively consistent with observations. (b) The SOA is significant for both baryonic and dark matter spins, being the strongest for gas and the weakest for dark matter. (c) The SOA is stronger for less massive targets and for targets having closer neighbors. (d) The SOA strengthens for galaxies in low-density regions, and the signal is dominated by central$-$satellite pairs in low-mass halos. (e) There is an explicit dependence of the SOA on the duration of interaction with its current neighbor. Taken together, we propose that the SOA witnessed at $z=0$ has been developed mainly by interactions with a neighbor for an extended period of time, rather than tidal torque from the ambient large-scale structure.

arXiv comment16 pages, 12 figures, accepted for publication in ApJ

References in corpus (104)

• SciPy 1.0--Fundamental Algorithms for Scientific Computing in Python
• Planck 2015 results. XIII. Cosmological parameters
• The Astropy Project: Building an inclusive, open-science project and status of the v2.0 core package
• Populating a cluster of galaxies - I. Results at z=0
• E pur si muove: Galiliean-invariant cosmological hydrodynamical simulations on a moving mesh
• Simulating Galaxy Formation with the IllustrisTNG Model
• First results from the IllustrisTNG simulations: matter and galaxy clustering
• First results from the IllustrisTNG simulations: the stellar mass content of groups and clusters of galaxies
• First results from the IllustrisTNG simulations: the galaxy color bimodality
• First results from the IllustrisTNG simulations: A tale of two elements -- chemical evolution of magnesium and europium
• Simulating galaxy formation with black hole driven thermal and kinetic feedback
• First results from the IllustrisTNG simulations: radio haloes and magnetic fields
• Substructures in hydrodynamical cluster simulations
• Dancing in the dark: galactic properties trace spin swings along the cosmic web
• The merger rate of galaxies in the Illustris Simulation: a comparison with observations and semi-empirical models
• Galaxy Zoo: the dependence of morphology and colour on environment
• Intrinsic and Extrinsic Galaxy Alignment
• Evolution of the cosmic web
• Formation of gas disks in merging galaxies
• Spin induced galaxy alignments and their implications for weak lensing measurements
• The Evolution of Dark Matter Halo Properties in Clusters, Filaments, Sheets and Voids
• Galaxy alignments: An overview
• Connecting the cosmic web to the spin of dark halos: implications for galaxy formation
• Spin alignment of dark matter haloes in filaments and walls
• Galaxy spin alignment in filaments and sheets: observational evidence
• Structure Finding in Cosmological Simulations: The State of Affairs
• The Alignment between the Distribution of Satellites and the Orientation of their Central Galaxy
• Evidence for spin alignment of spiral and elliptical/S0 galaxies in filaments
• Testing Tidal-Torque Theory: II. Alignment of Inertia and Shear and the Characteristics of Proto-haloes
• Review: galactic angular momenta and angular momentum correlations in the cosmological large-scale structure
• Anisotropic Distribution of SDSS Satellite Galaxies: Planar (not Polar) Alignment
• The shapes, orientation, and alignment of Galactic dark matter subhalos
• Galaxy Spin Statistics and Spin-Density Correlation
• Swirling around filaments: are large-scale structure vortices spinning up dark halos?
• Tracing kinematic (mis)alignments in CALIFA merging galaxies: Stellar and ionized gas kinematic orientations at every merger stage
• The Cosmic Ballet: spin and shape alignments of haloes in the cosmic web
• Galaxy orientation with the cosmic web across cosmic time
• Three Different Types of Galaxy Alignment within Dark Matter Halos
• The cosmic history of the spin of dark matter haloes within the large scale structure
• Intrinsic alignment of simulated galaxies in the cosmic web: implications for weak lensing surveys
• The Cosmic Ballet II: Spin alignment of galaxies and haloes with large-scale filaments in the EAGLE simulation
• Cosmic web alignments with the shape, angular momentum and peculiar velocities of dark matter haloes
• The Hierarchical Nature of the Spin Alignment of Dark Matter Haloes in Filaments
• The alignment of satellite galaxies and cosmic filaments: observations and simulations
• The universal nature of subhalo accretion
• The Accuracy of Subhalo Detection
• Anisotropies in the Distribution of Satellite Galaxies
• Mergers drive spin swings along the cosmic web
• The SAMI Galaxy Survey: First detection of a transition in spin orientation with respect to cosmic filaments in the stellar kinematics of galaxies
• Go with the Flow: Understanding Inflow Mechanisms in Galaxy Collisions
• Intrinsic alignments of galaxies in the MassiveBlack-II simulation: analysis of two-point statistics
• The Orientation of Satellite Galaxies: Evidence of Elongation in the Direction of the Host
• And yet it flips: connecting galactic spin and the cosmic web
• Radial Alignment in Simulated Clusters
• Interacting galaxies in the IllustrisTNG simulations -- I: Triggered star formation in a cosmological context
• Shocks and angular momentum flips: a different path to feeding the nuclear regions of merging galaxies
• The build up of the correlation between halo spin and the large scale structure
• Major Mergers Going Notts: Challenges for Modern Halo Finders
• The Dynamics of Galaxy Pairs in a Cosmological Setting
• Alignments of Galaxy Group Shapes with Large Scale Structure
• Galaxy-halo alignments in the Horizon-AGN cosmological hydrodynamical simulation
• A general explanation on the correlation of dark matter halo spin with the large scale environment
• The alignment of galaxy spin with the shear field in observations
• Radial Alignment of Cluster Galaxies
• The spin alignment of galaxies with the large-scale tidal field in hydrodynamic simulations
• Alignment of galaxies relative to their local environment in SDSS-DR8
• The accretion of dark matter subhaloes within the cosmic web: primordial anisotropic distribution and its universality
• Alignment and morphology of elliptical galaxies: the influence of the cluster tidal field
• Alignment between filaments and galaxy spins from the MaNGA integral-field survey
• Galaxy Zoo: Chiral correlation function of galaxy spins
• CHILES VI: HI and H$\alpha$ Observations for z < 0.1 Galaxies; Probing HI Spin Alignment with Filaments in the Cosmic Web
• Caught in the rhythm: how satellites settle into a plane around their central galaxy
• The lopsided distribution of satellite galaxies
• The Three Hundred project: shapes and radial alignment of satellite, infalling, and backsplash galaxies
• The Lopsidedness of Satellite Galaxy Systems in $\Lambda$CDM simulations
• Galaxy pairs align with galactic filaments
• Decoupling the rotation of stars and gas -- I: the relationship with morphology and halo spin
• Early-type galaxy spin evolution in the Horizon-AGN simulation
• Searching for periods in X-ray observations using Kuiper's test. Application to the ROSAT PSPC archive
• SDSS-IV MaNGA: Kinematic Asymmetry as An Indicator of Galaxy Interaction in Paired Galaxies
• Mysterious Coherence in Several-Megaparsec Scales Between Galaxy Rotation and Neighbor Motion
• Clues on the origin of galactic angular momentum from looking at galaxy pairs
• Intrinsic Alignment in redMaPPer clusters -- II. Radial alignment of satellites toward cluster centers
• Alignments of Group Galaxies with Neighboring Groups
• Orientation of Galaxies in the Local Supercluster: A Review
• Interacting galaxies: co-rotating and counter-rotating systems with tidal tails
• Living with Neighbors. I. Observational Clues to Hydrodynamic Impact of Neighboring Galaxies on Star Formation
• Galaxy Rotation Coherent with the Motions of Neighbors: Discovery of Observational Evidence
• Living with Neighbors. II. Statistical Analysis of Flybys and Mergers of Dark Matter Halos in Cosmological Simulations
• Star-gas misalignment in galaxies: I. The properties of galaxies from the Horizon-AGN simulation and comparisons to SAMI
• A Study of Environmental Effects on Galaxy Spin Using MaNGA Data
• Revisiting the Galaxy Shape and Spin Alignments with the Large-Scale Tidal Field: An Effective Practical Model
• The orientation of galaxy pairs with filamentary structures: dependence on morphology
• Radial alignment of elliptical galaxies by the tidal force of a cluster of galaxies
• The Origin of Lopsided Satellite Galaxy Distribution in Galaxy Pairs
• The shape alignment of satellite galaxies in galaxy pairs in SDSS
• Orbital Dependence of Galaxy Properties in Satellite Systems of Galaxies
• The Next Generation Fornax Survey (NGFS): VI. The Alignment of Dwarf Galaxies in The Fornax Cluster
• Ecology of dark matter haloes -II. Effects of interactions on the alignment of halo pairs
• The Orbital Distribution of Satellite Galaxies
• The Spin Alignments in Galaxy Pairs as a Test of Bouncing Coupled Dark Energy
• Small-Scale Dynamical Coherence Accompanied with Galaxy Conformity
• Detection of the Intrinsic Spin Alignments in Isolated Spiral Pairs
• Relative Orientation of Pairs of Spiral Galaxies in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey

Cited by in corpus (6)

• Detection of the Mass-Dependent Dual-Type Transition of Galaxy Spins in IllustrisTNG Simulations
• Living with Neighbors. IV. Dissecting the Spin$-$Orbit Alignment of Dark Matter Halos: Interacting Neighbors and the Local Large-scale Structure
• The role of impact parameter in typical close galaxy flybys
• The SAMI Galaxy Survey: The relationship between galaxy rotation and the motion of neighbours
• Living with Neighbors. V. Better-aligned Spiral+Spiral Galaxy Pairs Show Stronger Star Formation
• Galaxy Spin Alignment with Tidal Fields in the SDSS-IV MaNGA Survey