UniverseMachine: Predicting Galaxy Star Formation over Seven Decades of Halo Mass with Zoom-in Simulations

Abstract

We apply the empirical galaxy--halo connection model UniverseMachine to dark matter-only zoom-in simulations of isolated Milky Way (MW)--mass halos along with their parent cosmological simulations. This application extends \textsc{UniverseMachine} predictions into the ultra-faint dwarf galaxy regime ($10^2{\mathrm{M}}_{\odot }⩽M_{\ast }⩽10^5{\mathrm{M}}_{\odot }$) and yields a well-resolved stellar mass--halo mass (SMHM) relation over the peak halo mass range $10^8{\mathrm{M}}_{\odot }$ to $10^{15}{\mathrm{M}}_{\odot }$. The extensive dynamic range provided by the zoom-in simulations allows us to assess specific aspects of dwarf galaxy evolution predicted by \textsc{UniverseMachine}. In particular, although UniverseMachine is not constrained for dwarf galaxies with $M_{\ast }\lesssim 10^8{\mathrm{M}}_{\odot }$, our predicted SMHM relation is consistent with that inferred for MW satellite galaxies at $z=0$ using abundance matching. However, UniverseMachine predicts that nearly all galaxies are actively star forming below $M_{\ast }\sim 10^7{\mathrm{M}}_{\odot }$ and that these systems typically form more than half of their stars at $z\lesssim 4$, which is discrepant with the star formation histories of Local Group dwarf galaxies that favor early quenching. This indicates that the current UniverseMachine model does not fully capture galaxy quenching physics at the low-mass end. We highlight specific improvements necessary to incorporate environmental and reionization-driven quenching for dwarf galaxies, and provide a new tool to connect dark matter accretion to star formation over the full dynamic range that hosts galaxies.

Accepted for publication in ApJ. 21 pages, 8 figures, 1 table. Minor edits to v1. Added discussion of reionization contribution of ultra-faint dwarfs in sections 4.4 and 5

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