Diverse dark matter profiles in FIRE dwarfs: black holes, cosmic rays and the cusp-core enigma

Abstract

Dwarf galaxies have historically posed challenges to the cold dark matter (CDM) model and, while many of the so-called 'dwarf galaxy problems' have been mitigated by incorporating baryonic processes, the observed diversity of dwarf galaxy rotation curves remains a contentious topic. Meanwhile, the growing observational samples of active galactic nuclei (AGN) in dwarf galaxies have prompted a paradigm shift in our understanding of dwarf galaxy evolution, traditionally thought to be regulated by stellar feedback. In this study, we explore the potential role of AGN feedback in shaping dark matter distributions and increasing the diversity of dwarf galaxy rotation curves, using a new suite of cosmological zoom-in simulations of dwarf galaxies with the FIRE-3 model. Our findings indicate that the presence of active black holes (BHs) in dwarf galaxies can lead to diverse outcomes, ranging from cuspier to more core-like profiles. This variability arises from the dual role of BHs in providing additional feedback and regulating the extent of stellar feedback. Consistent with previous research, we find that AGN feedback is most impactful when cosmic ray (CR) modelling is included, with CRs from any source significantly influencing dark matter profiles. Overall, our results highlight that the interplay between stellar feedback, BHs, and CRs produces a broad spectrum of dark matter density profiles, which align with observed correlations between rotation curve shapes and baryonic dominance. This underscores the importance of including the full range of baryonic processes in dwarf galaxy simulations to address the persistent 'small-scale challenges' to the CDM paradigm.

Accepted for publication in MNRAS, 23 pages, 10 figures

References in corpus (67)

• Introducing the Illustris Project: Simulating the coevolution of dark and visible matter in the Universe
• Too big to fail? The puzzling darkness of massive Milky Way subhaloes
• Constraints on the Self-Interaction Cross-Section of Dark Matter from Numerical Simulations of the Merging Galaxy Cluster 1E 0657-5
• SPARC: Mass Models for 175 Disk Galaxies with Spitzer Photometry and Accurate Rotation Curves
• Massloss of galaxies due to a UV-background
• The Star Formation Histories of Local Group Dwarf Galaxies I. Hubble Space Telescope / Wide Field Planetary Camera 2 Observations
• A New Sample of Low-mass Black Holes in Active Galaxies
• The Quenching of the Ultra-Faint Dwarf Galaxies in the Reionization Era
• Black Holes on FIRE: Stellar Feedback Limits Early Feeding of Galactic Nuclei
• JWST CEERS & JADES Active Galaxies at z = 4-7 Violate the Local $M_{\bullet }-M_{\star }$ Relation at $>3\sigma$: Implications for Low-Mass Black Holes and Seeding Models
• The stellar mass-halo mass relation of isolated field dwarfs: a critical test of $\Lambda$CDM at the edge of galaxy formation
• X-ray constraints on the local supermassive black hole occupation fraction
• FIRE-3: Updated Stellar Evolution Models, Yields, & Microphysics and Fitting Functions for Applications in Galaxy Simulations
• The erratic dynamical life of black hole seeds in high-redshift galaxies
• X-ray and Ultraviolet Properties of AGN in Nearby Dwarf Galaxies
• An X-ray Selected Sample of Candidate Black Holes in Dwarf Galaxies
• Fast-moving stars around an intermediate-mass black hole in Omega Centauri
• X-ray Detected AGN in SDSS Dwarf Galaxies
• What Causes The Formation of Disks and End of Bursty Star Formation?
• The phase space density of fermionic dark matter haloes
• Radio jets from AGN in dwarf galaxies in the COSMOS survey: mechanical feedback out to redshift $\sim$3.4
• A Candidate Massive Black Hole in the Low-metallicity Dwarf Galaxy Pair Mrk 709
• Which AGN Jets Quench Star Formation in Massive Galaxies?
• AGN feedback in dwarf galaxies?
• A Sample of Massive Black Holes in Dwarf Galaxies Detected via [Fe X] Coronal Line Emission: Active Galactic Nuclei and/or Tidal Disruption Events
• Cosmic ray feedback from supernovae in dwarf galaxies
• The Star Forming Main Sequence of Dwarf Low Surface Brightness Galaxies
• Populating the low-mass end of the $M_{\mathrm{BH}}-{\sigma }_{\ast }$ relation
• Fast and energetic AGN-driven outflows in simulated dwarf galaxies
• On the Global Mass Distribution in Disk Galaxies
• Radio Emission on Sub-Parsec Scales from the Intermediate-Mass Black Hole in NGC 4395
• The Origins of Off-Centre Massive Black Holes in Dwarf Galaxies
• MaNGA AGN dwarf galaxies (MAD) -- I. A new sample of AGN in dwarf galaxies with spatially resolved spectroscopy
• How primordial magnetic fields shrink galaxies
• Spin-driven jet feedback in idealised simulations of galaxy groups and clusters
• Standard Self-Confinement and Extrinsic Turbulence Models for Cosmic Ray Transport are Fundamentally Incompatible with Observations
• Radio AGN in nearby dwarf galaxies: the important role of AGN in dwarf-galaxy evolution
• Radiation-MagnetoHydrodynamics simulations of cosmic ray feedback in disc galaxies
• The Incidence of X-ray selected AGN in Nearby Galaxies
• Detection of a $\sim$100,000 M${}_{\odot }$ black hole in M31's most massive globular cluster: A tidally stripped nucleus
• Blandford-Znajek jets in galaxy formation simulations: exploring the diversity of outflows produced by spin-driven AGN jets in Seyfert galaxies
• The diversity of rotation curves of simulated galaxies with cusps and cores
• Local positive feedback in the overall negative: the impact of quasar winds on star formation in the FIRE cosmological simulations
• NIHAO-XXIII: Dark Matter density shaped by Black Hole feedback
• A Multi-wavelength Study of the Turbulent Central Engine of the Low-mass AGN hosted by NGC404
• RESOLVE and ECO: Finding Low-Metallicity $z\sim 0$ Dwarf AGN Candidates Using Optimized Emission-Line Diagnostics
• The AGN Fraction in Dwarf Galaxies from eROSITA: First Results and Future Prospects
• Stellar feedback-regulated black hole growth: driving factors from nuclear to halo scales
• Population statistics of intermediate mass black holes in dwarf galaxies using the NewHorizon simulation
• The Pandora project. I: the impact of radiation and cosmic rays on baryonic and dark matter properties of dwarf galaxies
• The impact of AGN-driven winds on physical and observable galaxy sizes
• The many reasons that the rotation curves of low-mass galaxies can fail as tracers of their matter distributions
• The role of AGN feedback on the evolution of dwarf galaxies from cosmological simulations: SMBHs suppress star formation in low-mass galaxies
• A unified accretion disc model for supermassive black holes in galaxy formation simulations: method and implementation
• Constraining Cosmic-ray Transport with Observations of the Circumgalactic Medium
• A New Discrete Dynamical Friction Estimator Based on $N$-body Simulations
• AGN and Dwarf Galaxy Gas Kinematics
• Real and counterfeit cores: how feedback expands halos and disrupts tracers of inner gravitational potential in dwarf galaxies
• EDGE: Dark matter core creation depends on the timing of star formation
• The Obsidian model: Three regimes of black hole feedback
• Steep-Spectrum Radio Emission from the Low-Mass Active Galactic Nucleus GH 10
• The Effect of Cosmic Rays on the Observational Properties of the CGM
• Bursty Star Formation in Dwarfs is Sensitive to Numerical Choices in Supernova Feedback Models
• Predictions on the stellar-to-halo mass relation in the dwarf regime using the empirical model for galaxy formation EMERGE
• Confronting the Diversity Problem: The Limits of Galaxy Rotation Curves as a tool to Understand Dark Matter Profiles
• Hungry or Not: How Stellar-Mass Black Holes Grow (or Don't) in Dark Matter Mini-Haloes at High-Resolution
• A Simple Sub-Grid Model For Cosmic Ray Effects on Galactic Scales

Cited by in corpus (2)

• Central densities of dark matter halos in FIRE-2 simulations of low-mass galaxies with cold dark matter and self-interacting dark matter
• Dynamical disequilibrium in dwarf galaxies: rethinking gas dynamics, rotation curves, and dark matter inference