How to Plant a Merger Tree

Abstract

We investigate several approaches for constructing Monte Carlo realizations of the merging history of virialized dark matter halos (``merger trees'') using the extended Press-Schechter formalism. We describe several unsuccessful methods in order to illustrate some of the difficult aspects of this problem. We develop a practical method that leads to the reconstruction of mean quantities such as the conditional and overall mass functions as given by the Press-Schechter model. This method is convenient, computationally efficient, and works for any power spectrum or background cosmology. In addition, we investigate statistics that describe the distribution of the number of progenitors and their masses as a function of redshift.

13 pages, LaTeX, 10 postscript figures. To appear in MNRAS. Changed to MNRAS format with inlined figures. Minor changes in text and figures to match published version. No significant changes in content

References in corpus (1)

• CDM-Variant Cosmological Models - I: Simulations and Preliminary Comparisons

Cited by in corpus (284)

• Simulating the joint evolution of quasars, galaxies and their large-scale distribution
• Populating a cluster of galaxies - I. Results at z=0
• Hierarchical Galaxy Formation
• Physical Models of Galaxy Formation in a Cosmological Framework
• Concentrations of Dark Halos from their Assembly Histories
• A Semi-Analytic Model for the Co-evolution of Galaxies, Black Holes, and Active Galactic Nuclei
• Semi-Analytic Modelling of Galaxy Formation: The Local Universe
• Tracing Galaxy Formation with Stellar Halos I: Methods
• The Assembly and Merging History of Supermassive Black Holes in Hierarchical Models of Galaxy Formation
• A universal angular momentum profile for galactic halos
• Reionization and the abundance of galactic satellites
• 21cmFAST: A Fast, Semi-Numerical Simulation of the High-Redshift 21-cm Signal
• The Nature of High-Redshift Galaxies
• Constraining Galaxy Formation and Cosmology with the Conditional Luminosity Function of Galaxies
• The Dependence of Halo Clustering on Halo Formation History, Concentration, and Occupation
• A primer on hierarchical galaxy formation: the semi-analytical approach
• CEERS Key Paper I: An Early Look into the First 500 Myr of Galaxy Formation with JWST
• K-band Properties of Galaxy Clusters and Groups: Brightest Cluster Galaxies and Intracluster Light
• Can Photoionization Squelching Resolve the Sub-structure Crisis?
• The Major and Minor Galaxy Merger Rates at z < 1.5
• Halo Substructure And The Power Spectrum
• Tracing Galaxy Formation with Stellar Halos II: Relating Substructure in Phase- and Abundance-Space to Accretion Histories
• The Many Manifestations of Downsizing: Hierarchical Galaxy Formation Models confront Observations
• The Physics of Galaxy Clustering I: A Model for Subhalo Populations
• The origin of angular momentum in dark matter halos
• Hierarchical galaxy formation and substructure in the Galaxy's stellar halo
• GALICS I: A hybrid N-body semi-analytic model of hierarchical galaxy formation
• Dry Mergers in GEMS: The Dynamical Evolution of Massive Early-Type Galaxies
• The Universal Mass Accretion History of CDM Haloes
• Generating Dark Matter Halo Merger Trees
• Massive black hole seeds from low angular momentum material
• Bulge n and B/T in High Mass Galaxies: Constraints on the Origin of Bulges in Hierarchical Models
• The Mass-Concentration-Redshift Relation of Cold Dark Matter Halos
• The Assembly of Supermassive Black Holes at High Redshifts
• CEERS Epoch 1 NIRCam Imaging: Reduction Methods and Simulations Enabling Early JWST Science Results
• Natural Downsizing in Hierarchical Galaxy Formation
• Shredded Galaxies as the Source of Diffuse Intrahalo Light On Varying Scales
• Inferring the astrophysics of reionization and cosmic dawn from galaxy luminosity functions and the 21-cm signal
• A simple model for the size-evolution of elliptical galaxies
• Merger Histories of Galaxy Halos and Implications for Disk Survival
• The Excursion Set Theory of Halo Mass Functions, Halo Clustering, and Halo Growth
• The dust content of galaxies from z = 0 to z = 9
• Halo and Subhalo Demographics with Planck Cosmological Parameters: Bolshoi-Planck and MultiDark-Planck Simulations
• The Redshift Evolution of Wet, Dry, and Mixed Galaxy Mergers from Close Galaxy Pairs in the DEEP2 Galaxy Redshift Survey
• Galaxy Properties from the Ultra-violet to the Far-Infrared: Lambda-CDM models confront observations
• History of Galaxy Interactions and their Impact on Star Formation over the Last 7 Gyr from GEMS
• Mergers in Lambda-CDM: Uncertainties in Theoretical Predictions and Interpretations of the Merger Rate
• Cluster mergers and non-thermal phenomena: expectations from a statistical magneto-turbulent model
• PINOCCHIO: pinpointing orbit-crossing collapsed hierarchical objects in a linear density field
• The Dynamics of Sinking Satellites Around Disk Galaxies: A Poor Man's Alternative to High-Resolution Numerical Simulations
• Chemical Abundance Distributions of Galactic Halos and their Satellite Systems in a Lambda CDM Universe
• On the Life and Death of Satellite Haloes
• The Effects of Gas on Morphological Transformation in Mergers: Implications for Bulge and Disk Demographics
• Comparison Of Reionization Models: Radiative Transfer Simulations And Approximate, Semi-Numeric Models
• Star Formation in Semi-Analytic Galaxy Formation Models with Multiphase Gas
• Dark Matter Spikes and Annihilation Radiation from the Galactic Center
• Luminosity function and radial distribution of Milky Way Satellites in a LCDM Universe
• Evolution of the atomic and molecular gas content of galaxies
• Chemical Evolution in Hierarchical Models of Cosmic Structure II: The Formation of the Milky Way Stellar Halo and the Distribution of the Oldest Stars
• Merging history as a function of halo environment
• Chemical Evolution in Hierarchical Models Of Cosmic Structure I: Constraints on the Early Stellar Initial Mass Function
• The Population of Dark Matter Subhaloes: Mass Functions and Average Mass Loss Rates
• The Merger History of Supermassive Black Holes in Galaxies
• The Importance of Dry and Mixed Mergers for Early-Type Galaxy Formation
• Semi-analytic forecasts for JWST - I. UV luminosity functions at z = 4 - 10
• The Correlation of Star Formation Quenching with Internal Galaxy Properties and Environment
• The Evolution of Substructure in Galaxy, Group and Cluster Haloes I: Basic Dynamics
• A General Theory of Turbulent Fragmentation
• Squelched Galaxies and Dark Halos
• The Assembly of Galaxy Clusters
• Suppression of star formation in early-type galaxies by feedback from supermassive black holes
• Galaxy Merger Statistics and Inferred Bulge-to-Disk Ratios in Cosmological SPH Simulations
• Gravitational Waves from Supermassive Black Hole Coalescence in a Hierarchical Galaxy Formation Model
• On the Origin of Stars in Bulges and Elliptical Galaxies
• Modeling Angular-Momentum History in Dark-Matter Halos
• Merger Rates of Dark-Matter Haloes
• Improving the Estimation of Star formation Rates and Stellar Population Ages of High-redshift Galaxies from Broadband Photometry
• Antitruncated Stellar Disks via Minor Mergers
• Towards a Resolution of the Galactic Spin Crisis: Mergers, Feedback, and Spin Segregation
• On the Origin of Isophotal Shapes in Elliptical Galaxies
• The Effect of Merger Boosts on the Luminosity, Temperature, and Inferred Mass Functions of Clusters of Galaxies
• Adding Environmental Gas Physics to the Semi-Analytic Method for Galaxy Formation: Gravitational Heating
• Was reionization complete by z ~ 5-6?
• Are the ultra-high-redshift galaxies at z > 10 surprising in the context of standard galaxy formation models?
• Constructing Merger Trees that Mimic N-Body Simulations
• Semi-analytic forecasts for JWST -- II. physical properties and scaling relations for galaxies at z = 4-10
• Interpreting Debris from Satellite Disruption In External Galaxies
• A Bayesian approach to the semi-analytic model of galaxy formation: methodology
• A Comparison between Semi-Analytic Model Predictions for the CANDELS Survey
• The ATLAS3D Project-- VIII: Modelling the Formation and Evolution of Fast and Slow Rotator Early-Type Galaxies within $\Lambda$CDM
• The Las Campanas IR Survey. II. Photometric redshifts, comparison with models and clustering evolution
• An Excursion-Set Model for the Structure of GMCs and the ISM
• Galactic chemical evolution in hierarchical formation models - I. Early-type galaxies in the local Universe
• On The Assembly History of Dark Matter Haloes
• Generating Merger Trees for Dark Matter Haloes: A Comparison of Methods
• Field E+A Galaxies at Intermediate Redshifts (0.3<z<1)
• The distribution of supermassive black holes in the nuclei of nearby galaxies
• Close Galaxy Counts as a Probe of Hierarchical Structure Formation
• Onset of Cosmic Reionization: Evidence of An Ionized Bubble Merely 680 Myrs after the Big Bang
• The Nature of Massive Transition Galaxies in CANDELS, GAMA, and Cosmological Simulations
• Isolating Triggered Star Formation
• How do galaxies acquire their mass?
• Is Double Reionization Physically Plausible?
• Evaluating Semi-Analytic Halo Merging Histories
• Massive black hole remnants of the first stars in galactic haloes
• Spectral Templates Optimal for Selecting Galaxies at z > 8 with JWST
• Coming of Age in the Dark Sector: How Dark Matter Haloes grow their Gravitational Potential Wells
• Galaxy formation in semi-analytic models and cosmological hydrodynamic zoom simulations
• Semi-analytic forecasts for JWST -- IV. Implications for cosmic reionization and LyC escape fraction
• Hubble Space Telescope Observations of the Oldest Star Clusters in the LMC
• On the formation of the first quasars
• Redshift Evolution of the Merger Fraction of Galaxies in CDM Cosmologies
• Biases and Uncertainties in Physical Parameter Estimates of Lyman Break Galaxies from Broad-band Photometry
• Dry Mergers: A Crucial Test for Galaxy Formation
• The art of modeling CO, [CI], and [CII] in cosmological galaxy formation models
• The observability of gamma-rays from neutralino annihilations in Milky Way substructure
• Self-Consistent Theory of Halo Mergers
• Galaxy Formation at z~3: Constraints from Spatial Clustering
• The statistical properties of LCDM halo formation
• Mass assembly of galaxies: Smooth accretion versus mergers
• Young galaxies: what turns them on?
• Analytical Approach to Subhaloes Population in Dark Matter Haloes
• Bayesian inference of galaxy formation from the K-band luminosity function of galaxies: tensions between theory and observation
• Signatures of Hierarchical Clustering in Dark Matter Detection Experiments
• The Formation Histories of Galaxy Clusters
• X-ray emission from high-redshift miniquasars: self-regulating the population of massive black holes through global warming
• Probing recent star formation with absorption-line strengths in hierarchical models and observations
• Can Supersymmetry Naturally Explain the Positron Excess?
• The origin of dust in galaxies across cosmic time
• Hierarchical Formation of Galaxies with Dynamical Response to Supernova-Induced Gas removal
• Baryonic Conversion Tree: The global assembly of stars and dark matter in galaxies from the SDSS
• Semi-analytic forecasts for JWST -- VI. Simulated lightcones and galaxy clustering predictions
• The Evolution of Substructure in Galaxy, Group and Cluster Haloes II: Global Properties
• Numerical Galaxy Catalog -I. A Semi-analytic Model of Galaxy Formation with N-body simulations
• The Millennium Run Observatory: First Light
• On the Origin of Dynamically Cold Rings Around the Milky Way
• PINOCCHIO and the hierarchical build-up of dark matter haloes
• Contribution of Neutron Star Mergers to the R-process Chemical Evolution in the Hierarchical Galaxy Formation
• How to Grow a Healthy Merger Tree
• An analytical model for the accretion of dark matter subhalos
• Dark-Halo Cusp: Asymptotic Convergence
• The New Model of Chemical Evolution of r-process Elements Based on The Hierarchical Galaxy Formation I: Ba and Eu
• A Cosmic Coincidence: The Power-Law Galaxy Correlation Function
• Modeling The Star Forming Universe at z=2: Impact of Cold Accretion Flows
• The Relationship Between Star-formation Activity and Galaxy Structural Properties in CANDELS and a Semi-analytic Model
• Constraints on the small-scale power spectrum of density fluctuations from high-redshift gamma-ray bursts
• High redshift quasars and the supermassive black hole mass budget: constraints on quasar formation models
• Quasars and galaxy formation
• Semi-analytic forecasts for JWST -- III. Intrinsic production efficiency of Lyman-continuum radiation
• The Dominance of Metal-Rich Streams in Stellar Halos: A Comparison Between Substructure in M31 and Lambda-CDM Models
• An Improved Model for the Dynamical Evolution of Dark Matter Subhaloes
• Semi-analytic forecasts for JWST -- V. AGN luminosity functions and helium reionization at z = 2-7
• Testing models of supermassive black hole seed formation through gravity waves
• Massive black hole remnants of the first stars I: abundance in present-day galactic haloes
• The APM cluster-galaxy cross-correlation function : Constraints on Omega and galaxy bias
• An empirical representation of a physical model for the ISM [CII], CO, and [CI] emission at redshift $1\le z\le 9$
• The Evolving Faint-End of the Luminosity Function
• Galaxy Number Counts in the Subaru Deep Field: Multi-band Analysis in a Hierarchical Galaxy Formation Model
• Relations Between Environments of Quasars and Galaxy Formation
• The Luminosity, Colour and Morphology dependence of galaxy filaments in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Data Release Four
• The Evolution of Substructure in Galaxy, Group and Cluster Haloes III: Comparison with Simulations
• On the Origin of the Inner Structure of Halos
• Formation time distribution of dark matter haloes: theories versus N-body simulations
• Constraining Satellite Galaxy Stellar Mass Loss and Predicting Intrahalo Light I: Framework and Results at Low Redshift
• Multitracer cosmological line intensity mapping mock lightcone simulation
• Comprehensive Assessment of the Too-Big-to-Fail Problem
• The role of stellar relaxation in the formation and evolution of the first massive black holes
• Damped Lyman alpha systems and galaxy formation models - II. High ions and Lyman limit systems
• A parametric study of possible solutions to the high-redshift overproduction of stars in modeled dwarf galaxies
• Accretion of Galaxy Groups into Galaxy Clusters
• Does the Galaxy-Halo Connection Vary with Environment?
• The Impact of Gas Stripping and Stellar Mass Loss on Satellite Galaxy Evolution
• Numerical simulations of dwarf galaxy merger trees
• On the reliability of merger-trees and the mass growth histories of dark matter haloes
• The most iron-deficient stars as the polluted population III stars
• What triggers black-hole growth? Insights from star formation rates
• The effect of dry mergers on the color-magnitude relation of early-type galaxies
• Formation History of Metal-Poor Halo Stars with Hierarchical Model and the Effect of ISM accretion on the Most Metal-Poor Stars
• Semi-analytic forecasts for Roman -- the beginning of a new era of deep-wide galaxy surveys
• Physical properties of Herschel selected galaxies in a semi-analytic galaxy formation model
• Reconstructing the Accretion History of the Galactic Stellar Halo from Chemical Abundance Ratio Distributions
• Connecting Cluster Substructure in Galaxy Cluster Cores at z=0.2 With Cluster Assembly Histories
• Beta Dips in the Gaia Era: Simulation Predictions of the Galactic Velocity Anisotropy Parameter for Stellar Halos
• Galaxy number counts in the Hubble Deep Field as a strong constraint on a hierarchical galaxy formation model
• Turbulence in the Intergalactic Medium
• The Metallicity of Diffuse Intrahalo Light
• Suppression of accretion onto low-mass Population III stars
• Modelling of Lyman-alpha Emitting Galaxies and Ionized Bubbles at the Era of Reionization
• The dependence of AGN activity on stellar and halo mass in Semi-Analytic Models
• The contribution of HI-bearing ultra-diffuse galaxies to the cosmic number density of galaxies
• The importance of galaxy formation histories in models of reionization
• Effects of early dark energy on strong cluster lensing
• Scale Radii and Aggregation Histories of Dark Haloes
• Damped Lyα Absorption Systems in Semi-Analytic Models with Multiphase Gas
• Relating the Diverse Merger Histories and Satellite Populations of Nearby Galaxies
• Conditional Mass Functions and Merger Rates of Dark Matter Halos in the Ellipsoidal Collapse Model
• A Comparison of Simulated and Analytic Major Merger Counts
• Statistics of Dark Matter Halos from the Excursion Set Approach
• Damped Lyman alpha Absorbing Galaxies At Low Redshifts z<1 From Hierarchical Galaxy Formation Models
• Effects of the halo concentration distribution on strong-lensing optical depth and X-ray emission
• Testing the Modified Press-Schechter Model against N-Body Simulations
• Galaxy Formation in the Santa Cruz semi-analytic model compared with IllustrisTNG -- I. Galaxy scaling relations, dispersions, and residuals at z=0
• Constructing high-fidelity halo merger trees in AbacusSummit
• Driving the Growth of the Earliest Supermassive Black Holes with Major Mergers of Host Galaxies
• Modeling the QSO luminosity and spatial clustering at low redshifts
• The Effects of Halo-to-Halo Variation on Substructure Lensing
• Redshift evolution of stellar mass versus gas fraction relation in 0<z<2 regime: observational constraint for galaxy formation models
• A Solution to the Missing Link in the Press-Schechter Formalism
• LIMFAST. I. A Semi-Numerical Tool for Line Intensity Mapping
• Are Faint Supernovae Responsible for Carbon-Enhanced Metal-Poor Stars?
• The build-up of halos within Press-Schechter theory
• The Cosmological History of Accretion onto Dark Halos and Supermassive Black Holes
• Population III stars around the Milky Way
• Towards a new modelling of gas flows in a semi-analytical model of galaxy formation and evolution
• Dark Matter Halos from the Inside Out
• Dark Matter Halo Mergers I: Dependence on Environment & Redshift Evolution
• Constraining the Black Hole Mass Spectrum with Gravitational Wave Observations I: The Error Kernel
• Counts-in-Cylinders in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey with Comparisons to N-body Simulations
• Dynamical flows through Dark Matter Haloes II: one and two points statistics at the virial radius
• Chemical Enrichment in Damped Lyman Alpha Systems From Hierarchical Galaxy Formation Models
• Spinning compact binary inspiral: Independent variables and dynamically preserved spin configurations
• Mass accretion rates of clusters of galaxies: CIRS and HeCS
• A physical model for the hard X-ray background
• On estimating the cosmic molecular gas density from CO Line Intensity Mapping observations
• A Merger Tree with Microsolar Mass Resolution: Application to $\gamma$-ray Emission from Subhalo Population
• Merger history trees of dark matter haloes in moving barrier models
• Steadily Increasing Star Formation Rates in Galaxies Observed at 3 <~ z <~ 5 in the CANDELS/GOODS-S Field
• Characterising the Structure of Halo Merger Trees Using a Single Parameter: The Tree Entropy
• Analytical Models for the Energetics of Cosmic Accretion Shocks, their Cosmological Evolution, and the Effect of Environment
• The photoionization effect of the ultraviolet background on the colour-magnitude relation of elliptical galaxies
• The environment and redshift dependence of accretion onto dark matter halos and subhalos
• Type Ia supernovae in a hierarchical galaxy formation model: the Milky Way
• GECO: Galaxy Evolution COde - A new semi-analytical model of galaxy formation
• Tracking the orbit of unresolved subhalos for semi-analytic models
• Bias and Conditional Mass Function of Dark Halos Based on the Nonspherical Collapse Model
• A Stochastic Theory of the Hierarchical Clustering I. Halo Mass Function
• The EDGES measurement disfavors an excess radio background during the cosmic dawn
• Groups of two galaxies in SDSS: implications of colours on star formation quenching time-scales
• Matrix Formalism of Excursion Set Theory: A new approach to statistics of dark matter halo counting
• On the population of primordial star clusters in the presence of UV background radiation
• Extremely Metal-Poor Stars and a Hierarchical Chemical Evolution Model
• Selection effects on X-ray and strong-lensing clusters in various cosmologies
• Evolution of the mass relation between supermassive black holes and dark matter halos across the cosmic time
• Characterizing the Conditional Galaxy Property Distribution using Gaussian Mixture Models
• Disentangling the co-evolution of galaxies and supermassive black holes with PRIMA
• Self-Consistent Theory of Halo Mergers - II: CDM Power Spectra
• The mass accretion history of dark matter haloes down to Earth mass
• A fast and accurate method to compute the mass return from multiple stellar populations
• Classification of gamma-ray targets for velocity-dependent and subhalo-boosted dark-matter annihilation
• Merging History Trees for Dark Matter Halos: Tests of the Merging Cell Model in a CDM Cosmology
• Close Galaxy Pairs at z = 3: A Challenge to UV Luminosity Abundance Matching
• A Stochastic Theory of the Hierarchical Clustering II. Halo progenitor mass function and large-scale bias
• Merging Tree Algorithm of Growing Voids in Self Similar and CDM Models
• Reliability of merger tree realizations of dark halos in the Monte-Carlo modeling of galaxy formation
• Monte-Carlo Modeling of Non-Gravitational Heating Processes in Galaxy Clusters
• Characterizing the assembly of dark matter halos with protohalo size histories: I. Redshift evolution, relation to descendant halos, and halo assembly bias
• Probing baryonic processes and gastrophysics in the formation of the Milky Way dwarf satellites: I. metallicity distribution properties
• On the abundance of gravitational arcs produced by submillimeter galaxies at radio and submm wavelengths
• Signatures of reionization feedback in the near-infrared background
• Mass accretion rates and multi-scale halo environment in cold and warm dark matter cosmologies
• Galaxy Correlation Function and Local Density from Photometric Redshifts Using the Stochastic Order Redshift Technique (SORT)
• Probing the mass relation between supermassive black holes and dark matter halos at high redshifts by gravitational wave experiments
• FLORAH: A generative model for halo assembly histories
• Devouring The Centaurus A Satellites: Modeling Dwarf Galaxies with Galacticus
• Stochastic Gravitational Wave Background originating from Halo Mergers
• Statistical Properties of Supercluster-Like Filaments from Cosmological Simulations
• Is the stellar mass-stellar metallicity relation universal in the Milky Way satellites and beyond?
• The Origin of the Stellar Mass-Stellar Metallicity Relation in the Milky Way Satellites and beyond
• Merger rates of dark matter haloes: a comparison between EPS and N-body results
• Constraints on Galaxy Structure and Evolution from the Light of Nearby Systems
• Approximate methods for the generation of dark matter halo catalogs in the age of precision cosmology
• On the spin distributions of $\Lambda$CDM haloes
• Signatures of inhomogeneous dark matter annihilation on 21-cm
• A Conditional Abundance Matching Method of Extending Simulated Halo Merger Trees to Resolve Low-Mass Progenitors and Sub-halos
• Dark halo densities, substructure, and the initial power spectrum
• Gravitational interaction signatures in isolated galaxy triplet systems: a photometric analysis
• HI-selected Galaxies as a probe of Quasar Absorption Systems
• Excursion Sets with a "Perfect" Collapse Model
• On the Size Evolution of a Galactic Disk in Hierarchical Merging of Cold Dark Matter Halos
• A Non-parametric Method for the Inference of Halo Occupation Distributions
• An Estimate of the Impact of Reionization on Supermassive Black Hole Growth
• The hierarchical build-up of bulges in CDM
• Modeling the High-z Universe: Probing Galaxy Formation
• Viscous Dark Energy Accretion Activities : Sonic Speed, Angular Momentum and Mach Number Studies