Tariq Yasin

Abstract:

Resolved rotation curves (RCs) are the gold-standard measurements for inferring dark matter distributions in Lambda cold dark matter and testing alternative theories of dynamics in galaxies. However, they are expensive to obtain, making them prohibitive for large galaxy samples and at higher redshift. Spatially integrated flux profiles are more accessible and present the information in a different form, but – except in a highly compressed form, as linewidths – have not so far been compared in detail with RCs or employed for dynamical inferences. Here, we study the consistency of RCs and surface density profiles from SPARC with spatially integrated flux profiles from ALFALFA, by combining the resolved properties in a forward model for the flux profile. We define a new metric for asymmetry in the flux profiles, enabling us to cleanly identify those unsuitable for our axisymmetric method. Among all SPARC galaxies the agreement between RCs and flux profiles is satisfactory within the limitations of the data – with most galaxies having an uncertainty-normalized mean squared error (MSE) below 10 – whilst no galaxy deemed symmetric has a MSE above 1.2. Most cases of good agreement prefer an gas dispersion of 13 km s, consistent with resolved studies of gas dispersion from the literature. These results open the door for spatially integrated flux profiles to be used as proxies for spatially resolved dynamics, including a robust appraisal of the degree of asymmetry.

Abstract:

Rotation curves are the key observational manifestation of the dark matter distribution around late-type galaxies. In a halo model context, the precision of constraints on halo parameters is a complex function of properties of the measurements as well as properties of the galaxy itself. Forthcoming surveys will resolve rotation curves to varying degrees of precision, or measure their integrated effect in the HI linewidth. To ascertain the relative significance of the relevant quantities for constraining halo properties, we study the information on halo mass and concentration as quantified by the Kullback–Leibler divergence of the kinematics-informed posterior from the uninformative prior. We calculate this divergence as a function of the different types of spectroscopic observation, properties of the measurement, galaxy properties, and auxiliary observational data on the baryonic components. Using the SPARC (Spitzer Photometry & Accurate Rotation Curves) sample, we find that fits to the full rotation curve exhibit a large variation in information gain between galaxies, ranging from ~1 to ~11 bits. The variation is predominantly caused by the vast differences in the number of data points and the size of velocity uncertainties between the SPARC galaxies. We also study the relative importance of the minimum HI surface density probed and the size of velocity uncertainties on the constraining power on the inner halo density slope, finding the latter to be significantly more important. We spell out the implications of these results for the optimization of galaxy surveys aiming to constrain galaxies’ dark matter distributions, highlighting the need for precise velocity measurements.

Abstract:

We set constraints on the dark matter halo mass and concentration of ∼22 000 individual galaxies visible both in H I (from the ALFALFA survey) and optical light (from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey). This is achieved by combining two Bayesian models, one for the H I line width as a function of the stellar and neutral hydrogen mass distributions in a galaxy using kinematic modelling, and the other for the galaxy’s total baryonic mass using the technique of inverse subhalo abundance matching. We hence quantify the constraining power on halo properties of spectroscopic and photometric observations, and assess their consistency. We find good agreement between the two sets of posteriors, although there is a sizeable population of low-line width galaxies that favour significantly smaller dynamical masses than expected from abundance matching (especially for cuspy halo profiles). Abundance matching provides significantly more stringent bounds on halo properties than the H I line width, even with a mass–concentration prior included, although combining the two provides a mean gain of 40 per cent for the sample when fitting an NFW profile. We also use our kinematic posteriors to construct a baryonic mass–halo mass relation, which we find to be near power law, and with a somewhat shallower slope than expected from abundance matching. Our method demonstrates the potential of combining photometric and spectroscopic observations to precisely map out the dark matter distribution at the galaxy scale using upcoming H I surveys such as the SKA.

Abstract:

In this thesis I develop methods to maximise the information extracted on the galaxy-halo connection from forthcoming large-scale surveys. In particular I focus on combining photometric and kinematic constraints on the galaxy-halo connection.

I present constraints on the dark matter halo mass and concentration of ~22,000 individual galaxies visible both in HI (from the ALFALFA survey) and optical light (from the SDSS). This is achieved by combining two Bayesian models, one for the HI line width as a function of the stellar and neutral hydrogen mass distributions in a galaxy using kinematic modelling, and the other for the galaxy's total baryonic mass using the technique of inverse subhalo abundance matching. I hence quantify the constraining power on halo properties of spectroscopic and photometric observations, and assess their consistency. I find good agreement between the two sets of posteriors, although there is a sizeable population of low-line width galaxies that favour significantly smaller dynamical masses than expected from abundance matching (especially for cuspy halo profiles). Abundance matching provides significantly more stringent bounds on halo properties than the \HI{} line width, even with a mass--concentration prior included, although combining the two provides a mean gain of 40% for the sample when fitting an NFW profile. I also use the kinematic posteriors to construct a baryonic mass--halo mass relation, which I find to be near power-law, and with a somewhat shallower slope than expected from abundance matching. My method demonstrates the potential of combining photometric and spectroscopic observations to precisely map out the dark matter distribution at the galaxy scale using upcoming HI surveys such as the SKA.

The precision of constraints on halo parameters is a complex function of properties of the measurements as well as properties of the galaxy itself. Forthcoming surveys will resolve rotation curves to varying degrees of precision, or measure their integrated effect in the HI linewidth. To ascertain the relative significance of the relevant quantities for constraining halo properties, I study the information on halo mass and concentration as quantified by the Kullback--Leibler divergence of the kinematics-informed posterior from the uninformative prior. I calculate this divergence as a function of the different types of spectroscopic observation, properties of the measurement, galaxy properties and auxiliary observational data on the baryonic components. Using the SPARC sample, I find that fits to the full rotation curve exhibit a large variation in information gain between galaxies, ranging from ~1 to ~11 bits. The variation is predominantly caused by the vast differences in the number of data points and the size of velocity uncertainties between the SPARC galaxies. I also study the relative importance of the minimum HI surface density probed and the size of velocity uncertainties on the constraining power on the inner halo density slope, finding the latter to be significantly more important. I spell out the implications of these results for the optimisation of galaxy surveys aiming to constrain galaxies' dark matter distributions, highlighting the need for precise velocity measurements.

I then combine my Bayesian forward model for the HI line profile with IFU stellar kinematic data from the MaNGA survey in order to constraint the halo properties of high mass late-type galaxies. I find combining IFU and HI data is able to greatly strengthen constraints on halo properties, as the two pieces of data probe different parts of the rotation curve and hence are able to break degeneracies. I find evidence that high-mass late-type galaxies have on average very high star-formation efficiencies, converting nearly all of their cosmologically available baryons to stars, in agreement with my ALFALFA study. I also find evidence the inner slope parameter of our sample is slightly shallower (~0.75) than an NFW halo, in disagreement with expectations from simulations.

I conduct a preliminary investigation on using weak lensing to achieve precision constraints on the galaxy-halo connection using a Bayesian hierarchical lensing formalism. I find strong evidence that a standard modelling assumption in Bayesian lensing methods: that the sampling distribution of the shear is a Gaussian with width given by the lensfit uncertainties, leads to a biased inference of model parameters. I conclude that it is necessary to treat the intrinsic galaxy ellipticity distribution and/or photometric uncertainties in galaxy shape measurements with a more sophisticated approach that accounts for any non-Gaussianity, and possibly to jointly infer the intrinsic ellipticity distribution as part of the inference.

I conclude by discussing open challenges in the field, and highlighting how the methods I have developed above, when applied to the trove of data from forthcoming galaxy surveys, will help revolutionise our knowledge of the galaxy-halo connection and ultimately the processes that underlie galaxy formation.