[en] We discuss the latest results of numerical simulations following the orbital decay of massive black hole pairs in galaxy mergers. We highlight important differences between gas-poor and gas-rich hosts, and between orbital evolution taking place at high redshift as opposed to low redshift. Two effects have a huge impact and are rather novel in the context of massive black hole binaries. The first is the increase in characteristic density of galactic nuclei of merger remnants as galaxies are more compact at high redshift due to the way dark halo collapse depends on redshift. This leads naturally to hardening timescales due to 3-body encounters that should decrease by two orders of magnitude up to z = 4. It explains naturally the short binary coalescence timescale, ∼ 10 Myr, found in novel cosmological simulations that follow binary evolution from galactic to milliparsec scales. The second one is the inhomogeneity of the interstellar medium in massive gas-rich disks at high redshift. In the latter star forming clumps 1-2 orders of magnitude more massive than local Giant Molecular Clouds (GMCs) can scatter massive black holes out of the disk plane via gravitational perturbations and direct encounters. This renders the character of orbital decay inherently stochastic, often increasing orbital decay timescales by as much as a Gyr. At low redshift a similar regime is present at scales of 1 − 10 pc inside Circumnuclear Gas Disks (CNDs). In CNDs only massive black holes with masses below 10⁷ M _⊙ can be significantly perturbed. They decay to sub-pc separations in up to ∼ 10⁸ yr rather than the in just a few million years as in a smooth CND. Finally implications for building robust forecasts of LISA event rates are discussed. (paper)

[en] We present the first simulations of tidal stirring of dwarf galaxies in the Local Group carried out in a fully cosmological context. We use the ErisDARK cosmological simulation of a Milky Way (MW)-sized galaxy to identify some of the most massive subhalos (M_v_i_r > 10"8 M_⊙) that fall into the main host before z = 2. Subhalos are replaced before infall with extremely high-resolution models of dwarf galaxies comprising a faint stellar disk embedded in a dark matter halo. The set of models contains cuspy halos as well as halos with “cored” profiles (with the cusp coefficient γ = 0.6) consistent with recent results of hydrodynamical simulations of dwarf galaxy formation. The simulations are then run to z = 0 with as many as 54 million particles and resolutions as small as ∼4 pc using the new parallel N-body code ChaNGa. The stellar components of all satellites are significantly affected by tidal stirring, losing stellar mass, and undergoing a morphological transformation toward a pressure supported spheroidal system. However, while some remnants with cuspy halos maintain significant rotational flattening and disk-like features, all the shallow halo models achieve v_r_o_t/σ_⋆ < 0.5 and round shapes typical of dSph satellites of the MW and M31. Mass loss is also enhanced in the latter, and remnants can reach luminosities and velocity dispersions as low as those of ultra-faint dwarfs

[en] The “too big to fail” problem is revisited by studying the tidal evolution of populations of dwarf satellites with different density profiles. The high-resolution cosmological ΛCDM “ErisMod” set of simulations is used. These simulations can model both the stellar and dark matter components of the satellites, and their evolution under the action of the tides of a Milky Way (MW)-sized host halo at a force resolution better than 10 pc. The stronger tidal mass loss and re-shaping of the mass distribution induced in satellites with γ = 0.6 dark matter density distributions, as those resulting from the effect of feedback in hydrodynamical simulations of dwarf galaxy formation, are sufficient to bring the circular velocity profiles in agreement with the kinematics of MW’s dSphs. In contrast, in simulations in which the satellites retain cusps at z = 0 there are several “massive failures” with circular velocities in excess of the observational constraints. Various sources of deviations in the conventionally adopted relation between the circular velocity at the half-light radius and the one-dimensional line of sight velocity dispersions are found. Such deviations are caused by the response of circular velocity profiles to tidal effects, which also varies depending on the initially assumed inner density profile and by the complexity of the stellar kinematics, which include residual rotation and anisotropy. In addition, tidal effects naturally induce large deviations in the stellar mass–halo mass relation for halo masses below 10"9 M _⊙, preventing any reliable application of the abundance matching technique to dwarf galaxy satellites.

[en] The asymmetric emission of gravitational waves produced during the coalescence of a massive black hole (MBH) binary imparts a velocity 'kick' to the system that can displace the hole from the center of its host. Here, we study the trajectories and observability of MBHs recoiling in three (one major, two minor) gas-rich galaxy merger remnants that were previously simulated at high resolution, and in which the pairing of the MBHs had been shown to be successful. We run new simulations of MBHs recoiling in the major merger remnant with Mach numbers in the range 1≤M≤6 and use simulation data to construct a semi-analytical model for the orbital evolution of MBHs in gas-rich systems. We show the following. (1) In major merger remnants the energy deposited by the moving hole into the rotationally supported, turbulent medium makes a negligible contribution to the thermodynamics of the gas. This contribution becomes significant in minor merger remnants, potentially allowing for an electromagnetic signature of MBH recoil. (2) In major merger remnants, the combination of both deeper central potential well and drag from high-density gas confines even MBHs with kick velocities as high as 1200 km s^-1 within 1 kpc from the host's center. (3) Kinematically offset nuclei may be observable for timescales of a few Myr in major merger remnants in the case of recoil velocities in the range 700-1000 km s^-1. (4) In minor merger remnants the effect of gas drag is weaker, and MBHs with recoil speeds in the range 300-600 km s^-1 will wander through the host halo for longer timescales. When accounting for the probability distribution of kick velocities, however, we find that the likelihood of observing recoiling MBHs in gas-rich galaxy mergers is very low even in the best-case scenario.

[en] We revisit the phases of the pairing and sinking of black holes (BHs) in galaxy mergers and circumnuclear discs in light of the results of recent simulations with massive BHs embedded in predominantly gaseous backgrounds. After a general overview we highlight for the first time the existence of a clear transition, for unequal mass BHs, between the regime in which the orbital decay is dominated by the conventional dynamical friction wake and one in which global disc torques associated with density waves launched by the secondary BH as well as co-orbital torques arising from gas gravitationally captured by the BH dominate and lead to faster decay. The new regime intervenes at BH binary separations of a few tens of parsecs and below, following a phase of orbital circularization driven dynamical friction. It bears some resemblance with planet migration in protoplanetary discs. While the orbital timescale is reasonably matched by the migration rate for the Type-I regime, the dominant negative torque arises near the co-rotation resonance, which is qualitatively similar to what is found in the so-called Type-III migration, the fastest migration regime identified so far for planets. This fast decay rate brings the BHs to separations of order 10⁻¹ pc, the resolution limit of our simulations, in less than ∼10⁷ yr in a smooth disc, while the decay timescale can increase to >10⁸ yr in clumpy discs due to gravitational scattering with molecular clouds. Eventual gap opening at sub-pc scale separations will slow down the orbital decay subsequently. How fast the binary BH can reach the separation at which gravitational waves take over will be determined by the nature of the interaction with the circumbinary disc and the complex torques exerted the gas flowing through the edge of such disc, the subject of many recent studies. We also present a new intriguing connection between the conditions required for rapid orbital decay of massive BH binaries and those required for prominent gas inflows in gas-rich galaxies undergoing major mergers. We derive a condition for the maximum inflow rate that a circumnuclear disc can host while still maintaining a sufficiently high gas density at large radii to sustain the decay of a BH binary. We find that gas inflows rates exceeding 10 M_⊙ yr⁻¹, postulated to form massive BH seeds in some direct collapse models, would stifle the sinking of massive BH binaries in gas-dominated galactic nuclei. Vice-versa, lower inflow rates, below a solar mass per year, as required to feed typical active galactic nuclei (AGNs), are compatible with a fast orbital decay of BH binaries across a wide range of masses. (paper)

[en] Λ warm dark matter (ΛWDM), realized by collisionless particles of 1–3 keV, has been proposed as an alternative scenario to Λ-Cold-Dark Matter (ΛCDM) for the dwarf galaxy scale discrepancies. We present an approach to test the viability of such WDM models using star-formation histories (SFHs) of the dwarf spheroidal galaxies (dSphs) in the Local Group. We compare their high-time-resolution SFHs with the collapse redshift of their dark halos in CDM and WDM. Collapse redshift is inferred after determining the subhalo infall mass. This is based on the dwarf current mass inferred from stellar kinematics, combined with cosmological simulation results on subhalo evolution. WDM subhalos close to the filtering mass scale, forming significantly later than CDM, are the most difficult to reconcile with early truncation of star formation ( z ≥ 3). The ultra-faint dwarfs (UFDs) provide the most stringent constraints. Using six UFDs and eight classical dSphs, we show that a 1 keV particle is strongly disfavored, consistently with other reported methods. Excluding other models is only hinted for a few UFDs. Other UFDs for which the lack of robust constraints on halo mass prevents us from carrying out our analysis rigorously, show a very early onset of star formation that will strengthen the constraints delivered by our method in the future. We discuss the various caveats, notably the low number of dwarfs with accurately determined SFHs and the uncertainties when determining the subhalo infall mass, most notably the baryonic physics. Our preliminary analysis may serve as a pathfinder for future investigations that will combine accurate SFHs for local dwarfs with direct analysis of WDM simulations with baryons.

[en] We investigate the formation and evolution of the pseudobulge in 'Eris', a high-resolution N-body + smoothed particle hydrodynamic cosmological simulation that successfully reproduces a Milky-Way-like massive late-type spiral in an cold dark matter universe. At the present epoch, Eris has a virial mass M_vir ≅ 8 × 10¹¹ M_☉, a photometric stellar mass M_* = 3.2 × 10¹⁰ M_☉, a bulge-to-total ratio B/T = 0.26, and a weak nuclear bar. We find that the bulk of the pseudobulge forms quickly at high redshift via a combination of non-axisymmetric disk instabilities and tidal interactions or mergers, both occurring on dynamical timescales, not through slow secular processes at lower redshift. Its subsequent evolution is not strictly secular either, and is closely intertwined with the evolution of the stellar bar. In fact, the structure that we recognize as a pseudobulge today evolved from a stellar bar that formed at high redshift due to tidal interactions with satellites, was destroyed by minor mergers at z ∼ 3, re-formed shortly after, and weakened again following a steady gas inflow at z ∼< 1. The gradual dissolution of the bar ensued at z ∼ 1 and continues until the present without increasing the stellar velocity dispersion in the inner regions. In this scenario, the pseudobulge is not a separate component from the inner disk in terms of formation path; rather, it is the first step in the inside-out formation of the baryonic disk, in agreement with the fact that pseudobulges of massive spiral galaxies typically have a dominant old stellar population. If our simulations do indeed reproduce the formation mechanisms of massive spirals, then the progenitors of late-type galaxies should have strong bars and small photometric pseudobulges at high redshift

[en] We study dust capture by vortices and its long-term consequences in global two-fluid inviscid disk simulations using a new polar grid code RoSSBi. We perform the longest integrations so far, several hundred disk orbits, at the highest resolution attainable in global disk simulations with dust, namely, 2048 × 4096 grid points. We vary a wide range of dust parameters, most notably the initial dust-to-gas ratio ϵ varies in the range of 10⁻⁴–10⁻². Irrespective of the value of ϵ , we find rapid concentration of the dust inside vortices, reaching dust-to-gas ratios of the order of unity inside the vortex. We present an analytical model that describes this dust capture process very well, finding consistent results for all dust parameters. A vortex streaming instability develops, which invariably causes vortex destruction. After vortex dissipation large-scale dust rings encompassing a disk annulus form in most cases, which sustain very high dust concentration, approaching ratios of the order of unity; they persist as long as the duration of the simulations. They are sustained by a streaming instability, which manifests itself in high-density dust clumps at various scales. When vortices are particularly long-lived, rings do not form but dust clumps inside vortices can survive a long time and would likely undergo collapse by gravitational instability. Rings encompass almost an Earth mass of solid material, while even larger masses of dust do accumulate inside vortices in the earlier stage. We argue that rapid planetesimal formation would occur in the dust clumps inside the vortices as well as in the post-vortex rings.

[en] We carry out simulations of gravitationally unstable disks using smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH) and the novel Lagrangian meshless finite mass (MFM) scheme in the GIZMO code. Our aim is to understand the cause of the nonconvergence of the cooling boundary for fragmentation reported in the literature. We run SPH simulations with two different artificial viscosity implementations and compare them with MFM, which does not employ any artificial viscosity. With MFM we demonstrate convergence of the critical cooling timescale for fragmentation at ${\mathrm{\beta <!--\; ??\; -->}}_{\mathrm{c}\mathrm{r}\mathrm{i}\mathrm{t}}\approx <!--\; ???\; -->3$. Nonconvergence persists in SPH codes. We show how the nonconvergence problem is caused by artificial fragmentation triggered by excessive dissipation of angular momentum in domains with large velocity derivatives. With increased resolution, such domains become more prominent. Vorticity lags behind density, due to numerical viscous dissipation in these regions, promoting collapse with longer cooling times. Such effect is shown to be dominant over the competing tendency of artificial viscosity to diminish with increasing resolution. When the initial conditions are first relaxed for several orbits, the flow is more regular, with lower shear and vorticity in nonaxisymmetric regions, aiding convergence. Yet MFM is the only method that converges exactly. Our findings are of general interest, as numerical dissipation via artificial viscosity or advection errors can also occur in grid-based codes. Indeed, for the FARGO code values of ${\mathrm{\beta <!--\; ??\; -->}}_{\mathrm{c}\mathrm{r}\mathrm{i}\mathrm{t}}$ significantly higher than our converged estimate have been reported in the literature. Finally, we discuss implications for giant planet formation via disk instability.

[en] Chondrules are crystallized droplets of silicate melt formed by rapid heating to high temperatures (>1800 K) of solid precursors followed by hours or days of cooling. The time interval of chondrule formation is consistent with the formation timescale of Jupiter in the core-accretion model (1–4 Myr). Here we investigate if the shocks generated by a massive planet could generate flash heating episodes necessary to form chondrules using high-resolution 2D simulations with the multifluid code RoSSBi. We use different radiative cooling prescriptions, planet masses, orbits, and disk models. Temperatures reached during flash heating can be deduced from chondrule observations and are achieved in a Minimum Mass Solar Nebula (MMSN) for a massive protoplanet (>0.75 M _♃) but only in cases in which radiative cooling is low enough to lead to nearly adiabatic conditions. More realistic thermodynamics undershoot the temperatures required in shocks for chondrule formation. However, these temperatures are reached when considering more massive disks (e.g., five MMSN), but these conditions lead to fast planet migration and too low cooling rates compared to those deduced from chondrule textures. Thus, it seems unlikely that shocks from Jupiter can form chondrules in most cases. Independent of the nebular mass, the simulations demonstrate that a massive planet that forms a gap triggers vortices, which act as dust traps for chondrule precursors. These vortices also provide a high-pressure environment consistent with cosmochemical evidence from chondrules. They only lack the flash heating source for a potential chondrule formation environment.