Satellites of LMC-Mass Dwarfs: Close Friendships Ruined by Milky Way Mass Halos

TL;DR

This study uses N-body simulations to analyze how massive satellite groups like the LMC influence the distribution and association of smaller dwarf galaxies around the Milky Way, revealing recent infall and group dispersal effects.

Contribution

It provides the first detailed analysis of the accretion and dispersal of LMC-mass satellite groups and their impact on the satellite population around MW-like halos.

Findings

7% of satellites were in an LMC-group before infall

2-4 of the DES candidate dwarfs likely associated with the LMC

LMC-group probably fell into MW less than 2 Gyr ago

Abstract

Motivated by the recent discovery of several dwarfs near the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), we study the accretion of massive satellites onto Milky Way (MW)/M31-like halos using the ELVIS suite of N-body simulations. We identify 25 surviving LMC-mass subhalos, and investigate the lower-mass satellites that were associated with these subhalos before they fell into the MW/M31 halos. Typically, 7% of the overall z=0 satellite population of MW/M31 halos were in a surviving LMC-group before falling into the MW/M31 halo. This fraction can vary between 1% and 25%, being higher for groups with higher mass and/or more recent infall times. Groups of satellites disperse rapidly in phase space after infall, and their distances and velocities relative to the group center become statistically similar to the overall satellite population after 4-8 Gyr. We quantify the likelihood that satellites were associated with an LMC-mass group as a function of both distance and velocity relative to the LMC at z=0. The close proximity in distance of the nine Dark Energy Survey candidate dwarf galaxies to the LMC suggest that ~2-4 are likely associated with the LMC. Furthermore, if several of these dwarfs are genuine members, then the LMC-group probably fell into the MW very recently, <2 Gyr ago. If the connection with the LMC is established with follow-up velocity measurements, these "satellites of satellites" represent prime candidates to study the affects of group pre-processing on lower mass dwarfs.