# The Impact of Galactic Winds on the Angular Momentum of Disk Galaxies in the Illustris Simulation

## TL;DR

This study investigates how galactic winds influence the angular momentum of disk galaxies in the Illustris simulation, revealing complex mechanisms that help match observed galaxy properties with dark matter halos.

## Contribution

It provides a detailed analysis of angular momentum evolution, highlighting the role of galactic winds in shaping galaxy angular momentum in cosmological simulations.

## Key findings

- Galactic winds increase and preserve angular momentum compared to no-wind scenarios.
- Gas loses about 0.4 dex of angular momentum before galaxy accretion.
- Feedback expels high angular momentum gas, influencing galaxy-halo angular momentum alignment.

## Abstract

Observed galactic disks have specific angular momenta similar to expectations for typical dark matter halos in $\Lambda$CDM. Cosmological hydrodynamical simulations have recently reproduced this similarity in large galaxy samples by including strong galactic winds, but the exact mechanism that achieves this is not yet clear. Here we present an analysis of key aspects contributing to this relation: angular momentum selection and evolution of Lagrangian mass elements as they accrete onto dark matter halos, condense into Milky Way-scale galaxies, and join the $z=0$ stellar phase. We contrast this evolution in the Illustris simulation with that in a simulation without galactic winds, where the $z=0$ angular momentum is $\approx0.6$ dex lower. We find that winds induce differences between these simulations in several ways: increasing angular momentum, preventing angular momentum loss, and causing $z=0$ stars to sample the accretion-time angular momentum distribution of baryons in a biased way. In both simulations, gas loses on average $\approx0.4$ dex between accreting onto halos and first accreting onto central galaxies. In Illustris, this is followed by $\approx0.2$ dex gains in the `galactic wind fountain' and no further net evolution past the final accretion onto the galaxy. Without feedback, further losses of $\approx0.2$ dex occur in the gas phase inside the galaxies. An additional $\approx0.15$ dex difference arises from feedback preferentially selecting higher angular momentum gas at accretion by expelling gas that is poorly aligned. These and additional effects of similar magnitude are discussed, suggesting a complex origin of the similarity between the specific angular momenta of galactic disks and typical halos.