The Lopsidedness of Satellite Galaxy Systems in $\Lambda$CDM simulations

TL;DR

This study examines whether the lopsided distribution of satellite galaxies around galaxy pairs in SDSS observations is consistent with predictions from various $ ext{Lambda}$CDM cosmological simulations, finding similar anisotropic patterns.

Contribution

It demonstrates that $ ext{Lambda}$CDM simulations reproduce the observed satellite lopsidedness, supporting the model's validity for galaxy pair satellite distributions.

Findings

Simulations show a significant lopsided satellite distribution similar to SDSS observations.

The lopsided signal can be up to twice as strong as observed, depending on the opening angle.

$ ext{Lambda}$CDM simulations are consistent with the observed anisotropic satellite distributions.

Abstract

The spatial distribution of satellite galaxies around pairs of galaxies in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) have been found to bulge significantly towards the respective partner. Highly anisotropic, planar distributions of satellite galaxies are in conflict with expectations derived from cosmological simulations. Does the lopsided distribution of satellite systems around host galaxy pairs constitute a similar challenge to the standard model of cosmology? We investigate whether such satellite distributions are present around stacked pairs of hosts extracted from the $\Lambda$CDM simulations Millennium-I, Millennium-II, ELVIS, and Illustris-1. By utilizing this set of simulations covering different volumes, resolutions, and physics, we implicitly test whether a lopsided signal exists for different ranges of satellite galaxy masses, and whether the inclusion of hydrodynamical effects produces significantly different results. All simulations display a lopsidedness similar to the observed situation. The signal is highly significant for simulations containing a sufficient number of hosts and resolved satellite galaxies (up to $5\,\sigma$ for Millennium-II). We find a projected signal that is up to twice as strong as that reported for the SDSS systems for certain opening angles ($\sim16\%$ more satellites in the direction between the pair than expected for uniform distributions). Considering that the SDSS signal is a lower limit owing to likely back- and foreground contamination, the $\Lambda$CDM simulations appear to be consistent with this particular empirical property of galaxy pairs.