Exploring the effect of baryons on the radial distribution of satellite galaxies with GAMA and IllustrisTNG

TL;DR

This study compares the radial distribution of satellite galaxies in GAMA observations and IllustrisTNG simulations, revealing baryonic effects on satellite positions and survival times, and providing models to improve galaxy formation simulations.

Contribution

It introduces a detailed analysis of baryonic influences on satellite galaxy radial profiles and develops models for satellite motion, enhancing semi-analytic galaxy formation models.

Findings

GAMA and TNG300 show similar flat central satellite profiles.

Baryons cause satellites to be closer to halo centers and increase their survival times.

Models for orphan galaxy radial motion are proposed.

Abstract

We explore the radial distribution of satellite galaxies in groups in the Galaxy and Mass Assembly (GAMA) survey and the IllustrisTNG simulations. Considering groups with masses $12.0 \leq \log_{10} (\mathcal{M}_h / h^{-1} \mathrm{M}_{\odot}) < 14.8$ at $z<0.267$, we find a good agreement between GAMA and a sample of TNG300 groups and galaxies designed to match the GAMA selection. Both display a flat profile in the centre of groups, followed by a decline that becomes steeper towards the group edge, and normalised profiles show no dependence on group mass. Using matched satellites from TNG and dark matter-only TNG-Dark runs we investigate the effect of baryons on satellite radial location. At $z=0$, we find that the matched subhaloes from the TNG-Dark runs display a much flatter radial profile: namely, satellites selected above a minimum stellar mass exhibit both smaller halo-centric distances and longer survival times in the full-physics simulations compared to their dark-matter only analogues. We then divide the TNG satellites into those which possess TNG-Dark counterparts and those which do not, and develop models for the radial positions of each. We find the satellites with TNG-Dark counterparts are displaced towards the halo centre in the full-physics simulations, and this difference has a power-law behaviour with radius. For the `orphan' galaxies without TNG-Dark counterparts, we consider the shape of their radial distribution and provide a model for their motion over time, which can be used to improve the treatment of satellite galaxies in semi-analytic and semi-empirical models of galaxy formation.