Disk galaxies are self-similar: the universality of the HI-to-Halo mass ratio for isolated disks

TL;DR

This study demonstrates that isolated disk galaxies exhibit a universal HI-to-dark matter halo mass ratio across a wide range of masses, suggesting self-similar galaxy formation processes and challenging existing simulation predictions.

Contribution

It provides observational evidence for the universality of the HI-to-halo mass ratio in isolated disks, extending previous findings and highlighting potential self-regulation mechanisms.

Findings

The HI-to-dark halo mass ratio is constant across four orders of magnitude in stellar mass.

Accounting for rotation curve diversity reduces scatter in the ratio.

The observed universality contrasts with simulation predictions for massive disks.

Abstract

Observed scaling relations in galaxies between baryons and dark matter global properties are key to shed light on the process of galaxy formation and on the nature of dark matter. Here, we study the scaling relation between the neutral hydrogen (HI) and dark matter mass in isolated rotationally-supported disk galaxies at low redshift. We first show that state-of-the-art galaxy formation simulations predict that the HI-to-dark halo mass ratio decreases with stellar mass for the most massive disk galaxies. We then infer dark matter halo masses from high-quality rotation curve data for isolated disk galaxies in the local Universe, and report on the actual universality of the HI-to-dark halo mass ratio for these observed galaxies. This scaling relation holds for disks spanning a range of 4 orders of magnitude in stellar mass and 3 orders of magnitude in surface brightness. Accounting for the diversity of rotation curve shapes in our observational fits decreases the scatter of the HI-to-dark halo mass ratio while keeping it constant. This finding extends the previously reported discrepancy for the stellar-to-halo mass relation of massive disk galaxies within galaxy formation simulations to the realm of neutral atomic gas. Our result reveals that isolated galaxies with regularly rotating extended HI disks are surprisingly self-similar up to high masses, which hints at mass-independent self-regulation mechanisms that have yet to be fully understood.