The imprint of galaxy mergers on satellite planes in a cosmological context

TL;DR

This study uses cosmological simulations to investigate whether galaxy mergers can produce the observed flattened, kinematically correlated satellite planes, finding that major mergers generally do not create such structures.

Contribution

First comprehensive analysis of the impact of galaxy mergers on satellite plane formation within a full cosmological context using IllustrisTNG simulations.

Findings

Major mergers have negligible or negative effects on satellite phase-space correlation.

High-angular momentum mergers are inefficient at slinging satellites outward.

Post-merger satellite accretion and disruption diminish merger imprint on satellite distributions.

Abstract

Flattened and kinematically correlated planes of dwarf satellite galaxies have been observed in the Local Volume. The slinging out of satellites during host galaxy mergers has been suggested as a formation mechanism for these peculiar structures. We statistically examined the impact of major mergers on present-time satellite systems for the first time in a full cosmological context using the IllustrisTNG suite of hydrodynamic simulations. Mergers with mass ratios above 1/3 generally have a negligible or adverse impact on the phase-space correlation of observationally motivated satellites. Even high-angular momentum mergers are inefficient at slinging satellites outward due to the extended nature of simulated satellite distributions. Furthermore, any potential merger imprint is partially washed out by post-merger accretion of satellites, while satellites bound to the merging haloes since the merger's beginning are disrupted and stripped of mass - minimising the merger's influence on the present-time distribution of the most massive satellites after 2-5 Gyr. Constraining our sample to satellites bound to their host throughout the full duration of their system's last merger, we recover no particular improvement in their phase-space correlation. Instead, such participant satellites experience a contraction of their radial distribution during and after the merger, resulting in smaller absolute plane heights (but comparable axis ratios). Overall, major mergers do not appear to form correlated planes in a statistical sample. Mergers that efficiently transfer their angular momentum to satellite distributions can marginally enhance their phase-space correlation, but cannot form highly flattened and orbitally coherent configurations as observed in our local Universe.