Observed Anti-parallel Correlation Between Spiral Galaxy and Cosmic Filament Spins

TL;DR

This study reveals a mass-dependent anti-parallel alignment between spiral galaxy spins and cosmic filament spins, with low-mass galaxies showing significant anti-alignment influenced by filament properties, advancing understanding of galaxy formation.

Contribution

It introduces a novel mass-dependent anti-parallel correlation between galaxy and filament spins, incorporating filament spin measurements from redshift asymmetry, and highlights environmental effects on galaxy angular momentum.

Findings

Low-mass spirals show significant anti-parallel spin alignment with filaments.

High-mass spirals tend to reside near filament spines without a clear spin correlation.

Filament properties influence the strength of the galaxy-filament spin alignment.

Abstract

Understanding the origin of galactic angular momentum and its connection to the cosmic web remains a pivotal issue in galaxy formation. Using kinematic data from the MaNGA survey, we investigate the alignment between the spin directions of spiral galaxies and their host cosmic filaments. By incorporating filament spin measurements derived from redshift asymmetry across filament spines, we reveal a mass-dependent anti-parallel correlation: low-mass spiral galaxies ($\log_{10}(M_*/M_\odot) \lesssim 10$) exhibit a statistically significant anti-parallel alignment between their stellar/gas spins and filament spins, while high-mass spirals show no such trend. Spatial analysis further indicates that high-mass spirals preferentially reside near filament spines, whereas low-mass spirals occupy filament outskirts. These findings extend previous alignment studies that neglected directional spin correlations and provide new insights into how cosmic environments shape galactic angular momentum. The observed anti-parallel trend suggests a critical role for filament spin in regulating the angular momentum acquisition of low-mass spirals. This anti-parallel alignment is significantly enhanced for low-mass spirals residing in dynamically cold filaments, highlighting the importance of filament properties in shaping galaxy spin.