Imprints of tidal interactions on the stellar distribution of satellite galaxies: implications for dark matter deficient galaxies

TL;DR

This study uses N-body simulations to explore how tidal interactions create a characteristic break radius in satellite galaxies, shedding light on the formation of dark matter deficient galaxies and their evolutionary history.

Contribution

It provides a detailed analysis of the formation and evolution of the break radius in tidally disturbed satellite galaxies, linking it to observable properties of dark matter deficient galaxies.

Findings

The break radius grows over time with characteristic contraction and expansion during pericentric passages.

The ratio of the break radius to the effective radius remains roughly constant across different orbital parameters.

A predictive prescription for the evolution of the break radius is developed, aiding in constraining tidal interaction histories.

Abstract

Interactions with the host galaxy strip stars and dark matter from the outer regions of satellite galaxies. Meanwhile, some stars from the central regions can migrate outward due to dynamical heating, producing an excess in the outer surface brightness relative to the extrapolation of the inner S\'{e}rsic profile. Recently discovered dark matter deficient galaxies (DMDGs) appear to be representative examples of such tidally disturbed systems. In this work, we investigate how the break radius, defined as the radius beyond which this surface brightness excess emerges, forms and evolves, by performing $N$-body simulations of a satellite galaxy interacting with a host, where the satellite serves as a plausible progenitor of a DMDG. Our simulations naturally reproduce a break radius consistent with that observed in DMDGs. We find that the break radius grows over time and exhibits a characteristic evolutionary behaviour: during each pericentric passage it briefly contracts due to tidal compression, and then rapidly and strongly expands as the satellite undergoes dynamical relaxation. After the satellite reaches a quasi-equilibrium configuration, the break radius shows only mild variations until the next pericentre. Across our suite of simulations, the ratio of the break radius to the effective radius remains approximately constant, even when we change the orbital parameters and internal structure of the satellite. Based on these findings, we develop a prescription for predicting the time evolution of the break radius, which can be used to constrain the tidal interaction history of satellite galaxies, including DMDGs and splashback galaxies.