English

Large Scale Structure and Environmental Effects on Dwarf Galaxy Growth

Astrophysics of Galaxies 2026-04-02 v1

Abstract

Dwarf galaxies serve as key models for understanding galaxy assembly in the early universe, with their final properties influenced by environmental factors. Using the dark matter-only simulation "Copernicus Complexio" (COCO) and the semi-analytic model GALFORM, we examine the stellar mass assembly of dwarf galaxies across different cosmic web regions, defined by the NEXUS+/CACTUS algorithm. We identify significant variations in stellar mass assembly based on final mass, with the largest dwarf galaxies assembling, on average, 50% of their mass 7.7 Gyrs later than the smallest ones. Central galaxies also differ in their assembly from satellites of comparable final mass, forming 50% of their mass 2.5 Gyrs later. The location within the cosmic web further influences assembly, with satellite galaxies showing greater differences than centrals. Satellites in the densest regions assemble their mass 1.5 Gyrs earlier than those in the least dense regions, compared to 0.69 Gyrs for central galaxies. This disparity arises from varying infall times, with satellites in dense environments infalling 5.2 Gyrs earlier than those in voids. Additionally, we investigate the impact of reionisation parameters, specifically the timing (zcutz_{cut}) and filtering scale (vcutv_{cut}) of reionisation. The stellar-to-halo-mass relation shows a power law break between 108 M<M200<1010 M10^8~\mathrm{M}_\odot < M_{200} < 10^{10}~\mathrm{M}_\odot, with earlier zcutz_{cut} or higher vcutv_{cut} leading to more star formation suppression in lower-mass haloes. The halo occupation fraction is also affected, with later zcutz_{cut} or lower vcutv_{cut} resulting in fewer lower-mass haloes being occupied at z=0z=0. Our investigation provides a valuable theoretical framework for interpreting upcoming observational data in this mass regime.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2604.00087,
  title  = {Large Scale Structure and Environmental Effects on Dwarf Galaxy Growth},
  author = {Mac M. McMullan and Sownak Bose and Azadeh Fattahi and Isabel Santos-Santos and Wojciech A. Hellwing and Tilly A. Evans-Hofmann},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2604.00087},
  year   = {2026}
}

Comments

21 pages, 18 figures

R2 v1 2026-07-01T11:46:58.886Z