English

Warped Disk Galaxies. II. From the Cosmic Web to the Galactic Warp

Astrophysics of Galaxies 2025-10-23 v1

Abstract

Galactic warps are common in disk galaxies. While often attributed to galaxy--galaxy tides, a non-spherical dark matter (DM) halo has also been proposed as a driver of disk warping. We investigate links among warp morphology, satellite distribution, and large-scale structure using the Sloan Digital Sky Survey catalog of warped disks compiled by Zee et al.\ (2022). Warps are classified into 244 S and 127 U types, hosting 1,373 and 740 satellites, respectively, and are compared to an unwarped control matched in stellar mass, redshift, and local density. As an indirect, population-level proxy for the host halo's shape and orientation, we analyze the stacked spatial distribution of satellites. Warped hosts show a significant anisotropy: an excess at 45<ϕ<9045^{\circ}<\phi<90^{\circ} (measured from the host major axis), peaking at P(ϕ)0.003P(\phi)\simeq 0.003, versus nearly isotropic controls. Satellites of S-type warps preferentially align with the nearest cosmic filament, whereas those of U-type warps are more often perpendicular. The incidence of warps increases toward filaments (rfil<4,Mpc,h1r_{\rm fil}<4,{\rm Mpc},h^{-1}), while the number of satellites around warped hosts remains approximately constant with filament distance, indicating a direct influence of the large-scale environment. We discuss possible links between galactic warps and the cosmic web, including anisotropic tidal fields and differences in evolutionary stage.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2510.18942,
  title  = {Warped Disk Galaxies. II. From the Cosmic Web to the Galactic Warp},
  author = {Woong-Bae G. Zee and S. Lyla Jung and Sanjaya Paudel and Suk-Jin Yoon},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2510.18942},
  year   = {2025}
}