$\texttt{StreamSculptor}$: Hamiltonian Perturbation Theory for Stellar Streams in Flexible Potentials with Differentiable Simulations

Fuente: arXiv
Gespeichert in:
Bibliographische Detailangaben
Hauptverfasser: Nibauer, Jacob, Bonaca, Ana, Spergel, David N., Price-Whelan, Adrian M., Greene, Jenny E., Starkman, Nathaniel, Johnston, Kathryn V.
Format: Preprint
Veröffentlicht: 2024
Schlagworte:
Online-Zugang:
Tags: Tag hinzufügen
Keine Tags, Fügen Sie den ersten Tag hinzu!
_version_ 1866912090134937600
author Nibauer, Jacob
Bonaca, Ana
Spergel, David N.
Price-Whelan, Adrian M.
Greene, Jenny E.
Starkman, Nathaniel
Johnston, Kathryn V.
author_facet Nibauer, Jacob
Bonaca, Ana
Spergel, David N.
Price-Whelan, Adrian M.
Greene, Jenny E.
Starkman, Nathaniel
Johnston, Kathryn V.
contents Stellar streams retain a memory of their gravitational interactions with small-scale perturbations. While perturbative models for streams have been formulated in action-angle coordinates, a direct transformation to these coordinates is only available for static and typically axisymmetric models for the galaxy. The real Milky Way potential is in a state of disequilibrium, complicating the application of perturbative methods around an equilibrium system. Here, we utilize a combination of differentiable simulations and Hamiltonian perturbation theory to model the leading-order effect of dark matter subhalos on stream observables. To obtain a perturbative description of streams, we develop a direct and efficient forward mode differentiation of Hamilton's equations of motion. Our model operates in observable coordinates, allowing us to treat the effects of arbitrary subhalo potentials on streams perturbatively, while simultaneously capturing non-linear effects due to other substructures like the infalling LMC or the rotating bar. The model predicts the velocity dispersion of streams as a function of subhalo statistics, allowing us to constrain the low-mass range of subhalos down to $\sim 10^5~M_\odot$. We forecast the velocity dispersion of the GD-1 stream, and find that observations are in agreement with a CDM subhalo population, with a slight preference for more dense subhalos. The method provides a new approach to characterize streams in the presence of substructure, with significantly more modeling flexibility compared to previous works.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2410_21174
institution arXiv
publishDate 2024
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle $\texttt{StreamSculptor}$: Hamiltonian Perturbation Theory for Stellar Streams in Flexible Potentials with Differentiable Simulations
Nibauer, Jacob
Bonaca, Ana
Spergel, David N.
Price-Whelan, Adrian M.
Greene, Jenny E.
Starkman, Nathaniel
Johnston, Kathryn V.
Astrophysics of Galaxies
Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics
Stellar streams retain a memory of their gravitational interactions with small-scale perturbations. While perturbative models for streams have been formulated in action-angle coordinates, a direct transformation to these coordinates is only available for static and typically axisymmetric models for the galaxy. The real Milky Way potential is in a state of disequilibrium, complicating the application of perturbative methods around an equilibrium system. Here, we utilize a combination of differentiable simulations and Hamiltonian perturbation theory to model the leading-order effect of dark matter subhalos on stream observables. To obtain a perturbative description of streams, we develop a direct and efficient forward mode differentiation of Hamilton's equations of motion. Our model operates in observable coordinates, allowing us to treat the effects of arbitrary subhalo potentials on streams perturbatively, while simultaneously capturing non-linear effects due to other substructures like the infalling LMC or the rotating bar. The model predicts the velocity dispersion of streams as a function of subhalo statistics, allowing us to constrain the low-mass range of subhalos down to $\sim 10^5~M_\odot$. We forecast the velocity dispersion of the GD-1 stream, and find that observations are in agreement with a CDM subhalo population, with a slight preference for more dense subhalos. The method provides a new approach to characterize streams in the presence of substructure, with significantly more modeling flexibility compared to previous works.
title $\texttt{StreamSculptor}$: Hamiltonian Perturbation Theory for Stellar Streams in Flexible Potentials with Differentiable Simulations
topic Astrophysics of Galaxies
Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2410.21174