A Comparison of Galacticus and COZMIC WDM Subhalo Populations

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Lonergan, Jack, Benson, Andrew, Du, Xiaolong
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
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author Lonergan, Jack
Benson, Andrew
Du, Xiaolong
author_facet Lonergan, Jack
Benson, Andrew
Du, Xiaolong
contents We present a comparative analysis of warm dark matter (WDM) subhalo populations generated by the semi-analytic model {\sc Galacticus} and the COZMIC suite of dark matter-only $N$-body simulations. Using a range of thermal relic WDM particle masses (3--10 keV), we examine key summary statistics -- including the subhalo mass function, spatial distribution, maximum circular velocity $V_\text{max}$, and its corresponding radius $ R_\text{max} $ -- to evaluate the consistency between these two modeling frameworks. Both models predict a suppression of low-mass subhalos correlated with decreasing WDM particle mass, and that WDM subhalos tend to have lower $V_\text{max} $ and larger $ R_\text{max} $ values than their CDM counterparts at fixed mass. While {\sc Galacticus} provides more statistically precise results due to a larger sample size, the COZMIC simulations display similar qualitative trends. We discuss how differences in halo finder algorithms, simulation resolution, and modeling assumptions affect subhalo statistics. Our findings demonstrate that {\sc Galacticus} can reliably reproduce WDM subhalo distributions seen in $N$-body simulations, offering a computationally efficient tool for exploring the implications of WDM across astrophysical phenomena.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2510_27103
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle A Comparison of Galacticus and COZMIC WDM Subhalo Populations
Lonergan, Jack
Benson, Andrew
Du, Xiaolong
Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics
Astrophysics of Galaxies
We present a comparative analysis of warm dark matter (WDM) subhalo populations generated by the semi-analytic model {\sc Galacticus} and the COZMIC suite of dark matter-only $N$-body simulations. Using a range of thermal relic WDM particle masses (3--10 keV), we examine key summary statistics -- including the subhalo mass function, spatial distribution, maximum circular velocity $V_\text{max}$, and its corresponding radius $ R_\text{max} $ -- to evaluate the consistency between these two modeling frameworks. Both models predict a suppression of low-mass subhalos correlated with decreasing WDM particle mass, and that WDM subhalos tend to have lower $V_\text{max} $ and larger $ R_\text{max} $ values than their CDM counterparts at fixed mass. While {\sc Galacticus} provides more statistically precise results due to a larger sample size, the COZMIC simulations display similar qualitative trends. We discuss how differences in halo finder algorithms, simulation resolution, and modeling assumptions affect subhalo statistics. Our findings demonstrate that {\sc Galacticus} can reliably reproduce WDM subhalo distributions seen in $N$-body simulations, offering a computationally efficient tool for exploring the implications of WDM across astrophysical phenomena.
title A Comparison of Galacticus and COZMIC WDM Subhalo Populations
topic Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics
Astrophysics of Galaxies
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2510.27103