Cold Gas and Baryon-Induced Dark Matter Cores in Nearby Galaxies
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Cold gas and baryon-induced dark matter cores in nearby galaxies Flor Allaert Supervisors: Prof. Dr. Maarten Baes, Dr. Gianfranco Gentile A dissertation submitted to Ghent University in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Science: Astronomy September 2017 Supervisors: Prof. Dr. Maarten Baes Vakgroep Fysica en Sterrenkunde Universiteit Gent Dr. Gianfranco Gentile Vakgroep Fysica en Sterrenkunde Vrije Universiteit Brussel Jury members: Prof. Dr. Dirk Poelman (President) Vakgroep Vastestofwetenschappen Universiteit Gent Dr. Karel Van Acoleyen (Secretary) Vakgroep Fysica en Sterrenkunde Universiteit Gent Prof. Dr. Sven De Rijcke Vakgroep Fysica en Sterrenkunde Universiteit Gent Prof. Dr. Herwig Dejonghe Vakgroep Fysica en Sterrenkunde Universiteit Gent Prof. Dr. Uli Klein Argelander-Institut fur¨ Astronomie Universitat¨ Bonn Prof. Dr. Erwin de Blok Netherlands Institute for Radio Astronomy Contents 1 Introduction1 1.1 Galaxies - building blocks of the Universe.................1 1.1.1 Classification............................2 1.1.2 Chemical evolution.........................4 1.1.3 Accretion and mergers.......................6 1.2 Observing the different components....................8 1.2.1 Stars................................8 1.2.2 Gas.................................9 1.2.3 Dust................................. 12 1.3 Panchromatic SED modelling and dust radiative transfer......... 13 1.3.1 SED fitting............................. 13 1.3.2 Dust radiative transfer....................... 14 1.3.3 The energy balance problem.................... 15 1.4 FRIEDL, HEROES and NHEMESES................... 17 1.4.1 The energy balance problem revisited............... 18 1.5 Dark matter................................. 18 1.5.1 History............................... 19 1.5.2 Dark matter in cosmology..................... 21 1.5.3 Cosmological simulations..................... 23 1.5.4 The cusp-core controversy..................... 24 1.5.5 Baryons to the rescue?....................... 26 1.5.6 Alternatives to dark matter..................... 28 1.6 This thesis.................................. 29 2 The atomic gas content of the HEROES galaxies 33 2.1 The HEROES sample............................ 34 2.2 Observations and data reduction...................... 34 2.2.1 Hi Observations........................... 34 2.2.2 Data reduction........................... 35 2.3 Modelling strategy............................. 39 2.3.1 Tilted-ring models......................... 39 2.3.2 General strategy.......................... 40 2.3.3 Uncertainties............................ 41 2.4 Modelling results.............................. 42 2.4.1 NGC 973.............................. 42 2.4.2 UGC 4277............................. 47 2.4.3 IC 2531............................... 52 2.4.4 NGC 4217............................. 61 2.4.5 NGC 5529............................. 68 2.4.6 NGC 5907............................. 77 2.4.7 NGC 4013............................. 85 2.5 Constant scale height or flare........................ 87 2.6 Impact of the interactions.......................... 89 2.7 What about Hi self-absorption?....................... 91 2.8 Conclusions................................. 93 3 The dark matter content of the HEROES galaxies 95 3.1 Rotation curve decomposition....................... 95 3.2 Baryonic contributions........................... 96 3.2.1 Stars................................ 96 3.2.2 Gas................................. 97 3.3 Bars..................................... 97 3.4 The (α, β, γ) halo.............................. 100 3.5 Fit strategy................................. 103 3.5.1 emcee ................................ 103 3.5.2 Parameter ranges.......................... 104 3.5.3 Uncertainties............................ 104 3.6 Results.................................... 105 3.7 Conclusions................................. 109 4 Cold gas and dust in the FRIEDL galaxies 111 4.1 The FRIEDL sample............................ 111 4.2 Molecular gas................................ 112 4.2.1 IRAM 30-m observations and data reduction........... 112 4.2.2 The spectra............................. 114 4.2.3 Line intensities and H2 masses................... 114 4.2.4 Consequences of using a single pointing.............. 117 4.3 Atomic gas................................. 119 4.3.1 GBT 100-m observations and data reduction........... 119 4.3.2 The spectra............................. 120 4.3.3 Line widths and integrated intensities............... 121 4.3.4 VLA observations and data reduction............... 122 4.3.5 First moment maps and atomic gas masses............ 123 4.4 Herschel observations and dust masses................... 127 4.5 The strange case of NGC 5485....................... 127 ii 4.5.1 Reliability of the mass estimates.................. 130 4.5.2 Accretion of an exotic companion?................ 132 4.6 Conclusions................................. 134 5 An observational comparison of the coreNFW and DC14 dark matter halo models 137 5.1 Sample selection.............................. 138 5.2 Rotation curve decomposition and halo models.............. 139 5.2.1 DC14................................ 139 5.2.2 coreNFW.............................. 142 5.2.3 Asymmetric drift correction.................... 143 5.3 Markov Chain Monte Carlo fitting..................... 144 5.3.1 Priors and parameter ranges.................... 146 2 5.3.2 χred and fit quality......................... 147 5.4 Results.................................... 147 5.4.1 DC14................................ 147 5.4.2 coreNFW.............................. 151 5.4.3 coreNFW versus DC14...................... 156 5.4.4 Comparison to earlier results.................... 165 5.5 Conclusions................................. 166 6 Summary and outlook 169 6.1 Summary.................................. 169 6.2 Outlook................................... 172 7 Samenvatting 175 A Markov Chain Monte Carlo 179 A.1 Bayes’ theorem............................... 179 A.2 Markov chains................................ 180 A.3 Metropolis-Hastings............................ 181 A.4 Affine invariant sampling.......................... 183 A.5 Conversion diagnostics........................... 187 iii List of Figures 1.1 The Hubble Ultra Deep Field........................2 1.2 The Hubble sequence............................3 1.3 Chemical evolution of galaxies.......................7 1.4 Opacity of the Earth’s atmosphere.....................9 1.5 The FAST telescope and the VLA..................... 11 1.6 Edge-on spiral galaxy NGC 4565...................... 15 1.7 Radiative transfer model of NGC 4565................... 16 1.8 Fritz Zwicky................................. 20 1.9 Early rotation curves from Vera Rubin................... 21 1.10 Cusp-core controversy........................... 25 2.1 V-band image and total Hi map of NGC 973................ 43 2.2 Observed and model total Hi maps of NGC 973.............. 44 2.3 Observed and model channel maps of NGC 973.............. 45 2.4 Observed and model XV-diagrams of NGC 973.............. 46 2.5 Observed and final model data cube of NGC 973............. 48 2.6 V-band image and total Hi map of UGC 4277............... 49 2.7 Observed and model total Hi maps of UGC 4277............. 50 2.8 Observed and model channel maps of UGC 4277............. 51 2.9 Observed and model XV-diagrams of UGC 4277............. 52 2.10 Observed and final model data cube of UGC 4277............. 53 2.11 V-band image and total Hi map of IC 2531................. 54 2.12 Observed and model total Hi maps of IC 2531............... 55 2.13 Observed and model channel maps of IC 2531............... 57 2.14 Line-of-sight warp in IC 2531....................... 58 2.15 Observed and model XV-diagrams of IC 2531............... 58 2.16 Parameters of the W + R model of IC 2531................ 60 2.17 Observed and final model data cube of IC 2531.............. 61 2.18 r-band image and total Hi map of NGC 4217................ 62 2.19 Observed and model total Hi maps of NGC 4217............. 63 2.20 Observed and model channel maps of NGC 4217............. 65 2.21 Observed and model XV-diagrams of NGC 4217............. 66 2.22 Outer ring models of NGC 4217...................... 67 2.23 Observed and final model data cubes of NGC 4217............ 69 2.24 V-band image and total Hi map of NGC 5529............... 70 2.25 Observed and model channel maps of NGC 5529............. 71 2.26 Radial inflow in NGC 5529......................... 72 2.27 Observed and model total Hi maps of NGC 5529............. 73 2.28 Observed and model XV-diagrams of NGC 5529............. 74 2.29 Observed and final model data cube of NGC 5529............. 76 2.30 r-band image and total Hi map of NGC 5907................ 77 2.31 Observed and model total Hi maps of NGC 5907............. 79 2.32 Observed and model channel maps of NGC 5907 - 1............ 80 2.32 Observed and model channel maps of NGC 5907 - 2............ 81 2.33 Observed and final model XV-diagram of NGC 5907........... 83 2.34 Observed and final model data cube of NGC 5907............. 84 2.35 Radially dependent parameters of the final models............. 86 2.36 Flare vs. constant scale height - total Hi maps............... 87 2.37 Flare vs. constant scale height - channel maps............... 88 2.38 Hi mass-size relation of the HEROES galaxies............... 91 3.1 Observed and initial model CO XV-diagram of NGC 5907........ 99 3.2 Central part of observed and model CO XV-diagrams of NGC 5907... 100 3.3 Observed and model moment-1