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We present a suite of baryonic cosmological zoom-in simulations of self-interacting dark matter (SIDM) haloes within the 'Feedback In Realistic Environment' (FIRE) project. The three simulated haloes have virial masses of ∼ 1012 M⊙ at z = 0, and we study velocity-independent self-interaction cross sections of 1 and 10 cm2, g-1. We study star formation rates and the shape of dark matter density profiles of the parent haloes in both cold dark matter (CDM) and SIDM models. Galaxies formed in the SIDM haloes have higher star formation rates at z ≤ 1, resulting in more massive galaxies compared to the CDM simulations. While both CDM and SIDM simulations show diverse shape of the dark matter density profiles, the SIDM haloes can reach higher and more steep central densities within few kpcs compared to the CDM haloes. We identify a correlation between the build-up of the stars within the half-mass radii of the galaxies and the growth in the central dark matter densities. The thermalization process in the SIDM haloes is enhanced in the presence of a dense stellar component. Hence, SIDM haloes with highly concentrated baryonic profiles are predicted to have higher central dark matter densities than the CDM haloes. Overall, the SIDM haloes are more responsive to the presence of a massive baryonic distribution than their CDM counterparts.

We present the first set of cosmological baryonic zoom-in simulations of galaxies including dissipative self-interacting dark matter (dSIDM). These simulations utilize the Feedback In Realistic Environments galaxy formation physics, but allow the dark matter to have dissipative self-interactions analogous to standard model forces, parametrized by the self-interaction crosssection per unit mass, (σ/m), and the dimensionless degree of dissipation, 0 < fdiss < 1. We survey this parameter space, including constant and velocity-dependent cross-sections, and focus on structural and kinematic properties of dwarf galaxies with Mhalo ∼ 1010.11M⊙ and M∗ ∼ 105.8M⊙. Central density profiles (parametrized as ρ ∝ rα) of simulated dwarfs become cuspy when (σ/m)eff ≳ 0.1 cm2 g-1 (and fdiss = 0.5 as fiducial). The power-law slopes asymptote to α ≈ -1.5 in low-mass dwarfs independent of cross-section, which arises from a dark matter 'cooling flow'. Through comparisons with dark matter only simulations, we find the profile in this regime is insensitive to the inclusion of baryons. However, when (σ/m)eff ≤ 0.1 cm2 g-1, baryonic effects can produce cored density profiles comparable to non-dissipative cold dark matter (CDM) runs but at smaller radii. Simulated galaxies with (σ/m) ≳ 10 cm2 g-1 and the fiducial fdiss develop significant coherent rotation of dark matter, accompanied by halo deformation, but this is unlike the well-defined thin 'dark discs' often attributed to baryon-like dSIDM. The density profiles in this high cross-section model exhibit lower normalizations given the onset of halo deformation. For our surveyed dSIDM parameters, halo masses and galaxy stellar masses do not show appreciable difference from CDM, but dark matter kinematics and halo concentrations/shapes can differ.

We study the escape fraction of ionizing photons (fesc) in two cosmological zoom-in simulations of galaxies in the reionization era with halo mass Mhalo ∼1010 and $10{11}\, \mathrm{ M}-{\odot }$ (stellar mass M∗ ∼107 and $109\, \mathrm{ M}-{\odot }$) at z = 5 from the Feedback in Realistic Environments project. These simulations explicitly resolve the formation of proto-globular clusters (GCs) self-consistently, where 17-39 per cent of stars form in bound clusters during starbursts. Using post-processing Monte Carlo radiative transfer calculations of ionizing radiation, we compute fesc from cluster stars and non-cluster stars formed during a starburst over ∼100 Myr in each galaxy. We find that the averaged fesc over the lifetime of a star particle follows a similar distribution for cluster stars and non-cluster stars. Clusters tend to have low fesc in the first few Myr, presumably because they form preferentially in more extreme environments with high optical depths; the fesc increases later as feedback starts to destroy the natal cloud. On the other hand, some non-cluster stars formed between cluster complexes or in the compressed shells at the front of a superbubble can also have high fesc. We find that cluster stars on average have comparable fesc to non-cluster stars. This result is robust across several star formation models in our simulations. Our results suggest that the fraction of ionizing photons from proto-GCs to cosmic reionization is comparable to the cluster formation efficiencies in high-redshift galaxies and thus proto-GCs likely contribute an appreciable fraction of photons but are not the dominant sources for reionization.

We examine the prevalence, longevity, and causes of planes of satellite dwarf galaxies, as observed in the Local Group. We use 14 Milky Way/Andromeda-(MW/M31) mass host galaxies from the Feedback In Realistic Environments-2 simulations. We select the 14 most massive satellites by stellar mass within ≤ 300, kpc of each host and correct for incompleteness from the foreground galactic disc when comparing to the MW. We find that MW-like planes as spatially thin and/or kinematically coherent as observed are uncommon, but they do exist in our simulations. Spatially thin planes occur in 1-2 per cent of snapshots during z = 0-0.2, and kinematically coherent planes occur in 5 per cent of snapshots. These planes are generally transient, surviving for

We explore the origin of stellar metallicity gradients in simulated and observed dwarf galaxies. We use FIRE-2 cosmological baryonic zoom-in simulations of 26 isolated galaxies as well as existing observational data for 10 Local Group dwarf galaxies. Our simulated galaxies have stellar masses between 105.5 and 108.6 MO. Whilst gas-phase metallicty gradients are generally weak in our simulated galaxies, we find that stellar metallicity gradients are common, with central regions tending to be more metal-rich than the outer parts. The strength of the gradient is correlated with galaxy-wide median stellar age, such that galaxies with younger stellar populations have flatter gradients. Stellar metallicty gradients are set by two competing processes: (1) the steady 'puffing' of old, metal-poor stars by feedback-driven potential fluctuations and (2) the accretion of extended, metal-rich gas at late times, which fuels late-time metal-rich star formation. If recent star formation dominates, then extended, metal-rich star formation washes out pre-existing gradients from the 'puffing' process. We use published results from ten Local Group dwarf galaxies to show that a similar relationship between age and stellar metallicity-gradient strength exists among real dwarfs. This suggests that observed stellar metallicity gradients may be driven largely by the baryon/feedback cycle rather than by external environmental effects.

We analyse the cold dark matter density profiles of 54 galaxy haloes simulated with Feedback In Realistic Environments (FIRE)-2 galaxy formation physics, each resolved within 0.5 per cent of the halo virial radius. These haloes contain galaxies with masses that range from ultrafaint dwarfs (M* ~ 104.5M) to the largest spirals (M* ˜ 1011M) and have density profiles that are both cored and cuspy. We characterize our results using a new, analytic density profile that extends the standard two-parameter Einasto form to allow for a pronounced constant density core in the resolved innermost radius. With one additional core-radius parameter, rc, this three-parameter core-Einasto profile is able to characterize our feedback-impacted dark matter haloes more accurately than other three-parameter profiles proposed in the literature. To enable comparisons with observations, we provide fitting functions for rc and other profile parameters as a function of both M* and M/Mhalo. In agreement with past studies, we find that dark matter core formation is most efficient at the characteristic stellar-to-halo mass ratio M/Mhalo ˜5 × 10-3, or M* ˜ 109 M, with cores that are roughly the size of the galaxy half-light radius, rc ˜ 15kpc. Furthermore, we find no evidence for core formation at radii > 100 pc in galaxies with M*/Mhalo < 5 × 10-4 or M*-106M. For Milky Way-size galaxies, baryonic contraction often makes haloes significantly more concentrated and dense at the stellar half-light radius than DMO runs. However, even at the Milky Way scale, FIRE-2 galaxy formation still produces small dark matter cores of ˜ 0.5-2 kpc in size. Recent evidence for a ~2 kpc core in the Milky Way's dark matter halo is consistent with this expectation.

Surveys of the Milky Way (MW) and M31 enable detailed studies of stellar populations across ages and metallicities, with the goal of reconstructing formation histories across cosmic time. These surveys motivate key questions for galactic archaeology in a cosmological context: When did the main progenitor of an MW/M31-mass galaxy form, and what were the galactic building blocks that formed it? We investigate the formation times and progenitor galaxies of MW/M31-mass galaxies using the Feedback In Realistic Environments-2 cosmological simulations, including six isolated MW/M31-mass galaxies and six galaxies in Local Group (LG)-like pairs at z = 0. We examine main progenitor 'formation' based on two metrics: (1) transition from primarily ex-situ to in-situ stellar mass growth and (2) mass dominance compared to other progenitors. We find that the main progenitor of an MW/M31-mass galaxy emerged typically at z ∼3-4 ($11.6\!\!-\!\!12.2\, \rm {Gyr}$ ago), while stars in the bulge region (inner 2 kpc) at z = 0 formed primarily in a single main progenitor at z ≲ 5 (${\lesssim} \!12.6\, \rm {Gyr}$ ago). Compared with isolated hosts, the main progenitors of LG-like paired hosts emerged significantly earlier (Δz ∼2, $\Delta t\!\sim \!1.6\, \rm {Gyr}$), with ∼4× higher stellar mass at all z ≳ 4 (${\gtrsim} \!12.2\, \rm {Gyr}$ ago). This highlights the importance of environment in MW/M31-mass galaxy formation, especially at early times. On average, about 100 galaxies with $\rm {\it{ M}}_\rm {star}\!\gtrsim \!10^5\, \rm {M}_\odot$ went into building a typical MW/M31-mass system. Thus, surviving satellites represent a highly incomplete census (by ∼5×) of the progenitor population.

We report the formation of bound star clusters in a sample of high-resolution cosmological zoom-in simulations of z ≥ 5 galaxies from the Feedback In Realistic Environments project. We find that bound clusters preferentially form in high-pressure clouds with gas surface densities over 104M⊙ pc-2, where the cloud-scale star formation efficiency is near unity and young stars born in these regions are gravitationally bound at birth. These high-pressure clouds are compressed by feedback-driven winds and/or collisions of smaller clouds/gas streams in highly gas-rich, turbulent environments. The newly formed clusters follow a power-law mass function of dN/dM ~ M-2. The cluster formation efficiency is similar across galaxies with stellarmasses of~107-1010M⊙ at z ≥ 5. The age spread of cluster stars is typically a few Myr and increases with cluster mass. The metallicity dispersion of cluster members is ~0.08 dex in [Z/H] and does not depend on clustermass significantly. Our findings support the scenario that present-day old globular clusters (GCs) were formed during relatively normal star formation in high-redshift galaxies. Simulations with a stricter/looser star formation model form a factor of a few more/fewer bound clusters per stellar mass formed, while the shape of the mass function is unchanged. Simulations with a lower local star formation efficiency form more stars in bound clusters. The simulated clusters are larger than observed GCs due to finite resolution. Our simulations are among the first cosmological simulations that form bound clusters self-consistently in a wide range of high-redshift galaxies.

Giant molecular clouds (GMCs) are well studied in the local Universe, however, exactly how their properties vary during galaxy evolution is poorly understood due to challenging resolution requirements, both observational and computational. We present the first time-dependent analysis of GMCs in a Milky Way-like galaxy and an Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC)-like dwarf galaxy of the FIRE-2 (Feedback In Realistic Environments) simulation suite, which have sufficient resolution to predict the bulk properties of GMCs in cosmological galaxy formation self-consistently. We show explicitly that the majority of star formation outside the galactic centre occurs within self-gravitating gas structures that have properties consistent with observed bound GMCs. We find that the typical cloud bulk properties such as mass and surface density do not vary more than a factor of 2 in any systematic way after the first Gyr of cosmic evolution within a given galaxy from its progenitor. While the median properties are constant, the tails of the distributions can briefly undergo drastic changes, which can produce very massive and dense self-gravitating gas clouds. Once the galaxy forms, we identify only two systematic trends in bulk properties over cosmic time: a steady increase in metallicity produced by previous stellar populations and a weak decrease in bulk cloud temperatures.With the exception of metallicity, we find no significant differences in cloud properties between the MilkyWay-like anddwarf galaxies.These results have important implications for cosmological star and star cluster formation and put especially strong constraints on theories relating the stellar initial mass function to cloud properties.

We study stellar-halo formation using six Milky-Way-mass galaxies in FIRE-2 cosmological zoom simulations. We find that 5-40 per cent of the outer (50-300 kpc) stellar halo in each system consists of in-situ stars that were born in outflows from the main galaxy. Outflow stars originate from gas accelerated by superbubble winds, which can be compressed, cool, and form co-moving stars. The majority of these stars remain bound to the halo and fall back with orbital properties similar to the rest of the stellar halo at z = 0. In the outer halo, outflow stars are more spatially homogeneous, metal-rich, and alpha-element-enhanced than the accreted stellar halo. At the solar location, up to ∼10 per cent of our kinematically identified halo stars were born in outflows; the fraction rises to as high as ∼40 per cent for the most metal-rich local halo stars ([Fe/H] >-0.5). Such stars can be retrograde and create features similar to the recently discoveredMilkyWay 'Splash' in phase space.We conclude that theMilkyWay stellar halo could contain local counterparts to stars that are observed to form in molecular outflows in distant galaxies. Searches for such a population may provide a new, near-field approach to constraining feedback and outflow physics. A stellar halo contribution from outflows is a phase-reversal of the classic halo formation scenario of Eggen, Lynden-Bell & Sandange, who suggested that halo stars formed in rapidly infalling gas clouds. Stellar outflows may be observable in direct imaging of external galaxies and could provide a source for metal-rich, extreme-velocity stars in the Milky Way.

While many tensions between Local Group (LG) satellite galaxies and ⋀ cold dark matter cosmology have been alleviated through recent cosmological simulations, the spatial distribution of satellites remains an important test of physical models and physical versus numerical disruption in simulations. Using the FIRE-2 cosmological zoom-in baryonic simulations, we examine the radial distributions of satellites with M∗ > 105 M☉ around eight isolated Milky Way (MW) mass host galaxies and four hosts in LG-like pairs. We demonstrate that these simulations resolve the survival and physical destruction of satellites with M∗ ≲ 105 M☉. The simulations broadly agree with LG observations, spanning the radial profiles around the MW and M31. This agreement does not depend strongly on satellite mass, even at distances ≾100 kpc. Host-to-host variation dominates the scatter in satellite counts within 300 kpc of the hosts, while time variation dominates scatter within 50 kpc. More massive host galaxies within our sample have fewer satellites at small distances, likely because of enhanced tidal destruction of satellites via the baryonic discs of host galaxies. Furthermore, we quantify and provide fits to the tidal depletion of subhaloes in baryonic relative to dark matter-only simulations as a function of distance. Our simulated profiles imply observational incompleteness in the LG even at M∗ ≳ 105 M☉: we predict 2-10 such satellites to be discovered around the MW and possibly 6-9 around M31. To provide cosmological context, we compare our results with the radial profiles of satellites around MW analogues in the SAGA survey, finding that our simulations are broadly consistent with most SAGA systems.

We present the star formation history (SFH) of the isolated (D ∼ 970 kpc) Local Group dwarf galaxy Wolf-Lundmark-Melotte (WLM) measured from colour-magnitude diagrams (CMDs) constructed from deep Hubble Space Telescope imaging. Our observations include a central (0.5 rh) and outer field (0.7 rh) that reach below the oldest main-sequence turn-off. WLM has no early dominant episode of star formation: 20 per cent of its stellar mass formed by ∼12.5 Gyr ago (z ∼ 5). It also has an SFR that rises to the present with 50 per cent of the stellar mass within the most recent 5 Gyr (z < 0.7). There is evidence of a strong age gradient: the mean age of the outer field is 5 Gyr older than the inner field despite being only 0.4 kpc apart. Some models suggest such steep gradients are associated with strong stellar feedback and dark-matter core creation. The SFHs of real isolated dwarf galaxies and those from the Feedback in Realistic Environment suite are in good agreement for M*(z = 0) ∼ 107-109M☉, but in worse agreement at lower masses (M*(z = 0) ∼ 105-107 M☉). These differences may be explainable by systematics in the models (e.g. reionization model) and/or observations (HST field placement). We suggest that a coordinated effort to get deep CMDs between HST/JWST (crowded central fields) and WFIRST (wide-area halo coverage) is the optimal path for measuring global SFHs of isolated dwarf galaxies.

We study a suite of extremely high-resolution cosmological Feedback in Realistic Environments simulations of dwarf galaxies (Mhalo ≲ 1010 M☉), run to z = 0 with 30 M☉ resolution, sufficient (for the first time) to resolve the internal structure of individual supernovae remnants within the cooling radius. Every halo with Mhalo ≳ 108.6 M☉ is populated by a resolved stellar galaxy, suggesting very low-mass dwarfs may be ubiquitous in the field. Our ultra-faint dwarfs (UFDs; M∗ < 105 M☉) have their star formation (SF) truncated early (z ≳ 2), likely by reionization, while classical dwarfs (M∗ > 105 M☉) continue forming stars to z < 0.5. The systems have bursty star formation histories, forming most of their stars in periods of elevated SF strongly clustered in both space and time. This allows our dwarf with M∗/Mhalo > 10−4 to form a dark matter core >200 pc, while lower mass UFDs exhibit cusps down to ≲100 pc, as expected from energetic arguments. Our dwarfs with M∗ > 104 M☉ have half-mass radii (R1/2) in agreement with Local Group (LG) dwarfs (dynamical mass versus R1/2 and stellar rotation also resemble observations). The lowest mass UFDs are below surface brightness limits of current surveys but are potentially visible in next-generation surveys (e.g. LSST). The stellar metallicities are lower than in LG dwarfs; this may reflect pre-enrichment of the LG by the massive hosts or Pop-III stars. Consistency with lower resolution studies implies that our simulations are numerically robust (for a given physical model).

We present a suite of FIRE-2 cosmological zoom-in simulations of isolated field dwarf galaxies, all with masses of Mhalo ≈ 1010 M at z = 0, across a range of dark matter models. For the first time, we compare how both self-interacting dark matter (SIDM) and/or warm dark matter (WDM) models affect the assembly histories as well as the central density structure in fully hydrodynamical simulations of dwarfs. Dwarfs with smaller stellar half-mass radii (r1/2 < 500 pc) have lower σ/Vmax ratios, reinforcing the idea that smaller dwarfs may reside in haloes that are more massive than is naively expected. The majority of dwarfs simulated with self-interactions actually experience contraction of their inner density profiles with the addition of baryons relative to the cores produced in dark-matter-only runs, though the simulated dwarfs are always less centrally dense than in CDM. The V1/2–r1/2 relation across all simulations is generally consistent with observations of Local Field dwarfs, though compact objects such as Tucana provide a unique challenge. Overall, the inclusion of baryons substantially reduces any distinct signatures of dark matter physics in the observable properties of dwarf galaxies. Spatially resolved rotation curves in the central regions (

We explore the radial variation of star formation histories (SFHs) in dwarf galaxies simulated with Feedback In Realistic Environments (FIRE) physics. The sample contains 26 field dwarf galaxies with Mstar = 105–109 M. We find age gradients are common in our dwarfs, with older stars dominant at large radii. The strength of the gradient correlates with overall galaxy age such that earlier star formation produces a more pronounced gradient. The relation between formation time and strength of the gradient is driven by both mergers and star formation feedback. Mergers can both steepen and flatten the age gradient depending on the timing of the merger and SFHs of the merging galaxy. In galaxies without significant mergers, feedback pushes stars to the outskirts. The strength of the age gradient is determined by the subsequent evolution of the galaxy. Galaxies with weak age gradients constantly grow to z = 0, meaning that young star formation occurs at a similar radius to which older stars are heated to. In contrast, galaxies with strong age gradients tend to maintain a constant half-mass radius over time. If real galaxies have age gradients as we predict, stellar population studies that rely on sampling a limited fraction of a galaxy can give a biased view of its global SFH. Central fields can be biased young by Gyrs while outer fields are biased old. Fields positioned near the 2D half-light radius will provide the least biased measure of a dwarf galaxy’s global SFH.

Within lambda cold dark matter (CDM), dwarf galaxies like the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) are expected to host numerous dark matter subhaloes, several of which should host faint dwarf companions. Recent Gaia proper motions confirm new members of the LMC system in addition to the previously known SMC, including two classical dwarf galaxies (M∗ > 105 M; Carina and Fornax) as well as several ultrafaint dwarfs (Car2, Car3, Hor1, and Hyd1). We use the Feedback In Realistic Environments (FIRE) simulations to study the dark and luminous (down to ultrafaint masses, M∗ ∼6×103 M) substructure population of isolated LMC-mass hosts (M200m = 1–3×1011 M) and place the Gaia + DES results in a cosmological context. By comparing number counts of subhaloes in simulations with and without baryons, we find that, within 0.2 r200m, LMC-mass hosts deplete ∼30 per cent of their substructure, significantly lower than the ∼70 per cent of substructure depleted by Milky Way (MW) mass hosts. For our highest resolution runs (mbary = 880 M), ∼ 5–10 subhaloes form galaxies with M∗ ≥ 104 M , in agreement with the seven observationally inferred pre-infall LMC companions. However, we find steeper simulated luminosity functions than observed, hinting at observation incompleteness at the faint end. The predicted DM content for classical satellites in FIRE agrees with observed estimates for Carina and Fornax, supporting the case for an LMC association. We predict that tidal stripping within the LMC potential lowers the inner dark matter density of ultrafaint companions of the LMC. Thus, in addition to their orbital consistency, the low densities of dwarfs Car2, Hyd1, and Hyd2 reinforce their likelihood of Magellanic association.

We study star formation histories (SFHs) of 500 dwarf galaxies (stellar mass M∗ = 105–109 M) from FIRE-2 cosmological zoom-in simulations. We compare dwarfs around individual Milky Way (MW)-mass galaxies, dwarfs in Local Group (LG)-like environments, and true field (i.e. isolated) dwarf galaxies. We reproduce observed trends wherein higher mass dwarfs quench later (if at all), regardless of environment. We also identify differences between the environments, both in terms of ‘satellite versus central’ and ‘LG versus individual MW versus isolated dwarf central.’ Around the individual MW-mass hosts, we recover the result expected from environmental quenching: central galaxies in the ‘near field’ have more extended SFHs than their satellite counterparts, with the former more closely resemble isolated (true field) dwarfs (though near-field centrals are still somewhat earlier forming). However, this difference is muted in the LG-like environments, where both near-field centrals and satellites have similar SFHs, which resemble satellites of single MW-mass hosts. This distinction is strongest for M∗ = 106–107 M but exists at other masses. Our results suggest that the paired halo nature of the LG may regulate star formation in dwarf galaxies even beyond the virial radii of the MW and Andromeda. Caution is needed when comparing zoom-in simulations targeting isolated dwarf galaxies against observed dwarf galaxies in the LG.

We present a new set of high-resolution hydrodynamic cosmological zoom-in simulations that apply the Feedback In Realistic Environments physics to both Local Group (LG)-like and isolated MilkyWay (MW)-like volumes (10 host systems in total with a baryonic particle mass ≃3500-7000M⊙).We study the stellar mass functions, circular velocity or mass profiles, and velocity dispersions of the dwarf galaxy populations. The simulations reproduce the stellar mass function and central densities ofMWsatellite dwarfs forM∗≥105.5M⊙ and predict the existence of ∼3 unidentified galaxies with M∗∼ 105M⊙ within 300 kpc of the MW. Overall, we find no evidence for the classical missing satellites or too-big-to-fail (TBTF) problems for satellite galaxies in our sample. Among the satellites, TBTF is resolved primarily by subhalo disruption and overall mass-loss; central density profiles of subhaloes are of secondary importance. For non-satellite galaxies, our LG-like simulations predict as many as ∼10 as-ofyet unseen galaxies at distances 0.3-1Mpc from both hosts, with M∗≃ 105-6M⊙ (in haloes with Vmax ∼ 20 km s-1), albeit with large halo-to-halo variance. None of our simulations produces a compact, baryon-dominated, high-density dwarf elliptical-type galaxy (with Vcirc ≳ 35 km s-1 at r < 1 kpc), of which six may appear in the LG (but none in the MW). It may therefore remain a challenge to reproduce the full diversity of the dwarf population, including both the highest and lowest density systems.

We study the impact of a warm dark matter (WDM) cosmology on dwarf galaxy formation through a suite of cosmological hydrodynamical zoom-in simulations of Mhalo ≈ 1010 M dark matter haloes as part of the Feedback in Realistic Environments (FIRE) project. A main focus of this paper is to evaluate the combined effects of dark matter physics and stellar feedback on the well-known small-scale issues found in cold dark matter (CDM) models. We find that the z = 0 stellar mass of a galaxy is strongly correlated with the central density of its host dark matter halo at the time of formation, zf, in both CDM and WDM models. WDM haloes follow the same M(z = 0)–Vmax(zf) relation as in CDM, but they form later, are less centrally dense, and therefore contain galaxies that are less massive than their CDM counterparts. As a result, the impact of baryonic effects on the central gravitational potential is typically diminished relative to CDM. However, the combination of delayed formation in WDM and energy input from stellar feedback results in dark matter profiles with lower overall densities. The WDM galaxies studied here have a wider diversity of star formation histories (SFHs) than the same systems simulated in CDM, and the two lowest M WDM galaxies form all of their stars at late times. The discovery of young ultrafaint dwarf galaxies with no ancient star formation – which do not exist in our CDM simulations – would therefore provide evidence in support of WDM.

One important result from recent large integral field spectrograph (IFS) surveys is that the intrinsic velocity dispersion of galaxies traced by star-forming gas increases with redshift. Massive, rotation-dominated discs are already in place at z ∼ 2, but they are dynamically hotter than spiral galaxies in the local Universe. Although several plausible mechanisms for this elevated velocity dispersion (e.g. star formation feedback, elevated gas supply, or more frequent galaxy interactions) have been proposed, the fundamental driver of the velocity dispersion enhancement at high redshift remains unclear. We investigate the origin of this kinematic evolution using a suite of cosmological simulations from the FIRE (Feedback In Realistic Environments) project. Although IFS surveys generally cover a wider range of stellar masses than in these simulations, the simulated galaxies show trends between intrinsic velocity dispersion (σ intr ), SFR, and z in agreement with observations. In both observations and simulations, galaxies on the star-forming main sequence have median σ intr values that increase from z ∼ 0 to z ∼ 1–1.5, but this increasing trend is less evident at higher redshift. In the FIRE simulations, σ intr can vary significantly on time-scales of 100 Myr. These variations closely mirror the time evolution of the SFR and gas inflow rate (M gas ). By cross-correlating pairs of σ intr, M gas, and SFR, we show that increased gas inflow leads to subsequent enhanced star formation, and enhancements in σ intr tend to temporally coincide with increases in M gas and SFR.

The Feedback In Realistic Environments (FIRE) project explores feedback in cosmological galaxy formation simulations. Previous FIRE simulations used an identical source code ('FIRE-1') for consistency. Motivated by the development of more accurate numerics - including hydrodynamic solvers, gravitational softening, and supernova coupling algorithms - and exploration of new physics (e.g. magnetic fields), we introduce 'FIRE-2', an updated numerical implementation of FIRE physics for the GIZMO code. We run a suite of simulations and compare against FIRE-1: overall, FIRE-2 improvements do not qualitatively change galaxy-scale properties. We pursue an extensive study of numerics versus physics. Details of the star formation algorithm, cooling physics, and chemistry have weak effects provided that we include metal-line cooling and star formation occurs at higher-than-mean densities. We present new resolution criteria for high-resolution galaxy simulations. Most galaxy-scale properties are robust to numerics we test, provided: (1) Toomre masses are resolved; (2) feedback coupling ensures conservation, and (3) individual supernovae are time-resolved. Stellar masses and profiles are most robust to resolution, followed by metal abundances and morphologies, followed by properties of winds and circum-galactic media. Central (~kpc) mass concentrations in massive (> L*) galaxies are sensitive to numerics (via trapping/recycling of winds in hot haloes). Multiple feedback mechanisms play key roles: supernovae regulate stellar masses/winds; stellar mass-loss fuels late star formation; radiative feedback suppresses accretion on to dwarfs and instantaneous star formation in discs. We provide all initial conditions and numerical algorithms used.

We investigate the merger histories of isolated dwarf galaxies based on a suite of 15 highresolution cosmological zoom-in simulations, all with masses of Mhalo ≈ 1010M⊙ (and M* ~ 105 - 107M⊙) at z= 0, from the Feedback in Realistic Environments project. The stellar populations of these dwarf galaxies at z= 0 are formed essentially entirely 'in situ': over 90 per cent of the stellar mass is formed in the main progenitor in all but two cases, and all 15 of the galaxies have > 70 per cent of their stellar mass formed in situ. Virtually all galaxy mergers occur prior to z~ 3, meaning that accreted stellar populations are ancient. On average, our simulated dwarfs undergo five galaxy mergers in their lifetimes, with typical pre-merger galaxy mass ratios that are less than 1:10. This merger frequency is generally comparable to what has been found in dissipationless simulations when coupled with abundance matching. Two of the simulated dwarfs have a luminous satellite companion at z= 0. These ultra-faint dwarfs lie at or below current detectability thresholds but are intriguing targets for nextgeneration facilities. The small contribution of accreted stars makes it extremely difficult to discern the effects of mergers in the vast majority of dwarfs either photometrically or using resolved-star colour-magnitude diagrams (CMDs). The important implication for near-field cosmology is that star formation histories (SFHs) of comparably massive galaxies derived from resolved CMDs should trace the build-up of stellar mass in one main system across cosmic time as opposed to reflecting the contributions of many individual SFHs of merged dwarfs.

We test if the cosmological zoom-in simulations of isolated galaxies from the FIRE project reproduce the properties of ultra diffuse galaxies (UDGs). We show that outflows that dynamically heat galactic stars, together with a passively aging stellar population after imposed quenching, naturally reproduce the observed population of red UDGs, without the need for high spin haloes, or dynamical influence from their host cluster. We reproduce the range of surface brightness, radius, and absolute magnitude of the observed red UDGs by quenching simulated galaxies at a range of different times. They represent a mostly uniform population of dark matter-dominated dwarf galaxies with M * ~ 108 M☉, low metallicity, and a broad range of ages; the more massive the UDGs, the older they are. The most massive red UDG in our sample(M * ~ 3 × 108 M☉) requires quenching at z ~ 3 when its halo reached M h ~ 1011M☉. Our simulated UDGs form with normal stellar-to-halo ratios and match the central enclosed masses and the velocity dispersions of the observed UDGs. Enclosed masses remain largely fixed across a broad range of quenching times because the central regions of their dark matter haloes complete their growth early. If our simulated dwarfs are not quenched, they evolve into bluer low surface brightness galaxies with M/L similar to observed field dwarfs. While our simulation sample covers a limited range of formation histories and halo masses, we predict that UDG is a common, and perhaps even dominant, galaxy type around M * ~ 108 M☉, both in the field and in clusters.

We study the implementation of mechanical feedback from supernovae (SNe) and stellar mass loss in galaxy simulations, within the Feedback In Realistic Environments (FIRE) project. We present the FIRE-2 algorithm for coupling mechanical feedback, which can be applied to any hydrodynamics method (e.g. fixed-grid, moving-mesh, and mesh-less methods), and black hole as well as stellar feedback. This algorithm ensures manifest conservation of mass, energy, and momentum, and avoids imprinting 'preferred directions' on the ejecta. We show that it is critical to incorporate both momentum and thermal energy of mechanical ejecta in a self-consistent manner, accounting for SNe cooling radii when they are not resolved. Using idealized simulations of single SN explosions, we show that the FIRE-2 algorithm, independent of resolution, reproduces converged solutions in both energy and momentum. In contrast, common 'fully thermal' (energy-dump) or 'fully kinetic' (particle-kicking) schemes in the literature depend strongly on resolution: when applied at mass resolution ≳100M⊙, they diverge by orders of magnitude from the converged solution. In galaxy-formation simulations, this divergence leads to orders-of-magnitude differences in galaxy properties, unless those models are adjusted in a resolution-dependent way. We show that all models that individually time-resolve SNe converge to the FIRE-2 solution at sufficiently high resolution (< 100M⊙). However, in both idealized single-SN simulations and cosmological galaxy-formation simulations, the FIRE-2 algorithm converges much faster than other sub-grid models without re-tuning parameters.

We study the morphologies and sizes of galaxies at z ≥ 5 using high-resolution cosmological zoom-in simulations from the Feedback In Realistic Environments project. The galaxies show a variety of morphologies, from compact to clumpy to irregular. The simulated galaxies have more extended morphologies and larger sizes when measured using rest-frame optical B-band light than rest-frameUVlight; sizes measured from stellarmass surface density are even larger. The UV morphologies are usually dominated by several small, bright young stellar clumps that are not always associated with significant stellarmass. The B-band light traces stellarmass better than the UV, but it can also be biased by the bright clumps. At all redshifts, galaxy size correlates with stellar mass/luminosity with large scatter. The half-light radii range from 0.01 to 0.2 arcsec (0.05-1 kpc physical) at fixed magnitude. At z ≥ 5, the size of galaxies at fixed stellar mass/luminosity evolves as (1 + z)-m, with m ~ 1-2. For galaxies less massive than M* ~ 108M⊙, the ratio of the half-mass radius to the halo virial radius is ~10 per cent and does not evolve significantly at z = 5-10; this ratio is typically 1-5 per cent for more massive galaxies. A galaxy's 'observed' size decreases dramatically at shallower surface brightness limits. This effect may account for the extremely small sizes of z ≥ 5 galaxies measured in the Hubble Frontier Fields. We provide predictions for the cumulative light distribution as a function of surface brightness for typical galaxies at z = 6.

We study the z = 0 gas kinematics, morphology and angular momentum content of isolated galaxies in a suite of cosmological zoom-in simulations from the FIRE project spanning Mstar = 106-11M⊙. Gas becomes increasingly rotationally supported with increasing galaxy mass. In the lowest mass galaxies (Mstar < 108M⊙), gas fails to form a morphological disc and is primarily dispersion and pressure supported. At intermediate masses (Mstar = 108-10M⊙), galaxies display a wide range of gas kinematics and morphologies, from thin, rotating discs to irregular spheroids with negligible net rotation. All the high-mass (Mstar = 1010-11M⊙) galaxies form rotationally supported gas discs. Many of the haloes whose galaxies fail to form discs harbour high angular momentum gas in their circumgalactic medium. The ratio of the specific angular momentum of gas in the central galaxy to that of the dark matter halo increases significantly with galaxy mass, from 〈jgas〉/〈jDM〉 ~ 0.1 at Mstar = 106-7M⊙ to 〈jgas〉/〈jDM〉 ~ 2 at Mstar = 1010-11M⊙. The reduced rotational support in the lowest mass galaxies owes to (a) stellar feedback and the UV background suppressing the accretion of high angular momentum gas at late times, and (b) stellar feedback driving large non-circular gas motions. We broadly reproduce the observed scaling relations between galaxy mass, gas rotation velocity, size and angular momentum, but may somewhat underpredict the incidence of disky, high angular momentum galaxies at the lowest observed masses (Mstar = (106- 2 × 107) M⊙). Stars form preferentially from low angular momentum gas near the galactic centre and are less rotationally supported than gas. The common assumption that stars follow the same rotation curve as gas thus substantially overestimates the simulated galaxies' stellar angular momentum, particularly at low masses.

We present a suite of 15 cosmological zoom-in simulations of isolated dark matter haloes, all with masses of Mhalo ≈ 1010M⊙ at z = 0, in order to understand the relationship among halo assembly, galaxy formation and feedback's effects on the central density structure in dwarf galaxies. These simulations are part of the Feedback in Realistic Environments (FIRE) project and are performed at extremely high resolution (mbaryon = 500M⊙, mdm = 2500M⊙). The resultant galaxies have stellar masses that are consistent with rough abundance matching estimates, coinciding with the faintest galaxies that can be seen beyond the virial radius of the Milky Way (M*/M⊙ ≈ 105 - 107). This non-negligible spread in stellar mass at z = 0 in haloes within a narrow range of virial masses is strongly correlated with central halo density or maximum circular velocity Vmax, both of which are tightly linked to halo formation time. Much of this dependence of M* on a second parameter (beyond Mhalo) is a direct consequence of the Mhalo ~ 1010M⊙ mass scale coinciding with the threshold for strong reionization suppression: the densest, earliest-forming haloes remain above the UV-suppression scale throughout their histories while late-forming systems fall below the UV-suppression scale over longer periods and form fewer stars as a result. In fact, the latest-forming, lowest-concentration halo in our suite fails to form any stars. Haloes that form galaxies with M ≳ 2 × 106 M⊙ have reduced central densities relative to dark-matter-only simulations, and the radial extent of the density modifications is well-approximated by the galaxy half-mass radius r1/2. Lower-mass galaxies do not modify their host dark matter haloes at the mass scale studied here. This apparent stellar mass threshold of M ≈ 2 × 106-2 × 10-4 Mhalo is broadly consistent with previous work and provides a testable prediction of FIRE feedback models in Λcold dark matter.

Dwarf galaxies are known to have remarkably low star formation efficiency due to strong feedback. Adopting the dwarf galaxies of the Milky Way (MW) as a laboratory, we explore a flexible semi-analytic galaxy formation model to understand how the feedback processes shape the satellite galaxies of the MW. Using Markov Chain Monte Carlo, we exhaustively search a large parameter space of the model and rigorously show that the general wisdom of strong outflows as the primary feedback mechanism cannot simultaneously explain the stellar mass function and the mass-metallicity relation of the MW satellites. An extended model that assumes that a fraction of baryons is prevented from collapsing into low-mass halos in the first place can be accurately constrained to simultaneously reproduce those observations. The inference suggests that two different physical mechanisms are needed to explain the two different data sets. In particular, moderate outflows with weak halo mass dependence are needed to explain the mass-metallicity relation, and prevention of baryons falling into shallow gravitational potentials of low-mass halos (e.g., "pre-heating") is needed to explain the low stellar mass fraction for a given subhalo mass.

Among the most important goals in cosmology is detecting and quantifying small (Mhalo ≃ 106-9 M⊙) dark matter (DM) subhaloes. Current probes around the Milky Way (MW) are most sensitive to such substructure within ~20 kpc of the halo centre, where the galaxy contributes significantly to the potential.We explore the effects of baryons on subhalo populations in ΛCDM using cosmological zoom-in baryonic simulations of MW-mass haloes from the Latte simulation suite, part of the Feedback In Realistic Environments (FIRE) project. Specifically, we compare simulations of the same two haloes run using (1) DM-only (DMO), (2) full baryonic physics and (3) DM with an embedded disc potential grown to match the FIRE simulation. Relative to baryonic simulations, DMO simulations contain ~2 × as many subhaloes within 100 kpc of the halo centre; this excess is ≳5 × within 25 kpc. At z = 0, the baryonic simulations are completely devoid of subhaloes down to 3 × 106M⊙ within 15 kpc of the MW-mass galaxy, and fewer than 20 surviving subhaloes have orbital pericentres < 20 kpc. Despite the complexities of baryonic physics, the simple addition of an embedded central disc potential to DMO simulations reproduces this subhalo depletion, including trends with radius, remarkably well. Thus, the additional tidal field from the central galaxy is the primary cause of subhalo depletion. Subhaloes on radial orbits that pass close to the central galaxy are preferentially destroyed, causing the surviving population to have tangentially biased orbits compared to DMO predictions. Our method of embedding a potential in DMO simulations provides a fast and accurate alternative to full baryonic simulations, thus enabling suites of cosmological simulations that can provide accurate and statistical predictions of substructure populations.

Many properties of the Milky Way's (MW) dark matter halo, including its mass-assembly history, concentration, and subhalo population, remain poorly constrained. We explore the connection between these properties of the MW and its satellite galaxy population, especially the implication of the presence of the Magellanic Clouds for the properties of the MW halo. Using a suite of high-resolution N-body simulations of MW-mass halos with a fixed final , we find that the presence of Magellanic Cloud-like satellites strongly correlates with the assembly history, concentration, and subhalo population of the host halo, such that MW-mass systems with Magellanic Clouds have lower concentration, more rapid recent accretion, and more massive subhalos than typical halos of the same mass. Using a flexible semi-analytic galaxy formation model that is tuned to reproduce the stellar mass function of the classical dwarf galaxies of the MW with Markov-Chain Monte-Carlo, we show that adopting host halos with different mass-assembly histories and concentrations can lead to different best-fit models for galaxy-formation physics, especially for the strength of feedback. These biases arise because the presence of the Magellanic Clouds boosts the overall population of high-mass subhalos, thus requiring a different stellar-mass-to-halo-mass ratio to match the data. These biases also lead to significant differences in the mass-metallicity relation, the kinematics of low-mass satellites, the number counts of small satellites associated with the Magellanic Clouds, and the stellar mass of MW itself. Observations of these galaxy properties can thus provide useful constraints on the properties of the MW halo.

Near-field cosmology - using detailed observations of the Local Group and its environs to study wide-ranging questions in galaxy formation and dark matter physics - has become a mature and rich field over the past decade. There are lingering concerns, however, that the relatively small size of the present-day Local Group (~2Mpc diameter) imposes insurmountable samplevariance uncertainties, limiting its broader utility.We consider the region spanned by the Local Group's progenitors at earlier times and show that it reaches 3 arcmin ≈ 7 comoving Mpc in linear size (a volume of ≈350 Mpc3) at z = 7. This size at early cosmic epochs is large enough to be representative in terms of the matter density and counts of dark matter haloes with Mvir(z = 7) ≲ 2 × 109M⊙. The Local Group's stellar fossil record traces the cosmic evolution of galaxies with 103 ≲ M*(z = 0)/M⊙ ≲ 109 (reaching M1500 > -9 at z ~ 7) over a region that is comparable to or larger than the Hubble Ultra-Deep Field (HUDF) for the entire history of the Universe. In the JWST era, resolved stellar populations will probe regions larger than the HUDF and any deep JWST fields, further enhancing the value of near-field cosmology.

We constrain the evolution of the galaxy stellar mass function from 2 2 × 105M⊙ at z = 0). The most recent studies from ZFOURGE and CANDELS also suggest flatter faint end slopes that are consistent with our results, but with a lower degree of precision. This work illustrates the strong connections between low and high-z observations when viewed through the lens of lambda cold dark matter numerical simulations.

We present multiple ultrahigh resolution cosmological hydrodynamic simulations of M* ≃ 104-6.3 M⊙ dwarf galaxies that form within two Mvir = 109.5-10 M⊙ dark matter halo initial conditions. Our simulations rely on the Feedback in Realistic Environments (FIRE) implementation of star formation feedback and were run with high enough force and mass resolution to directly resolve structure on the ~200 pc scales. The resultant galaxies sit on the M* versus Mvir relation required to match the Local Group stellar mass function via abundance matching. They have bursty star formation histories and also form with half-light radii and metallicities that broadly match those observed for local dwarfs at the same stellar mass. We demonstrate that it is possible to create a large (~1 kpc) constant-density dark matter core in a cosmological simulation of an M* ≃ 106.3 M⊙ dwarf galaxy within a typical Mvir = 1010 M⊙ halo - precisely the scale of interest for resolving the 'too big to fail' problem. However, these large cores are not ubiquitous and appear to correlate closely with the star formation histories of the dwarfs: dark matter cores are largest in systems that form their stars late (z ≲ 2), after the early epoch of cusp building mergers has ended. Our M* ≃ 104 M⊙ dwarf retains a cuspy dark matter halo density profile that matches that of a dark-matter-only run of the same system. Though ancient, most of the stars in our ultrafaint form after reionization; the ultraviolet field acts mainly to suppress fresh gas accretion, not to boil away gas that is already present in the protodwarf.

We compare the dynamics of satellite galaxies in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey to simple models in order to test the hypothesis that a large fraction of satellites corotate in coherent planes. We confirm the previously reported excess of corotating satellite pairs located near diametric opposition with respect to their host, but show that this signal is unlikely to be due to rotating discs (or planes) of satellites. In particular, no overabundance of corotating satellites pairs is observed within ~20°-50° of direct opposition, as would be expected for planar distributions inclined relative to the line of sight. Instead, the excess corotation for satellite pairs within ~10° of opposition is consistent with random noise associated with undersampling of an underlying isotropic velocity distribution. Based upon the observed dynamics of the luminous satellite population, we conclude that at most 10 per cent of isolated hosts harbour corotating satellite planes (as traced by bright satellites).

Using the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, we examine the quenching of satellite galaxies around isolated Milky Way-like hosts in the local Universe. We find that the efficiency of satellite quenching around isolated galaxies is low and roughly constant over two orders of magnitude in satellite stellar mass (M* = 108.5-1010.5M), with only ~20 per cent of systems quenched as a result of environmental processes. While largely independent of satellite stellar mass, satellite quenching does exhibit clear dependence on the properties of the host. We show that satellites of passive hosts are substantially more likely to be quenched than those of star-forming hosts, and we present evidence that more massive haloes quench their satellites more efficiently. These results extend trends seen previously in more massive host haloes and for higher satellite masses. Taken together, it appears that galaxies with stellar masses larger than about 108M are uniformly resistant to environmental quenching, with the relative harshness of the host environment likely serving as the primary driver of satellite quenching. At lower stellarmasses (

Hydrodynamic simulations provide a powerful, but computationally expensive, approach to study the interplay of dark matter and baryons in cosmological structure formation. Here, we introduce the EM ulating B aryonic E n R ichment (EMBER) Deep Learning framework to predict baryon fields based on dark matter-only simulations thereby reducing computational cost. EMBER comprises two network architectures, U-Net and Wasserstein Generative Adversarial Networks (WGANs), to predict 2D gas and H  i densities from dark matter fields. We design the conditional WGANs as stochastic emulators, such that multiple target fields can be sampled from the same dark matter input. For training we combine cosmological volume and zoom-in hydrodynamical simulations from the Feedback in Realistic Environments (FIRE) project to represent a large range of scales. Our fiducial WGAN model reproduces the gas and H  i power spectra within 10 per cent accuracy down to ∼10 kpc scales. Furthermore, we investigate the capability of EMBER to predict high resolution baryon fields from low resolution dark matter inputs through upsampling techniques. As a practical application, we use this methodology to emulate high-resolution H  i maps for a dark matter simulation of a |$L=100\, \text{Mpc}\, h^{ -1}$| comoving cosmological box. The gas content of dark matter haloes and the H  i column density distributions predicted by EMBER agree well with results of large volume cosmological simulations and abundance matching models. Our method provides a computationally efficient, stochastic emulator for augmenting dark matter only simulations with physically consistent maps of baryon fields. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The predominantly ancient stellar populations observed in the lowest mass galaxies (i.e. ultra-faint dwarfs) suggest that their star formation was suppressed by reionization. Most of the well-studied ultra-faint dwarfs, however, are within the central half of the Milky Way dark matter halo, such that they are consistent with a population that was accreted at early times and thus potentially quenched via environmental processes. To study the potential role of environment in suppressing star formation on the smallest scales, we utilize the Exploring the Local Volume in Simulations suite of N -body simulations to constrain the distribution of infall times for low-mass subhaloes likely to host the ultra-faint population. For the ultra-faint satellites of the Milky Way with star formation histories inferred from Hubble Space Telescope imaging, we find that environment is highly unlikely to play a dominant role in quenching their star formation. Even when including the potential effects of pre-processing, there is a |${\lesssim } 0.1{{\ \rm per\ cent}}$| probability that environmental processes quenched all of the known ultra-faint dwarfs early enough to explain their observed star formation histories. Instead, we argue for a mass floor in the effectiveness of satellite quenching at roughly |${M}_{\star }\sim 10^{5}\, {\rm M}_{\odot }$|⁠, below which star formation in surviving galaxies is globally suppressed by reionization. We predict a large population of quenched ultra-faint dwarfs in the Local Field (1 < R / R vir < 2), with as many as ∼250 to be discovered by future wide-field imaging surveys. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]