Connecting Angular Momentum and Galactic Dynamics: The complex Interplay between Spin, Mass, and Morphology

Understand

The evolution and distribution of the angular momentum of dark matter (DM) halos have been discussed in several studies over the past decades.

• In particular, the idea arose that angular momentum conservation should allow to infer the total angular momentum of the entire DM halo from measuring the angular momentum of the baryonic component, which is populating the center of the halo, especially for disk galaxies.
• To test this idea and to understand the connection between the angular momentum of the DM halo and its galaxy, we use the Magneticum simulations.
• We successfully produce populations of spheroidal and disk galaxies self-consistently.