SatGen: a semi-analytical satellite galaxy generator -- I. The model and its application to Local-Group satellite statistics

Understand

We present a semi-analytic model of satellite galaxies, SatGen, which can generate large samples of satellite populations for a host halo of desired mass, redshift, and assembly history.

• The model combines dark-matter halo merger trees, empirical relations for the galaxy-halo connection, and analytic prescriptions for tidal effects, dynamical friction, and ram pressure stripping.
• SatGen emulates cosmological zoom-in hydro-simulations in certain aspects.
• Satellites can reside in cored or cuspy DM subhaloes, depending on the halo response to baryonic physics that can be formulated from hydro-simulations and physical modeling.