Tilted Dark Halos are Common, Long-Lived, and can Warp Galactic Disks

Understand

In the $\Lambda$-CDM paradigm, the dark halo governs the gravitational potential within which a galaxy can form and evolve.

• In this Letter we show that the present-day inner ($r<50\text{ kpc}$) dark halo can be significantly misaligned with the stellar disk.
• To this end, we use the TNG50 run from the cosmological magneto-hydrodynamic IllustrisTNG simulation suite.
• Such &#34;tilted&#34; dark halos can arise from a variety of processes including major mergers, massive fly-bys, or interactions with satellite companions.