Deviations from tidal torque theory: Environment dependences on halo angular momentum growth

Abstract

The tidal torque theory (TTT) relates the origin and evolution of angular momentum with the environment in which dark matter (DM) haloes form. The deviations introduced by late non-linearities are commonly thought as noise in the model. In this work, we analyse a cosmological simulation looking for systematics on these deviations, finding that the classification of DM haloes according to their angular momentum growth results in samples with different internal alignment, spin parameter distribution, and assembly history. Based on this classification, we obtain that low-mass haloes are embedded in denser environments if they have acquired angular momentum below the TTT expectations (L haloes), whereas at high masses enhanced clustering is typically associated with higher angular momentum growths (W haloes). Additionally, we find that the low-mass signal has a weak dependence on the direction, whereas the high-mass signal is entirely due to the structure perpendicular to the angular momentum. Finally, we study the anisotropy of the matter distribution around haloes as a function of their mass. We find that the angular momentum direction of W (L) haloes remains statistically perpendicular (parallel) to the surrounding structure across the mass range 11 < log(M/h-1M⊙) < 14, whereas haloes following TTT show a 'spin flip' mass consistent with previously reported values (∼5 × 1012 h-1M⊙). Hence, whether the spin flip mass of the deviated samples is highly shifted or straightly undefined, our results indicate that it is remarkably connected to the haloes angular momentum growth.