Publications by Harry Desmond

Uncorrelated velocity and size residuals across galaxy rotation curves

Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society Oxford University Press (OUP) (2019)

H Desmond, H Katz, F Lelli, S McGaugh

Local resolution of the Hubble tension: The impact of screened fifth forces on the cosmic distance ladder

Physical Review D American Physical Society (APS) 100 (2019) 043537

H Desmond, B Jain, J Sakstein

Screened fifth forces in parity-breaking correlation functions

Physical Review D American Physical Society (APS) 100 (2019) 064030

D Kodwani, H Desmond

Constraints on chameleon f(R)-gravity from galaxy rotation curves of the SPARC sample

Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society Oxford University Press (OUP) 489 (2019) 771-787

AP Naik, E Puchwein, A-C Davis, D Sijacki, H Desmond

<jats:title>ABSTRACT</jats:title> <jats:p>In chameleon f(R)-gravity, the fifth force will lead to ‘upturns’ in galaxy rotation curves near the screening radius. The location of the upturn depends on the cosmic background value of the scalar field $\bar{f}_\mathrm{R0}$, as well as the mass, size, and environment of the galaxy. We search for this signature of modified gravity in the SPARC sample of measured rotation curves, using an MCMC technique to derive constraints on $\bar{f}_\mathrm{R0}$. Assuming NFW dark matter haloes and with $\bar{f}_\mathrm{R0}$ freely varying for each galaxy, most galaxies prefer f(R) gravity to ΛCDM, but there is a large spread of inferred $\bar{f}_\mathrm{R0}$ values, inconsistent with a single global value. Requiring instead a consistent $\bar{f}_\mathrm{R0}$ value for the whole sample, models with $\log _{10}|\bar{f}_\mathrm{R0}|\gt -6.1$ are excluded. On the other hand, models in the range $-7.5\lt \log _{10}|\bar{f}_\mathrm{R0}|\lt -6.5$ seem to be favoured with respect to ΛCDM, with a significant peak at −7. However, this signal is largely a result of galaxies for which the f(R) signal is degenerate with the core/cusp problem, and when the NFW profile is replaced with a cored halo profile, ΛCDM gives better fits than any given f(R) model. Thus, we find no convincing evidence of f(R) gravity down to the level of $|\bar{f}_\mathrm{R0}|\sim 6 \times 10^{-8}$, with the caveat that if cored halo density profiles cannot ultimately be explained within ΛCDM, a screened modified gravity theory could possibly provide an alternative solution for the core/cusp problem. However, the f(R) models studied here fall short of achieving this.</jats:p>

The fifth force in the local cosmic web

Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society: Letters Oxford University Press (OUP) 483 (2019) L64-L68

H Desmond, PG Ferreira, G Lavaux, J Jasche

The baryonic Tully–Fisher relation for different velocity definitions and implications for galaxy angular momentum

Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society Oxford University Press (OUP) 484 (2019) 3267-3278

F Lelli, SS McGaugh, JM Schombert, H Desmond, H Katz

Stellar feedback and the energy budget of late-type Galaxies: missing baryons and core creation

Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society Oxford University Press (OUP) (2018)

HB KATZ, H Desmond

The Tight Empirical Relation between Dark Matter Halo Mass and Flat Rotation Velocity for Late-Type Galaxies

Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society Oxford University Press (OUP) (2018)

HB KATZ, H Desmond

Fifth force constraints from galaxy warps

PHYSICAL REVIEW D 98 (2018) ARTN 083010

H Desmond, PG Ferreira, G Lavaux, J Jasche

Reconstructing the gravitational field of the local universe

Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society Blackwell Publishing Inc. (0)

H Desmond, PG Ferreira, G Lavaux, J Jasche

Tests of gravity at the galaxy scale are in their infancy. As a first step to systematically uncovering the gravitational significance of galaxies, we map three fundamental gravitational variables -- the Newtonian potential, acceleration and curvature -- over the galaxy environments of the local universe to a distance of approximately 200 Mpc. Our method combines the contributions from galaxies in an all-sky redshift survey, halos from an N-body simulation hosting low-luminosity objects, and linear and quasi-linear modes of the density field. We use the ranges of these variables to determine the extent to which galaxies expand the scope of generic tests of gravity and are capable of constraining specific classes of model for which they have special significance. Finally, we investigate the improvements afforded by upcoming galaxy surveys.

Fifth force constraints from the separation of galaxy mass components

PHYSICAL REVIEW D 98 (2018) ARTN 064015

H Desmond, PG Ferreira, G Lavaux, J Jasche

The Faber–Jackson relation and Fundamental Plane from halo abundance matching

Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society Oxford University Press (OUP) 465 (2017) 820-833

H Desmond, RH Wechsler

A statistical investigation of the mass discrepancy–acceleration relation

Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society Oxford University Press (OUP) 464 (2017) 4160-4175

H Desmond

On the galaxy–halo connection in the EAGLE simulation

Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society: Letters Oxford University Press (OUP) 471 (2017) L11-L15

H Desmond, Y-Y Mao, RH Wechsler, RA Crain, J Schaye

The scatter, residual correlations and curvature of the sparc baryonic Tully–Fisher relation

Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society: Letters Oxford University Press (OUP) 472 (2017) L35-L39

H Desmond

The Tully–Fisher and mass–size relations from halo abundance matching

Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society Oxford University Press (OUP) 454 (2015) 322-343

H Desmond, RH Wechsler