The Satellite-substructure Connection

Abstract

We describe our recent attempts to model substructure in dark matter halos down to very small masses, using a semi-analytic model of halo formation. The results suggest that numerical simulations of halo formation may still be missing substructure in the central regions of halos due to purely numerical effects. If confirmed, this central 'overmerging' problem will have important consequences for the interpretation of lensing measurements of substructure. We also show that the spatial distribution of subhalos relative to the satellite companions of the Milky Way rules out at least one simple model of how dwarf galaxies form in low-mass halos.