Mesoscopic energy ranking constraints in the IllustrisTNG simulations

Abstract

ABSTRACT We revisited the problem of mixing in a gravitational N-body system from the point of view of the ordering of coarse-grained cells in the one-particle energy space, here denoted energy ranking preservation (ERP). This effect has been noted for some time in simulations, although individual particle energies and their phase-space variables mix considerably. The present investigation aimed to map ERP in terms of parameters involving the collective range in which it is effective, as well as in terms of global and historical characterizations of gravitational systems evolving towards equilibrium. We examined a subset of the IllustrisTNG cosmological magnetohydrodynamical simulations (TNG50-4 and TNG100-3), considering both their full and dark-only versions. For each simulation, we selected the 20 most massive haloes at redshift z = 0, tracing their ERP fractions back at selected redshift markers (z = {1.0, 5.0, 10 0}), and for a coarse-graining set ranging from 5 to 30 energy bins. At the redshift marker z = 1, we found high ERP fractions (above ${\sim}80\,\hbox{per cent}$) in both simulations, regardless of the coarse-graining level. The decline in ERP fractions with redshift was roughly a function of mass and fractional mass increase in the analysed TNG50-4 haloes, but not in the TNG100-3 ones, indicating a possible relative susceptibility of the ERP effect to mass accretion for haloes less massive than ${\sim}10^{14} \, {\rm M}_{\odot }$. We confirmed earlier indications in the literature concerning a possible ‘mesoscopic’ constraint operative in a time span of at least several Gyr.