The baryonic Tully-Fisher relation as an independent direct probe of cosmology and of the nature of dark matter
4 affiliations
- 1Institute for Fundamental Physics of the Universe (IFPU)
- 2SISSA – International School for Advanced Studies
- 3INAF – Osservatorio Astronomico di Trieste
- 4INFN – National Institute for Nuclear Physics
Abstract
Context. The baryonic Tully-Fisher relation (BTFR), a well-established galaxy scaling relation that links the dynamical mass of rotation-supported galaxies through their maximum circular velocity to the baryonic luminous mass, has emerged over the decades as a fundamental scaling relation and a robust calibrated distance indicator. It provides a robust benchmark to test galaxy formation and evolution theories as well as an independent probe of the expansion of the Universe.
Aims. In this Letter, we show for the first time that the BTFR is also simultaneously directly sensitive to the cosmological parameters Ω m and σ ₈ , the astrophysical feedback from supernovae (SNe) and active galactic nuclei (AGNs), and the mass of dark matter particles ( M wdm ) and can therefore be used as novel, direct probe of cosmology and fundamental physics.
Methods. We performed simulation-based inference on the large DREAMS cosmological magneto-hydrodynamic simulations suite and trained deep neural networks in the form of normalizing flows to estimate the posterior distributions of Ω m , σ ₈ , M wdm , and the three astrophysical free parameters, given a BTFR measurement.
Results. Our framework is able to recover unbiased values for Ω m and σ ₈ with sub-percent deviation accuracy and a ∼2.6% and ∼3.9% median precision, respectively, and can therefore capture the warm dark matter particle mass ( M wdm ) with a ∼30 − 35% precision, as well as constrain the SN feedback parameters (but not the one regulating AGN feedback).
Conclusions. We conclude that, beyond its usage as a distance indicator and for constraining the baryon cycle and the feedback mechanisms that shape galaxy formation and evolution, the BTFR constitutes a direct independent probe of cosmology and fundamental physics. It opens new promising avenues, such as constraining the cosmic growth rate and testing gravity theories, to be explored with the future Square Kilometer Array.
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BibTeX
@article{sinigaglia2026baryonic,
title = {{The baryonic Tully-Fisher relation as an independent direct probe of cosmology and of the nature of dark matter}},
author = {Francesco Sinigaglia},
journal = {Astronomy \& Astrophysics},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.1051/0004-6361/202661408},
url = {https://www.aanda.org/10.1051/0004-6361/202661408},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - The baryonic Tully-Fisher relation as an independent direct probe of cosmology and of the nature of dark matter
AU - Francesco Sinigaglia
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/15
JO - Astronomy & Astrophysics
DO - 10.1051/0004-6361/202661408
UR - https://www.aanda.org/10.1051/0004-6361/202661408
AB - Context. The baryonic Tully-Fisher relation (BTFR), a well-established galaxy scaling relation that links the dynamical mass of rotation-supported galaxies through their maximum circular velocity to the baryonic luminous mass, has emerged over the decades as a fundamental scaling relation and a robust calibrated distance indicator. It provides a robust benchmark to test galaxy formation and evolution theories as well as an independent probe of the expansion of the Universe. Aims. In this Letter, we show for the first time that the BTFR is also simultaneously directly sensitive to the cosmological parameters Ω m and σ ₈ , the astrophysical feedback from supernovae (SNe) and active galactic nuclei (AGNs), and the mass of dark matter particles ( M wdm ) and can therefore be used as novel, direct probe of cosmology and fundamental physics. Methods. We performed simulation-based inference on the large DREAMS cosmological magneto-hydrodynamic simulations suite and trained deep neural networks in the form of normalizing flows to estimate the posterior distributions of Ω m , σ ₈ , M wdm , and the three astrophysical free parameters, given a BTFR measurement. Results. Our framework is able to recover unbiased values for Ω m and σ ₈ with sub-percent deviation accuracy and a ∼2.6% and ∼3.9% median precision, respectively, and can therefore capture the warm dark matter particle mass ( M wdm ) with a ∼30 − 35% precision, as well as constrain the SN feedback parameters (but not the one regulating AGN feedback). Conclusions. We conclude that, beyond its usage as a distance indicator and for constraining the baryon cycle and the feedback mechanisms that shape galaxy formation and evolution, the BTFR constitutes a direct independent probe of cosmology and fundamental physics. It opens new promising avenues, such as constraining the cosmic growth rate and testing gravity theories, to be explored with the future Square Kilometer Array.
SN - 0004-6361
SN - 1432-0746
ER -