The First Fall is the Hardest: The Importance of Peculiar Galaxy Dynamics at Infall Time for Tidal Stripping Acting at the Centers of Groups and Clusters

Using dark-matter-only N-body cosmological simulations, we measure the pericentre distance of dark matter halos on their first infall into group and cluster halos. We find that the pericentre distance (R peri) is an important parameter as it significantly affects the strength of tidal mass loss in dense environments, and likely other environmental mechanisms as well. We examine what determines the R peri value and find that, for most infallers, the dominant parameter is V ⊥, the tangential component of the orbital velocity as the halo enters the group/cluster halo for the first time. This means that the strength of tidal stripping acting near the cores of groups/clusters are strongly influenced by the external peculiar velocity field of the large-scale structure surrounding them, which differs between clusters and is sensitive to the mass ratio of infaller to host. We find that filament feeding also partially contributes to feeding in low-V ⊥ halos. Dynamical friction can also play a role in reducing R peri but this is only significant for those few relatively massive infallers (>10% of the mass of their host). These results highlight how the response of galaxies to dense environments will sensitively depend on dynamics inherited from far outside those dense environments.