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Full-Text Articles in Physics

Secular Damping Of Stellar Bars In Spinning Dark Matter Halos, Stacy Long, Isaac Shlosman, Clayton Heller Feb 2014

Secular Damping Of Stellar Bars In Spinning Dark Matter Halos, Stacy Long, Isaac Shlosman, Clayton Heller

Department of Physics and Astronomy Faculty Publications

We demonstrate using numerical simulations of isolated galaxies that growth of stellar bars in spinning dark matter halos is heavily suppressed in the secular phase of evolution. In a representative set of models, we show that for values of the cosmological spin parameter λ ≳ 0.03, bar growth (in strength and size) becomes increasingly quenched. Furthermore, the slowdown of the bar pattern speed weakens considerably with increasing λ until it ceases completely. The terminal structure of the bars is affected as well, including extent and shape of their boxy/peanut bulges. The essence of this effect lies in the modified angular …


Dark Matter Halos And Evolution Of Bars In Disk Galaxies: Varying Gas Fraction And Gas Spatial Resolution, Jorge Villa-Vargas, Isaac Shlosman, Clayton Heller Jul 2010

Dark Matter Halos And Evolution Of Bars In Disk Galaxies: Varying Gas Fraction And Gas Spatial Resolution, Jorge Villa-Vargas, Isaac Shlosman, Clayton Heller

Department of Physics and Astronomy Faculty Publications

We conduct numerical experiments by evolving gaseous/stellar disks embedded in live dark matter halos aiming at quantifying the effect of gas spatial resolution and gas content on the bar evolution. Three model sequences have been constructed using different resolutions, and the gas fraction has been varied along each sequence within the range of f g = 0%-50%, but keeping the disk and halo properties unchanged. We find that the spatial resolution becomes important with an increase in the gas content. For the higher resolution model sequences, we observe a bimodal behavior in the bar evolution with respect to the gas …


Dark Matter Halos And Evolution Of Bars In Disk Galaxies: Collisionless Models Revisited, Jorge Villa-Vargas, Isaac Shlosman, Clayton Heller Nov 2009

Dark Matter Halos And Evolution Of Bars In Disk Galaxies: Collisionless Models Revisited, Jorge Villa-Vargas, Isaac Shlosman, Clayton Heller

Department of Physics and Astronomy Faculty Publications

We construct and evolve three one-parameter families and one two-parameter family of steady-state models of stellar disks embedded in live dark matter (DM) halos in order to study the dynamical and secular phases of bar evolution. These models are tested against those published in the literature in order to extend them and to include the gaseous component in the follow-up paper. Specifically, we are interested in the angular momentum, J, redistribution in the disk-halo system during these two evolutionary phases without distinguishing between the resonant and non-resonant effects. We confirm the previous results and quantify for the first time …


Dissecting Galaxy Formation. I. Comparison Between Pure Dark Matter And Baryonic Models, Emilio Romano-Diaz, Isaac Shlosman, Clayton Heller, Yehuda Hoffman Sep 2009

Dissecting Galaxy Formation. I. Comparison Between Pure Dark Matter And Baryonic Models, Emilio Romano-Diaz, Isaac Shlosman, Clayton Heller, Yehuda Hoffman

Department of Physics and Astronomy Faculty Publications

We compare assembly of dark matter (DM) halos with and without baryons from identical initial conditions, within the context of cosmological evolution in the ΛCDM WMAP3 Universe (baryons+DM, hereafter BDM model, and pure DM, PDM model). In representative PDM and BDM models, we find that baryons contribute decisively to the evolution of the central region, leading to an isothermal DM cusp, and thereafter to a flat DM density core—the result of heating by dynamical friction of the DM+baryon substructure during a quiescent evolution epoch. This process ablates the cold gas from an embedded disk, cutting the star formation rate by …


Erasing Dark Matter Cusps In Cosmological Galactic Halos With Baryons, Emilio Romano-Diaz, Isaac Shlosman, Yehuda Hoffman, Clayton Heller Oct 2008

Erasing Dark Matter Cusps In Cosmological Galactic Halos With Baryons, Emilio Romano-Diaz, Isaac Shlosman, Yehuda Hoffman, Clayton Heller

Department of Physics and Astronomy Faculty Publications

We study the central dark matter (DM) cusp evolution in cosmologically grown galactic halos. Numerical models with and without baryons (baryons+DM, hereafter BDM model, and pure DM, PDM model, respectively) are advanced from identical initial conditions, obtained using the Constrained Realization method. The DM cusp properties are contrasted by a direct comparison of pure DM and baryonic models. We find a divergent evolution between the PDM and BDM models within the inner few × 10 kpc region. The PDM model forms an R−1 cusp as expected, while the DM in the BDM model forms a larger isothermal cusp R …


Structure Formation Inside Triaxial Dark Matter Halos: Galactic Disks, Bulges, And Bars, Clayton Heller, Isaac Shlosman, Evangelie Athanassoula Dec 2007

Structure Formation Inside Triaxial Dark Matter Halos: Galactic Disks, Bulges, And Bars, Clayton Heller, Isaac Shlosman, Evangelie Athanassoula

Department of Physics and Astronomy Faculty Publications

We investigate formation and evolution of galactic disks immersed in assembling live DM halos. Models have been evolved from cosmological initial conditions and represent the collapse of an isolated density perturbation. The baryons include gas participating in star formation (SF) and stars with the energy feedback onto the ISM. We find that (1) the triaxial halo figure tumbling is insignificant and the angular momentum (J) is channeled into the internal circulation, while the baryonic collapse is stopped by the centrifugal barrier; (2) density response of the (disk) baryons is out of phase with DM, thus washing out the …


Gas Feedback On Stellar Bar Evolution, Ingo Berentzen, Isaac Shlosman, Inma Martinez-Valpuesta, Clayton Heller Sep 2007

Gas Feedback On Stellar Bar Evolution, Ingo Berentzen, Isaac Shlosman, Inma Martinez-Valpuesta, Clayton Heller

Department of Physics and Astronomy Faculty Publications

We analyze evolution of live disk-halo systems with gas fractions, fgas ≤ 8% of the disk mass, for 5 Gyr. Specifically, we have addressed the issue of angular momentum (J) transfer from the gas to the stellar bar and its effect on the bar. We find that the bar weakening, reported in the literature, is not related to the gas, but is caused by the vertical buckling instability in the gas-poor disks and by a steep stellar heating by the central mass concentration (CMC) in the gas-rich disks. However, the gas has a profound effect on the …


Induced Nested Galactic Bars Inside Assembling Dark Matter Halos, Clayton Heller, Isaac Shlosman, Evangelie Athanassoula Mar 2007

Induced Nested Galactic Bars Inside Assembling Dark Matter Halos, Clayton Heller, Isaac Shlosman, Evangelie Athanassoula

Department of Physics and Astronomy Faculty Publications

We investigate the formation and evolution of nested bar systems in disk galaxies in a cosmological setting by following the development of an isolated dark matter (DM) and baryon density perturbation. The disks form within the assembling triaxial DM halos, and the feedback from the stellar evolution is accounted for in terms of supernovae and OB stellar winds. Focusing on a representative model, we show the formation of an oval disk and of a first generation of nested bars with characteristic subkiloparsec sizes and a few kiloparsec sizes. The system evolves through successive dynamical couplings and decouplings, forcing the gas …


Evolution Of Stellar Bars In Live Axisymmetric Halos: Recurrent Buckling And Secular Growth, Inma Martinez-Valpuesta, Isaac Shlosman, Clayton Heller Jan 2006

Evolution Of Stellar Bars In Live Axisymmetric Halos: Recurrent Buckling And Secular Growth, Inma Martinez-Valpuesta, Isaac Shlosman, Clayton Heller

Department of Physics and Astronomy Faculty Publications

Evolution of stellar bars in disk galaxies is accompanied by dynamical instabilities and secular changes. Following the vertical buckling instability, the bars are known to weaken dramatically and develop a pronounced boxy/ peanut shape when observed edge-on. Using high-resolution N-body simulations of stellar disks embedded in live axisymmetric dark matter halos, we have investigated the long-term changes in the bar morphology, specifically the evolution of the bar size, its vertical structure, and the exchange of angular momentum. We find that following the initial buckling, the bar resumes its growth from deep inside the corotation radius and follows the ultraharmonic resonance …


Nested Bars In Disk Galaxies : No Offset Dust Lanes In Secondary Nuclear Bars, Isaac Shlosman, Clayton Heller Feb 2002

Nested Bars In Disk Galaxies : No Offset Dust Lanes In Secondary Nuclear Bars, Isaac Shlosman, Clayton Heller

Department of Physics and Astronomy Faculty Publications

Under certain conditions, subkiloparsec nuclear bars form inside large-scale stellar bars of disk galaxies. These secondary bars spend a fraction of their lifetime in a dynamically decoupled state, tumbling in the gravitational field of the outer bars. We analyze the flow pattern in such nested-bar systems under the conditions of negligible self-gravity and find that secondary bars differ fundamentally from their large-scale counterparts in gas flow pattern and other dynamical properties. In particular, the gas flow across the bar-bar interface in these systems can be more chaotic or more regular in nature and, contrary to predictions, has no difficulty in …