No Arabic abstract
Using data from the Near-Infrared S0 Survey (NIRS0S) of nearby, early-type galaxies, we examine the distribution of bar strengths in S0 galaxies as compared to S0/a and Sa galaxies, and as compared to previously published bar strength data for Ohio State University Bright Spiral Galaxy Survey (OSUBSGS) spiral galaxies. Bar strengths based on the gravitational torque method are derived from 2.2 micron Ks-band images for a statistical sample of 138 (98 S0, 40 S0/a,Sa) galaxies having a mean total blue magnitude <B_T> <= 12.5 and generally inclined less than 65 degrees. We find that S0 galaxies have weaker bars on average than spiral galaxies in general, even compared to their closest spiral counterparts, S0/a and Sa galaxies. The differences are significant and cannot be due entirely to uncertainties in the assumed vertical scale-heights or in the assumption of constant mass-to-light ratios. Part of the difference is likely due simply to the dilution of the bar torques by the higher mass bulges seen in S0s. If spiral galaxies accrete external gas, as advocated by Bournaud & Combes, then the fewer strong bars found among S0s imply a lack of gas accretion according to this theory. If S0s are stripped former spirals, or else are evolved from former spirals due to internal secular dynamical processes which deplete the gas as well as grow the bulges, then the weaker bars and the prevalence of lenses in S0 galaxies could further indicate that bar evolution continues to proceed during and even after gas depletion
We use high resolution collisionless $N$-body simulations to study the secular evolution of disk galaxies and in particular the final properties of disks that suffer a bar and perhaps a bar-buckling instability. Although we find that bars are not destroyed by the buckling instability, when we decompose the radial density profiles of the secularly-evolved disks into inner Sersic and outer exponential components, for favorable viewing angles, the resulting structural parameters, scaling relations and global kinematics of the bar components are in good agreement with those obtained for bulges of late-type galaxies. Round bulges may require a different formation channel or dissipational processes.
We demonstrate that growth of stellar bars in spinning dark matter halos is heavily suppressed in the secular phase of evolution, using numerical simulations of isolated galaxies. In a representative set of models, we show that for values of the cosmological spin parameter lambda > 0.03, bar growth (in strength and size) becomes increasingly quenched. Furthermore, slowdown of bar pattern speed weakens substantially with increasing `lambda, until it ceases completely. The terminal structure of bars is affected as well, including extent and shape of their boxy/peanut bulges. The essence of this effect lies in the modified angular momentum exchange between the disk and the halo facilitated by the bar. For the first time we have demonstrated that a dark matter halo can emit and not purely absorb angular momentum. Although the halo as a whole is not found to emit, the net transfer of angular momentum from the disk to the halo is significantly reduced or completely eliminated. The paradigm shift implies that the accepted view that disks serve as sources of angular momentum and halos serve as sinks, must be revised. Halos with lambda > 0.03 are expected to form a substantial fraction, based on lognormal distribution of lambda. Dependence of secular bar evolution on halo spin, therefore, implies profound corollaries for the cosmological evolution of galactic disks.
We quantify the evolution of the spiral, S0 and elliptical fractions in galaxy clusters as a function of cluster velocity dispersion ($sigma$) and X-ray luminosity ($L_X$) using a new database of 72 nearby clusters from the WIde-Field Nearby Galaxy-cluster Survey (WINGS) combined with literature data at $z=0.5-1.2$. Most WINGS clusters have $sigma$ between 500 and 1100 $rm km s^{-1}$, and $L_X$ between 0.2 and $5 times 10^{44} rm erg/s$. The S0 fraction in clusters is known to increase with time at the expense of the spiral population. We find that the spiral and S0 fractions have evolved more strongly in lower $sigma$, less massive clusters, while we confirm that the proportion of ellipticals has remained unchanged. Our results demonstrate that morphological evolution since $z=1$ is not confined to massive clusters, but is actually more pronounced in low mass clusters, and therefore must originate either from secular (intrinsic) evolution and/or from environmental mechanisms that act preferentially in low-mass environments, or both in low- and high-mass systems. We also find that the evolution of the spiral fraction perfectly mirrors the evolution of the fraction of star-forming galaxies. Interestingly, at low-z the spiral fraction anticorrelates with $L_X$. Conversely, no correlation is observed with $sigma$. Given that both $sigma$ and $L_X$ are tracers of the cluster mass, these results pose a challenge for current scenarios of morphological evolution in clusters.
We present our recent results on the properties of the outskirts of disk galaxies. In particular, we focus on spiral galaxies with stellar disk truncations in their radial surface brightness profiles. Using SDSS, UDF and GOODS data we show how the position of the break (i.e., a direct estimator of the size of the stellar disk) evolves with time since z~1. Our findings agree with an evolution on the radial position of the break by a factor of 1.3+/-0.1 in the last 8 Gyr for galaxies with similar stellar masses. We also present radial color gradients and how they evolve with time. At all redshift we find a radial inside-out bluing reaching a minimum at the position of the break radius, this minimum is followed by a reddening outwards. Our results constrain several galaxy disk formation models and favour a scenario where stars are formed inside the break radius and are relocated in the outskirts of galaxies through secular processes.
We investigate the location of an ultra-hard X-ray selected sample of AGN from the Swift Burst Alert Telescope (BAT) catalog with respect to the main sequence (MS) of star-forming galaxies using Herschel-based measurements of the star formation rate (SFR) and stellar mass (mstar) from Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) photometry where the AGN contribution has been carefully removed. We construct the MS with galaxies from the Herschel Reference Survey and Herschel Stripe 82 Survey using the exact same methods to measure the SFR and mstar{} as the Swift/BAT AGN. We find a large fraction of the Swift/BAT AGN lie below the MS indicating decreased specific SFR (sSFR) compared to non-AGN galaxies. The Swift/BAT AGN are then compared to a high-mass galaxy sample (COLD GASS), where we find a similarity between the AGN in COLD GASS and the Swift/BAT AGN. Both samples of AGN lie firmly between star-forming galaxies on the MS and quiescent galaxies far below the MS. However, we find no relationship between the X-ray luminosity and distance from the MS. While the morphological distribution of the BAT AGN is more similar to star-forming galaxies, the sSFR of each morphology is more similar to the COLD GASS AGN. The merger fraction in the BAT AGN is much higher than the COLD GASS AGN and star-forming galaxies and is related to distance from the MS. These results support a model in which bright AGN tend to be in high mass star-forming galaxies in the process of quenching which eventually starves the supermassive black hole itself.