paper

Spiral arm formation mechanisms: Spiral Structure in Barred galaxies. Observational constraints to spiral arm formation mechanisms

arXiv:1901.04725 · doi:10.1093/mnras/sty2983

Abstract

A method which we have developed for determining corotation radii, has allowed us to map in detail the radial resonant structures of barred spiral galaxies. Here we have combined this information with new determinations of the bar strength and the pitch angle of the innermost segment of the spiral arms to find relationships between these parameters of relevance to the dynamical evolution of the galaxies. We show how (1) the bar mass fraction, (2) the scaled bar angular momentum, (3) the pitch angle, and (4) the shear parameter vary along the Hubble sequence, and we also plot along the Hubble sequence (5) the scaled bar length, (6) the ratio of bar corotation radius to bar length, (7) the scaled bar pattern speed, and (8) the bar strength. It is of interest to note that the parameters (2), (5), (6), (7), and (8) all show breaks in their behaviour at type Scd. We find that bars with high shear have only small pitch angles, while bars with large pitch angles must have low shear; we also find a generally inverse trend of pitch angle with bar strength. An inference which at first seems counter-intuitive is that the most massive bars rotate most slowly but have the largest angular momenta. Among a further set of detailed results we pick out here the 2:1 ratio between the number of spiral arms and the number of corotations ouside that of the bar. These results give a guideline to theories of disc-bar evolution.

17 pages, with two tables and 11 figures

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