Down-bending Breaks in Galactic Disks Are an Intrinsic Byproduct of Inside-out Growth

Abstract

The exponential profile has long been hypothesized as the fundamental morphology of galactic disks. The IllustrisTNG simulations reproduce diverse surface-density profiles: Type I (single exponential), Type II (down-bending), and Type III (up-bending), consistent with observed mass-size relations and kinematics. Type II disks dominate the stellar-mass regime $M_{\star }<10^{10.6}{M}_{\odot }$ with a prevalence of about 40%, exhibiting systematically extended morphologies. Conversely, Type III and Type I galaxies are more compact while following the same mass-size scaling relation. Evolutionary histories show that Type II galaxies experience minimal external perturbations, suggesting that Type II disks represent an intrinsic disk form and challenging conventional single-exponential paradigms. We demonstrate that Type II breaks arise naturally via inside-out growth since $z=1$, governed by synchronized cold-gas accretion and localized peaks in specific star formation rate. This mechanism also produces the characteristic U-shaped age profiles of Type II disks. Stellar dynamical redistribution plays a minor role in their formation.

Accepted for publication in ApJL, 14 pages, 7 figures