Bulgeless Galaxies and their Angular Momentum Problem

Abstract

The specific angular momentum of Cold Dark Matter (CDM) halos in a $\Lambda$CDM universe is investigated. Their dimensionless specific angular momentum ${\lambda }^{\prime }=\frac{j}{\sqrt{2}{V}_{vir}Rvir}$ with $V_{vir}$ and $R_{vir}$ the virial velocity and virial radius, respectively depends strongly on their merging histories. We investigate a set of $\Lambda$CDM simulations and explore the specific angular momentum content of halos formed through various merging histories. Halos with a quiet merging history, dominated by minor mergers and accretion until the present epoch, acquire by tidal torques on average only 2% to 3% of the angular momentum required for their rotational support (${\lambda }^{\prime }=0.02$). This is in conflict with observational data for a sample of late-type bulgeless galaxies which indicates that those galaxies reside in dark halos with exceptionally high values of ${\lambda }^{\prime }\approx 0.06-0.07$. Minor mergers and accretion preserve or slowly increase the specific angular momentum of dark halos with time. This mechanism is however not efficient enough in order to explain the observed spin values for late-type dwarf galaxies. Energetic feedback processes have been invoked to solve the problem that gas loses a large fraction of its specific angular momentum during infall. Under the assumption that dark halos hosting bulgeless galaxies acquire their mass via quiescent accretion, our results indicate yet another serious problem: the specific angular momentum gained during the formation of these objects is not large enough to explain their observed rotational properties,even if no angular momentum would be lost during gas infall.

4 pages, 3 figures. To appear in September 1, 2004, issue of ApJ Letters

References in corpus (1)

• Disk Galaxy Formation in a LambdaCDM Universe

Cited by in corpus (57)

• Tracing Galaxy Formation with Stellar Halos I: Methods
• The SAURON project -- IX. A kinematic classification for early-type galaxies
• Theoretical Challenges in Galaxy Formation
• Concentration, Spin and Shape of Dark Matter Haloes: Scatter and the Dependence on Mass and Environment
• A Merger-Driven Scenario for Cosmological Disk Galaxy Formation
• The Secular Evolution of Disk Structural Parameters
• The Structure of Classical Bulges And Pseudobulges: The Link Between Pseudobulges And Sersic Index
• A Revised Model for the Formation of Disk Galaxies: Low Spin and Dark-Halo Expansion
• Angular momentum and galaxy formation revisited
• GEMS: The Size Evolution of Disk Galaxies
• History of Galaxy Interactions and their Impact on Star Formation over the Last 7 Gyr from GEMS
• Bars in Disk-Dominated and Bulge-Dominated Galaxies at z~0: New Insights from ~3600 SDSS Galaxies
• Review: galactic angular momenta and angular momentum correlations in the cosmological large-scale structure
• The Impact of Feedback on Disk Galaxy Scaling Relations
• Angular Momentum Transfer in Dark Matter Halos: Erasing the Cusp
• On the Origin of Isophotal Shapes in Elliptical Galaxies
• Angular momentum-Large-scale structure alignments in LCDM models and the SDSS
• A Catalog of Edge-on Disk Galaxies: From Galaxies with a Bulge to Superthin Galaxies
• Interpreting the Evolution of the Size - Luminosity Relation for Disk Galaxies from Redshift 1 to the Present
• Growth of galactic bulges by mergers. II. Low-density satellites
• Preheating by Previrialization and its Impact on Galaxy Formation
• The Evolution of the Dark Halo Spin Parameters lambda and lambda' in a LCDM Universe: The Role of Minor and Major Mergers
• Dark Matter Halos of Disk Galaxies: Constraints from the Tully-Fisher Relation
• Galactic rotation curves, the baryon-to-dark-halo-mass relation and space-time scale invariance
• Bulge Formation via Mergers in Cosmological Simulations
• The Dramatic Size and Kinematic Evolution of Massive Early-Type Galaxies
• Do Mergers Spin up Dark Matter Halos?
• How galaxies lose their angular momentum
• Confirmation of a Kinematic Diagnostic for Face-On B/P Bulges
• Connecting Transitions in Galaxy Properties to Refueling
• The chemical evolution of a Milky Way-like galaxy: the importance of a cosmologically motivated infall law
• Cosmology: small scale issues revisited
• A unified solution to the small scale problems of the $\Lambda$CDM model
• Measuring the Spin of Spiral Galaxies
• HI Imaging Observations of Superthin Galaxies. II. IC2233 and the Blue Compact Dwarf NGC2537
• Angular Momenta, Dynamical Masses, and Mergers of Brightest Cluster Galaxies
• Dark matter dominance at all radii in the superthin galaxy UGC 7321
• New multi-zoom method for N-body simulations: application to galaxy growth by accretion
• Robust determination of the major merger fraction at z = 0.6 in Groth Strip
• Precision Cosmology
• The origin of bulges and discs in the CALIFA survey: I. Morphological evolution
• On The Survival and Abundance of Disk-dominated Galaxies
• The Impact of Mergers on the Survival and Abundance of Disk-Dominated Galaxies
• Stochastic angular momentum slews and flips and their effect on discs in galaxy formation models
• The angular momentum of disc galaxies: implications for gas accretion, outflows, and dynamical friction
• Disk Galaxy Scaling Relations in the SFI++: Intrinsic Scatter and Applications
• The slowing down of galaxy disks in dissipationless minor mergers
• Merger and Ring Galaxy Formation Rates at z<=2
• The hierarchical build-up of the Tully-Fisher relation
• Precision Cosmology: Successes and Challenges
• Bulgeless Galaxies at Intermediate Redshift: Sample Selection, Colour Properties, and the Existence of Powerful AGN
• Exploring the effects of primordial non-Gaussianity at galactic scales
• Edge-on disk galaxies in the SDSS DR6: Fractions of bulgeless and other disk galaxies
• Identification of Intermediate-mass Black Hole Candidates Among a Sample of Sd Galaxies
• The other side of Bulge Formation in a Lambda-CDM cosmology: Bulgeless Galaxies in the Local Universe
• Star formation in bulgeless late type galaxies: clues to their evolution
• Fast and Slow Rotators: The build-up of the Red Sequence