Bars may induce morphological features, such as rings, through their resonances. Previous studies suggested that the presence of “dark gaps,” or regions of a galaxy where the difference between the surface brightness along the bar major axis and that along the bar minor axis is maximal, can be attributed to the location of bar corotation. Here, using GALAKOS, a high-resolution
- Award ID(s):
- 2102490
- NSF-PAR ID:
- 10366393
- Publisher / Repository:
- DOI PREFIX: 10.3847
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- The Astrophysical Journal
- Volume:
- 929
- Issue:
- 2
- ISSN:
- 0004-637X
- Format(s):
- Medium: X Size: Article No. 112
- Size(s):
- ["Article No. 112"]
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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Abstract Many barred galaxies exhibit upturns (shoulders) in their bar-major-axis density profile. Simulation studies have suggested that shoulders are supported by looped
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Abstract Elongated bar-like features are ubiquitous in galaxies, occurring at the centers of approximately two-thirds of spiral disks in the nearby Universe. Due to gravitational interactions between the bar and the other components of galaxies, it is expected that angular momentum and matter will redistribute over long (Gyr) timescales in barred galaxies. Previous work ignoring the gas phase of galaxies has conclusively demonstrated that bars should slow their rotation over time due to their interaction with dark matter halos. We have performed a simulation of a Milky Way–like galactic disk hosting a strong bar, including a state-of-the-art model of the interstellar medium and a live dark matter halo. In this simulation, the bar pattern does not slow down over time, and instead it remains at a stable, constant rate of rotation. This behavior has been observed in previous simulations using more simplified models for the interstellar gas, but the apparent lack of secular evolution has remained unexplained. We find that the presence of the gas phase arrests the process by which the dark matter halo slows down a bar, a phenomenon we term bar locking. This locking is responsible for stabilizing the bar pattern speed. We find that, in a Milky Way–like disk, a gas fraction of only about 5% is necessary for this mechanism to operate. Our result naturally explains why nearly all observed bars rotate rapidly and is especially relevant for our understanding of how the Milky Way arrived at its present state.
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