Spiral Arm Features in Disk Galaxies: A Density-Wave Theory

Several observational results show a tighter pitch angle at wavelengths of optical and near-infrared than those that are associated with star formation, which is in agreement with the prediction of the density wave theory. In my recent numerical studies, the dependence of the shock positions relative to the potential minima is due to the tendency that stronger shocks form farther downstream. This causes a systematic variation of the perpendicular Mach number, with radius and makes the pitch angle of the gaseous arms smaller than that of the stellar arms, which supports the prediction of the density-wave theory, independently. However, some observations still give controversial results which show similar pitch angles at wavelengths, and there is no statistical study comparing observations and numerical models directly. By analyzing optical image of disk galaxies in the Carnegie-Irvine Galaxy Survey (CGS), I measured the physical values of stellar and gaseous arms such as their strength, length, and pitch angles. For direct comparison with numerical results, I analyzed more than 30 additional numerical models with varying the initial parameters in model galaxies. In this talk, I will present results both of observational and numerical samples and discuss the physical properties of spiral structures based on the density-wave theory.