SPH SIMULATIONS OF BARRED GALAXIES: DYNAMICAL EVOLUTION OF GASEOUS DISK

  • ANN HONG BAE (Department of Earth Sciences, Pusan National University) ;
  • LEE HVUNG MOK (Astronomy Program, SEES, Seoul National University)
  • Published : 2000.04.01

Abstract

We have performed extensive simulations of response of gaseous disk in barred galaxies using SPH method. The gravitational potential is assumed to be generated by disk, bulge, halo, and bar. The mass of gaseous disk in SPH simulation is assumed to be negligible compared to the stellar and dark mass component, and the gravitational potential generated by other components is fixed in time. The self-gravity of the gas is not considered in most simulations, but we have made a small set of simulations including the self-gravity of the gas. Non-circular component of velocity generated by the rotating, non-axisymmetric potential causes many interesting features. In most cases, there is a strong tendency of concentration of gas toward the central parts of the galaxy. The morphology of the gas becomes quite complex, but the general behavior can be understood in terms of simple linear approximations: the locations and number of Lindblad resonances play critical role in determining the general distribution of the gas. We present our results in the form of 'atlas' of artificial galaxies. We also make a brief comment on the observational implications of our calculations. Since the gaseous component show interesting features while the stellar component behaves more smoothly, high resolution mapping using molecular emission line for barred galaxies would be desirable.

Keywords