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Spiral structure in barred galaxies. Observational constraints to spiral arm formation mechanisms

James, PA, Font, J, Beckman, J and Patsis, P (2018) Spiral structure in barred galaxies. Observational constraints to spiral arm formation mechanisms. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 482 (5362). pp. 5362-5378. ISSN 1365-2966

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Abstract

A method, which we have developed for determining corotation radii, has allowed us to map in detail the radial resonant structures of barred spiral galaxies. Here, we have combined this information with new determinations of the bar strength and the pitch angle of the innermost segment of the spiral arms to find relationships between these parameters of relevance to the dynamical evolution of the galaxies. We show how (1) the bar mass fraction, (2) the scaled bar angular momentum, (3) the pitch angle, and (4) the shear parameter vary along the Hubble sequence, and we also plot along the Hubble sequence (5) the scaled bar length, (6) the ratio of bar corotation radius to bar length, (7) the scaled bar pattern speed, and (8) the bar strength. It is of interest to note that the parameters (2), (5), (6), (7), and (8) all show breaks in their behaviour at type Scd. We find that bars with high shear have only small pitch angles, while bars with large pitch angles must have low shear; we also find a generally inverse trend of the pitch angle with bar strength. An inference that at first seems counter-intuitive is that the most massive bars rotate most slowly but have the largest angular momenta. Among a further set of detailed results, we pick out here the 2:1 ratio between the number of spiral arms and the number of corotations outside the bar. These results give a guideline to theories of disc–bar evolution.

Item Type: Article
Additional Information: This article has been accepted for publication in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society ©: 2018 The Authors Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Royal Astronomical Society. All rights reserved.
Uncontrolled Keywords: 0201 Astronomical And Space Sciences
Subjects: Q Science > QB Astronomy
Q Science > QC Physics
Divisions: Astrophysics Research Institute
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Date Deposited: 07 Jan 2019 12:26
Last Modified: 04 Sep 2021 02:04
DOI or ID number: 10.1093/mnras/sty2983
URI: https://researchonline.ljmu.ac.uk/id/eprint/9886
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