Boxy/peanut and discy bulges : formation, evolution and properties

TL;DR

This paper reviews the formation, evolution, and properties of boxy/peanut and discy bulges in galaxies, highlighting their origins, characteristics, and the results of recent simulations that elucidate their development and relationship with bars.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive review and new simulation results on the formation and properties of two bulge types, linking their features to galaxy dynamics and bar evolution.

Findings

B/Ps form about 1 Gyr after bar formation via vertical buckling.

Stronger bars produce stronger peanuts and experience more buckling.

Discy bulges form from gas inflow and star formation, often coexisting with B/Ps.

Abstract

The class `bulges' contains objects with very different formation and evolution paths and very different properties. I review two types of `bulges', the boxy/peanut bulges (B/Ps) and the discy bulges. The former are parts of bars seen edge-on, have their origin in vertical instabilities of the disc and are somewhat shorter in extent than bars. Their stellar population is similar to that of the inner part of the disc from which they formed. Discy bulges have a disc-like outline, i.e., seen face-on they are circular or oval and seen edge-on they are thin. Their extent is of the order of 5 times smaller than that of the boxy/peanut bulges. They form from the inflow of mainly gaseous material to the centre of the galaxy and from subsequent star formation. They thus contain a lot of young stars and gas. Bulges of different types often coexist in the same galaxy. I review the main known results on these two types of bulges and present new simulation results. B/Ps form about 1Gyr after the bar, via a vertical buckling. At that time the bar strength decreases, its inner part becomes thicker -- forming the peanut or boxy shape -- and the ratio $\sigma_z^2/\sigma_r^2$ increases. A second buckling episode is seen in simulations with strong bars, also accompanied by a thickening of the peanut and a weakening of the bar. The properties of the B/Ps correlate strongly with those of the bar: stronger bars have stronger peanuts, a more flat-topped vertical density distribution and have experienced more bucklings. I also present simulations of disc galaxy formation, which include the formation of a discy bulge. Decomposition of their radial density profile into an exponential disc and a Sersic bulge gives realistic values for the disc and bulge scale-lengths and mass ratios, and a Sersic shape index of the order of 1.