Dependence of Barred Galaxy Fraction on Galaxy Properties and Environment

TL;DR

This study analyzes how the presence of bars in galaxies depends on galaxy properties and environment, revealing that strong bars are more common in intermediate-mass, redder galaxies and are likely destroyed by close tidal interactions.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive analysis of bar fractions in galaxies based on a large SDSS sample, highlighting the roles of galaxy mass, color, and environment in bar occurrence and destruction.

Findings

Strong bars are more frequent in intermediate-mass, redder galaxies.

Weak bars show no significant environmental dependence.

Close tidal interactions tend to destroy strong bars.

Abstract

We investigate the dependence of occurrence of bars in galaxies on galaxy properties and environment. We use a volume-limited sample of 33,391 galaxies brighter than $M_{r}=-19.5+5$log$h$ at $0.02\le z\le0.05489$, drawn from the SDSS DR 7. We classify the galaxies into early and late types, and identify bars by visual inspection. Among 10,674 late-type galaxies with axis ratio $b/a>0.60$, we find 3,240 barred galaxies ($f_{bar}=30.4%$) which divide into 2,542 strong bars ($f_{SB1}=23.8%$) and 698 weak bars ($f_{SB2}=6.5%$). We find that $f_{SB1}$ increases as $u-r$ color becomes redder, and that it has a maximum value at intermediate velocity dispersion ($\sigma\simeq$150 km s$^{-1}$). This trend suggests that strong bars are dominantly hosted by intermediate-mass systems. Weak bars prefer bluer galaxies with lower mass and lower concentration. In the case of strong bars, their dependence on the concentration index appears only for massive galaxies with $\sigma>150$ km s$^{-1}$. We also find that $f_{bar}$ does not directly depend on the large-scale background density when other physical parameters ($u-r$ color or $\sigma$) are fixed. We discover that $f_{SB1}$ decreases as the separation to the nearest neighbor galaxy becomes smaller than 0.1 times the virial radius of the neighbor regardless of neighbor's morphology. These results imply that strong bars are likely to be destroyed during strong tidal interactions, and that the mechanism for this phenomenon is gravitational and not hydrodynamical. The fraction of weak bars has no correlation with environmental parameters. We do not find any direct evidence for environmental stimulation of bar formation.