Transition between order and chaos in a composite disk galaxy model with a massive nucleus and a dark matter halo

TL;DR

This study explores how the mass of a dark matter halo and a dense nucleus influence the transition from regular to chaotic stellar orbits in a composite disk galaxy model, using semi-numerical and numerical methods.

Contribution

It establishes relationships between galaxy physical parameters and orbital chaos, highlighting the role of dark matter in orbit regularity and chaos in disk galaxies.

Findings

Dark halo mass influences the fraction of chaotic orbits.

Mass of the nucleus and angular momentum are linked to orbit regularity.

Dark matter affects the existence of regular orbit families.

Abstract

We investigate the transition from regular to chaotic motion in a composite galaxy model with a disk-halo, a massive dense nucleus and a dark halo component. We obtain relationships connecting the critical value of the mass of the nucleus or the critical value of the angular momentum, with the mass of the dark halo, where the transition from regular motion to chaos occurs. We also present 3D diagrams connecting the mass of nucleus the energy and the percentage of stars that can show chaotic motion. The fraction of the chaotic orbits observed in the phase plane, as a function of the mass of the dark halo is also computed. We use a semi-numerical method, that is a combination of theoretical and numerical procedure. The theoretical results obtained using the version 8.0 of the Mathematica package, while all the numerical calculations were made using a Bulirsch-Stoer FORTRAN routine in double precision. The results can be obtained in semi-numerical or numerical form and give good description for the connection of the physical quantities entering the model and the transition between regular and chaotic motion. We observe that the mass of the dark halo, the mass of the dense nucleus and the L_z component of the angular momentum, are important physical quantities, as they are linked to the regular or chaotic character of orbits in disk galaxies described by the model. Our numerical experiments suggest, that the amount of the dark matter plays an important role in disk galaxies represented by the model, as the mass of the halo affects, not only the regular or chaotic nature of motion but it is also connected with the existence of the different families of regular orbits. Comparison of the present results with earlier work is also presented.