A two-phase scenario for bulge assembly in LCDM cosmologies

TL;DR

This study uses hydrodynamical simulations to propose a two-phase formation scenario for bulges in L* spiral galaxies, highlighting the distinct properties of old and young stellar populations within bulges.

Contribution

It introduces a two-phase bulge assembly model in LCDM cosmologies, linking simulation results to observed bulge properties and explaining phenomena like bulge rejuvenation.

Findings

Bulges contain two stellar populations with distinct kinematics and metallicities.

Early rapid mass assembly leads to old, alpha-enhanced bulge stars.

Later processes produce younger, more metal-rich, rotationally supported bulge components.

Abstract

We analyze and compare the bulges of a sample of L* spiral galaxies in hydrodynamical simulations in a cosmological context, using two different codes, P-DEVA and GASOLINE. The codes regulate star formation in very different ways, with P-DEVA simulations inputing low star formation efficiency under the assumption that feedback occurs on subgrid scales, while the GASOLINE simulations have feedback which drives large scale outflows. In all cases, the marked knee-shape in mass aggregation tracks, corresponding to the transition from an early phase of rapid mass assembly to a later slower one, separates the properties of two populations within the simulated bulges. The bulges analyzed show an important early starburst resulting from the collapse-like fast phase of mass assembly, followed by a second phase with lower star formation, driven by a variety of processes such as disk instabilities and/or mergers. Classifying bulge stellar particles identified at z=0 into old and young according to these two phases, we found bulge stellar sub-populations with distinct kinematics, shapes, stellar ages and metal contents. The young components are more oblate, generally smaller, more rotationally supported, with higher metallicity and less alpha-element enhanced than the old ones. These results are consistent with the current observational status of bulges, and provide an explanation for some apparently paradoxical observations, such as bulge rejuvenation and metal-content gradients observed. Our results suggest that bulges of L* galaxies will generically have two bulge populations which can be likened to classical and pseudo-bulges, with differences being in the relative proportions of the two, which may vary due to galaxy mass and specific mass accretion and merger histories.