Fractal basins of escape and the formation of spiral arms in a galactic potential with a bar

TL;DR

This paper explores the complex escape dynamics in a barred galaxy potential, revealing fractal basin structures and their relation to spiral arm formation, supported by numerical analysis of Poincaré sections and escape basins.

Contribution

It provides the first detailed numerical analysis of escape basins and fractal structures in a barred galaxy potential, linking these to spiral arm formation.

Findings

Existence of a separatrix hindering orbit escape.

Fractal basin boundaries influence escape dynamics.

Similarity between spiral arms and tidal tails.

Abstract

We investigate the dynamics in the close vicinity of and within the critical area in a 2D effective galactic potential with a bar of Zotos. We have calculated Poincar\'e surfaces of section and the basins of escape. In both the Poincar\'e surfaces of section and the basins of escape we find numerical evidence for the existence of a separatrix which hinders orbits from escaping out of the bar region. We present numerical evidence for the similarity between spiral arms of barred spiral galaxies and tidal tails of star clusters.