On the occurrence of galaxy harassment

TL;DR

This paper investigates how galaxy harassment through tidal interactions depends on orbital parameters and disk inclination, affecting galaxy morphology in clusters and aligning with observational data.

Contribution

It analyzes the impact of orbital position and disk inclination on galaxy harassment, providing insights into morphological transformations in galaxy clusters.

Findings

Galaxies from outskirts are less likely to be transformed.

Tidal interactions are more effective near cluster centers.

Disk inclination influences mass loss and disk thickening.

Abstract

Tidal interactions of galaxies in galaxy clusters have been proposed as one potential explanation of the morphology-density relation at low masses. The efficiency of tidal transformation is expected to depend strongly on the orbit of a galaxy within the cluster halo. The orbit determines both the strength of the cluster's global tidal field and the probability of encounters with other cluster members. Additionally, we investigate the effect of an inclination between the disk of the infalling galaxy and its orbital plane. We also compare our results to observational data. We find that galaxies that entered a cluster from the outskirts are unlikely to be significantly transformed. Closer to the cluster centre, tidal interactions are a more efficient mechanism for producing harassed galaxies. But the inclination of the disk can reduce the mass loss significantly, yet it amplifies the thickening.