What determines the flatness of X-shaped structures in edge-on galaxies

TL;DR

This study uses high-resolution simulations to identify how galaxy parameters like dark halo mass and disc thickness influence the formation and opening angles of X-shaped structures in edge-on galaxies, aligning with observational data.

Contribution

It reveals the key galaxy parameters affecting X-structure flatness and provides a detailed simulation-based analysis of their evolution over 8 billion years.

Findings

Dark halo mass significantly affects opening angles.

Initial disc thickness influences X-structure morphology.

Heavy dark halos correlate with smaller observable opening angles.

Abstract

Recent observational studies of X-shaped structures revealed that values of their opening angles lie in a narrow range: from 20 deg to 43 deg with smaller X-shaped structures appearing to follow a characteristic opening angle ~ 27 deg - 31 deg. We use self-consistent numerical simulations to uncover what parameters of host galaxies govern the opening angle spread. We constructed a series of equilibrium models of galaxies with high spatial resolution, varying the dark halo and bulge contribution in the overall gravitational potential, the initial disc thickness of models and the Toomre parameter Q and followed their evolution for almost 8 Gyrs. Each model demonstrated the formation of clear X-structures with different flatness. We have obtained that opening angles lie in the range from 25 deg to 42 deg throughout the entire evolution. These values are roughly consistent with observational data. The greatest variation in the opening angles is obtained by varying the mass of the dark halo. The initial thickness of the disc and the Toomre parameter are responsible for smaller variations of the angle and shorter X-structures. An increase of both parameters changes the morphology of in-plane bars and X-structures. In some cases we observed even double X-structures. The main effect of the bulge is to prevent buckling at intermediate and late stages of the disc evolution. Comparison of models with different halo masses indicates that the smallest observable values of opening angles can be associated with the presence of a heavy dark halo (more than 3 masses of the disc within the optical radius).