Genesis of morpho-kinematic lopsidedness in minor merger of galaxies

TL;DR

This study investigates how minor galaxy mergers induce transient and long-lasting lopsidedness in stellar and kinematic structures, revealing the dynamics, timescales, and resonance interactions involved.

Contribution

It provides new insights into the excitation, evolution, and pattern speed of m=1 lopsidedness during minor mergers, including the effects of merger timing and orbital configurations.

Findings

Minor mergers trigger prominent m=1 lopsidedness in host galaxies.

Lopsidedness disappears within 500-850 Myr after merger.

Delayed mergers can sustain lopsidedness for about 2 Gyr.

Abstract

An $m=1$ lopsided asymmetry is common in disc galaxies. Here, we investigate the excitation of an $m=1$ lopsidedness in host galaxies during minor mergers while choosing a set of 1:10 merger models (with varying orbital configurations, morphology of the host galaxy) from the GalMer galaxy merger library. We show that a minor merger triggers a prominent $m=1$ lopsidedness in stars of the host galaxy. The strength of the $m=1$ lopsidedness undergoes a transient amplification phase after each pericenter passage of the satellite, in concordance with past findings of exciting an $m=1$ lopsidedness by tidal encounters. However, once the merger happens, and the post-merger remnant readjusts itself, the lopsidedness disappears in short time-scale ($\sim$ 500-850 Myr). Furthermore, a delayed merger can drive a prolonged ($\sim$2 Gyr) lopsidedness in the host galaxy. We demonstrate that the $m=1$ lopsidedness rotates with a well-defined pattern speed which is much slower than the $m=2$ bar pattern speed, and is retrograde with respect to the bar. This gives rise to a dynamical scenario where the Inner Lindblad resonance of the $m=1$ lopsidedness falls in between the corotation and the Outer Lindblad resonance of the $m=2$ bar mode. A kinematic lopsidedness also arises in the host galaxy; the resulting temporal variation closely follows that of the density lopsidedness. The minor merger also triggers a transient off-centred stellar disc-dark matter halo configuration due to the tidal encounter with the satellite.