Modeling Evolution of Galactic Bars at Cosmic Dawn

TL;DR

This study uses high-resolution cosmological simulations to analyze the formation, properties, and evolution of galactic bars at high redshifts (z~9-2), revealing their frequent occurrence and dependence on environmental factors and feedback mechanisms.

Contribution

It provides the first detailed simulation-based analysis of galactic bar evolution during cosmic dawn, highlighting their formation triggers, properties, and transient nature at high redshifts.

Findings

Bars form due to mergers, flybys, and cold flows.

Bars are gas-rich and weaker than low-z counterparts.

Bars can weaken and reform multiple times during evolution.

Abstract

We study evolution of galactic bars using suite of very high-resolution zoom-in cosmological simulations of galaxies at z ~ 9-2. Our models were chosen to lie within similar mass DM halos, log(Mvir/Mo) ~ 11.65 +- 0.05, at z=6, 4, and 2, in high and low overdensity environments. We apply two galactic wind feedback mechanisms for each model. All galaxies develop sub-kpc stellar bars differing in their properties. We find that (1) The high-z bars form in response to various perturbations: mergers, close flybys, cold accretion inflows along the cosmological filaments, etc.; (2) These bars account for large-mass fraction of galaxies; (3) Bars display large corotation-to-bar-size ratios, and are weaker compared to their low-redshift counterparts, by measuring their Fourier amplitudes, and are very gas-rich; (4) Their pattern speed does not exhibit monotonic decline with time due to braking against DM, as at low z; (5) Bar properties, including their stellar population (SFRs and metal enrichment) depend sensitively on prevailing feedback; (6) Finally, we find that bars can weaken substantially during cosmological evolution, becoming weak oval distortions -- hence bars are destroyed and reformed multiple times unlike their low-z counterparts. In all cases, bars in our simulations have been triggered by interactions. In summary, stellar bars appear to be not only contemporary phenomenon, but based on increased frequency of mergers, flybys and the strength of cold accretion flows at high z, we expect them to be ubiquitous at redshifts > 2 -- the epoch of rapid galaxy growth and larger stellar dispersion velocities.