Spiral arms and the angular momentum gap in Milky Way Cepheids

TL;DR

The paper investigates the bi-modal angular momentum distribution of Milky Way Cepheids, attributing it to multiple spiral arm segments and their impact on young stars, explaining the observed gap and warp features.

Contribution

It proposes that star formation in multiple spiral arms causes the angular momentum gap in young Cepheids, a novel explanation for this galactic feature.

Findings

Angular momentum gap is present only in young stars.

Multiple spiral arms cause the bi-modality in Cepheids.

The gap explains the steepening of the stellar warp.

Abstract

The angular-momentum distribution of classical Cepheids in the outer Milky Way disc is bi-modal with a gap at $L_\mathrm{gap}=2950\,\mathrm{km}\,\mathrm{s}^{-1}\,\mathrm{kpc}$, corresponding to $R=13\,\mathrm{kpc}$, while no similar feature has been found in the general population of disc stars. We show that star formation in multiple spiral arm segments at the same azimuth leads to such multi-modality which quickly dissolves and only shows in young stars. Unlike other explanations, such as a 1:1 orbital resonance with the Galactic bar, this also accounts for the observed steepening of the stellar warp at $L_\mathrm{gap}$, since the adjacent spiral arms represent different parts of the warped gas disc. In this scenario the gap is clearly present only in young stars, as observed, while most purely stellar dynamical origins would affect all disc populations, including older disc stars.