The Non-Axisymmetric Influence: Radius and Angle-Dependent Trends in a Barred Galaxy

TL;DR

This study uses N-body simulations to analyze how galactic bars cause radius- and angle-dependent stellar radial migration, revealing distinct zones with different orbital evolution patterns and implications for metallicity distributions.

Contribution

It presents novel analysis of angle- and radius-dependent radial mixing in barred galaxies, highlighting the complex influence of bars on stellar orbits and metallicity gradients.

Findings

Bar induces azimuth angle-dependent trends in stellar migration.

Disc can be divided into three zones with distinct orbital evolution.

Angle-dependent metallicity variations can inform initial metallicity gradients.

Abstract

Many disc galaxies host galactic bars, which exert time-dependent, non-axisymmetric forces that can alter the orbits of stars. There should be both angle and radius-dependence in the resulting radial rearrangement of stars ('radial mixing') due to a bar; we present here novel results and trends through analysis of the joint impact of these factors. We use an N-body simulation to investigate the changes in the radial locations of star particles in a disc after a bar forms by quantifying the change in orbital radii in a series of annuli at different times post bar-formation. We find that the bar induces both azimuth angle- and radius- dependent trends in the median distance that stars have travelled to enter a given annulus. Angle-dependent trends are present at all radii we consider, and the radius-dependent trends roughly divide the disc into three 'zones'. In the inner zone, stars generally originated at larger radii and their orbits evolved inwards. Stars in the outer zone likely originated at smaller radii and their orbits evolved outwards. In the intermediate zone, there is no net inwards or outwards evolution of orbits. We adopt a simple toy model of a radius-dependent initial metallicity gradient and discuss recent observational evidence for angle-dependent stellar metallicity variations in the Milky Way in the context of this model. We briefly comment on the possibility of using observed angle-dependent metallicity trends to learn about the initial metallicity gradient(s) and the radial rearrangement that occurred in the disc.