Nuclear rings are the inner edge of a gap around the Lindblad Resonance

TL;DR

This paper explains the formation of nuclear rings in barred galaxies as the accumulation of gas at the inner edge of a gap around the Inner Lindblad Resonance, driven by bar-induced waves and angular momentum transfer.

Contribution

It introduces a model linking nuclear rings to the inner edge of a gap formed by bar-driven waves at the ILR, explaining their size dependence on sound speed.

Findings

Nuclear rings form at the inner edge of a gap near the ILR.

The gap's size and position depend on sound speed.

Bar-induced waves drive angular momentum transfer.

Abstract

Gaseous nuclear rings are large-scale coherent structures commonly found at the centres of barred galaxies. We propose that they are an accumulation of gas at the inner edge of an extensive gap that forms around the Inner Lindblad Resonance (ILR). The gap initially opens because the bar potential excites strong trailing waves near the ILR, which remove angular momentum from the gas disc and transport the gas inwards. The gap then widens because the bar potential continuously excites trailing waves at the inner edge of the gap, which remove further angular momentum, moving the edge further inwards until it stops at a distance of several wavelengths from the ILR. The gas accumulating at the inner edge of the gap forms the nuclear ring. The speed at which the gap edge moves and its final distance from the ILR strongly depend on the sound speed, explaining the puzzling dependence of the nuclear ring radius on the sound speed in simulations.