Effects of Halo Spin on Bar Formation in Disk Galaxies

TL;DR

This study uses N-body simulations to explore how the spin of dark matter halos influences bar formation in disk galaxies, revealing that halo spin can either promote or delay bar development depending on its sense of rotation.

Contribution

It demonstrates the physical mechanism by which halo spin affects bar formation, highlighting the role of swing amplification and angular momentum exchange in this process.

Findings

Halo spin influences bar formation timing and strength.

Prograde halos promote, retrograde halos inhibit bar growth.

Bar pattern speed decay depends on halo spin.

Abstract

The spin of dark halos has been shown to significantly affect bar formation and evolution in disk galaxies. To understand the physical role of the halo spin on bar formation, we run $N$-body simulations of isolated, Milky Way-sized galaxies by varying the halo spin parameter in the range $-0.16 \leq \lambda \leq 0.16$ and the bulge mass. We find that our adopted halo \emph{alone} is subject to swing amplification of an $m=2$ non-axisymmetric mode rotating in the same sense as the halo, which assists or inhibits the bar formation in a disk depending on its sense of rotation. The $m=2$ mode in the disk, growing via swing amplification, interacts constructively (destructively) with the $m=2$ mode in the prograde (retrograde) halo, promoting (delaying) bar formation. A bar grows by losing its angular momentum primarily to a halo. Since the halo particles inside (outside) the corotation resonance with the bar can emit (absorb) angular momentum to (from) the bar, the bar pattern speed decays slower for larger $\lambda>0$, while it decreases relatively fast almost independent of $\lambda\leq0$. Models with a strong bar develop a boxy peanut-shaped bulge. In models without a bulge, this occurs rapidly via buckling instability, while the bars with a bulge thicken gradually without undergoing buckling instability. Among the models considered in the present work, the bar in the $\lambda = 0.06$ model with a bulge of 10\% of the disk mass best describes the Milky Way in terms of the bar length and pattern speed.