Arm morphology in off-centre barred galaxies
P. S\'anchez-Mart\'in, M. L\'opez-Vilamaj\'o, M. Romero-G\'omez, J. J. Masdemont

TL;DR
This paper models how internal mass asymmetries and offsets in barred galaxies influence arm structures, explaining observed asymmetries like those in the LMC.
Contribution
It introduces a new dynamical framework linking bar lopsidedness and arm morphology through equilibrium point analysis and invariant manifolds.
Findings
Lopsided bars distort invariant manifolds, creating asymmetric arms.
Offset thresholds lead to bifurcations, changing the number of equilibrium points.
The model explains observed asymmetries in galaxies like the LMC.
Abstract
Many barred galaxies, including the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), display strong lopsidedness and off-centre bars. The dynamical connection between bar-disc misalignments, internal mass asymmetries, and arm morphology is not yet fully characterised. We investigate how internal mass imbalances within the bar and global offsets between the bar and the centre of mass of the system modify the equilibrium-point structure and the invariant manifolds that organise arms. We construct a barred galaxy model which includes an off-centred and asymmetric in shape bar. Using numerical continuation, we track the position, stability, and bifurcations of the Lagrangian equilibrium points as functions of the displacement of the asymmetric mass component along the bar and of the offset between the bar and the system's centre of mass. For representative configurations we compute the invariant manifolds…
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