María del Carmen Eliche Moral

A minor merger origin for stellar inner discs and rings in spiral galaxies

Context. Observations have shown that inner discs and rings (IDs and IRs) are not preferably found in barred galaxies, which indicates that their formation may differ from that described by the traditional bar-origin scenario in many cases. In contrast, the role of minor mergers in producing these inner components (ICs), while often invoked, is still poorly understood. Aims. We investigate the capability of minor mergers to trigger the formation of IDs and IRs in spiral galaxies through collisionless N-body simulations. Methods. We run a battery of minor merger simulations in which both primary and secondary galaxies are modelled as disc-bulge-halo galaxies with realistic density ratios. Different orbits and mass ratios are considered, as well as two different models for the primary galaxy (a Sab or Sc). We then perform a detailed analysis of the morphology, structure, and kinematics of the ICs resulting from the minor merger. Results. All the simulated minor mergers develop thin ICs out of satellite material, supported by rotation. A wide morphological zoo of ICs are obtained (including IDs, IRs, pseudo-rings, nested IDs, spiral patterns, and combinations of them), but all have structural and kinematical properties similar to those observed. The sizes of the resulting ICs are comparable to those observed in real galaxies with the adequate scaling. The existence of the resulting ICs can be deduced from the features that they imprint in the isophotal profiles and kinemetric maps of the final remnant, as in many real galaxies. Weak transitory oval distortions appear in the remnant centre in many cases, but none of them develops a noticeable bar. The realistic density ratios used in the present models ensure that the satellites experience more efficient orbital circularization and disruption than in previous studies. Combined with the disc resonances induced by the encounter, these processes produce highly aligned co- and counter-rotating ICs at the remnant centre. Conclusions. Minor mergers are an efficient mechanism for forming rotationally-supported stellar ICs in spiral galaxies, without requiring either strong dissipation or the development of noticeable bars. The present models indicate that minor mergers can account for the existence of pure-stellar old ICs in unbarred galaxies, and suggest that their role must have been crucial in the formation of ICs and much more complex than just bar triggering.

Formation of S0 galaxies through mergers. V - Antitruncated stellar discs resulting from major mergers

Context. Lenticular galaxies (S0’s) are more likely to host antitruncated (Type-III) stellar discs than galaxies of later Hubble types. Major mergers are popularly considered too violent mechanisms to form these breaks. Aims. We have investigated whether major mergers can result into S0-like remnants with realistic antitruncated stellar discs or not. Methods. We have analysed 67 relaxed S0 and E/S0 remnants resulting from dissipative N-body simulations of major mergers from the GalMer database. We have simulated realistic R-band surface brightness profiles of the remnants to identify those with antitruncated stellar discs. Their inner and outer discs and the breaks have been quantitatively characterized to compare with real data. Results. Nearly 70% of our S0-like remnants are antitruncated, meaning that major mergers that result in S0’s have a high probability of producing Type-III stellar discs. Our remnants lie on top of the extrapolations of the observational trends (towards brighter magnitudes and higher break radii) in several photometric diagrams, due to the higher luminosities and sizes of the simulations compared to observational samples. In scale-free photometric diagrams, simulations and observations overlap and the remnants reproduce the observational trends, so the physical mechanism after antitruncations is highly scalable. We have found novel photometric scaling relations between the characteristic parameters of the antitruncations in real S0’s, which are also reproduced by our simulations. We show that the trends in all the photometric planes can be derived from three basic scaling relations that real and simulated Type-III S0’s fulfill: h_i ∝ R_brkIII, h_o ∝ R_brkIII, and μ_brkIII ∝ R_brkIII, where h_i and h_o are the scalelenghts of the inner and outer discs, and μ_brkIII and R_brkIII are the surface brightness and radius of the breaks. Bars and antitruncations in real S0’s are structurally unrelated phenomena according to the studied photometric planes. Conclusions. Mayor mergers provide a feasible mechanism to form realistic antitruncated S0 galaxies.

Evolution along the sequence of S0 Hubble types induced by dry minor mergers. I - Global bulge-to-disk structural relations

Context. Recent studies have argued that galaxy mergers are not important drivers for the evolution of S0s, on the basis that mergers cannot preserve the coupling between the bulge and disk scale-lengths observed in these galaxies and the lack of correlation of their ratio with the S0 Hubble type. However, about 70% of present-day S0s reside in groups, an environment where mergers and tidal interactions dominate galaxy evolution. Aims. We investigate whether the remnants resulting from collision-less N-body simulations of intermediate and minor mergers onto S0 galaxies evolve fulfilling global structural relations observed between the bulges and disks of these galaxies. Methods. Different initial bulge-to-disk ratios of the primary S0 have been considered, as well as different satellite densities, mass ratios, and orbits of the encounter. We have analysed the final morphology of the remnants in images simulating the typical observing conditions of S0 surveys. We derive bulge+disk decompositions of the final remnants to compare their global bulge-to-disk structure with observations. Results. We show that all remnants present undisturbed S0 morphologies according to the prescriptions of specialized surveys. The dry intermediate and minor mergers induce noticeable bulge growth (S0c --> S0b and S0b --> S0a), but affect negligibly to the bulge and disk scale-lengths. Therefore, if a coupling between these two components exists prior to the merger, the encounter does not break this coupling. This fact provides a simple explanation for the lack of correlation between the ratio of bulge and disk scale-lengths and the S0 Hubble type reported by observations. Conclusions. These models prove that dry intermediate and minor mergers can induce global structural evolution within the sequence of S0 Hubble types compatible with observations, meaning that these processes should not be discarded from the evolutionary scenarios of S0s just on the basis of the strong coupling observed between the bulge and disk scale-lengths in these galaxies.

Evolution along the sequence of S0 Hubble types induced by dry minor mergers - II. Bulge-disk coupling in the photometric relations through merger-induced internal secular evolution

Context. Galaxy mergers are widely discussed as one possible evolution mechanism for lenticular galaxies (S0s), because even minor mergers induce structural changes that are difficult to reconcile with the strong bulge-disk coupling observed in the photometric scaling relations of these galaxies. Aims. We check if the evolution induced onto S0s by dry intermediate and minor mergers can reproduce the S0 photometric scaling relations. Methods. We analyse the bulge-disk decompositions of the collisionless N-body simulations of intermediate and minor mergers onto S0s presented previously to determine the evolution induced by the mergers in several relevant photometric planes. Results. The mergers induce an evolution in the photometric planes that is compatible with the data of S0s, even in the relations that indicate a strong bulge-disk coupling. Mergers drive the formation of the observed photometric relation in some cases and induce a slight dispersion compatible with data in others. Therefore, this evolutionary mechanism tends to preserve the observational photometric relations. In the photometric planes where the morphological types segregate, the mergers always induce evolution towards the region populated by S0s. No clear trends with the mass ratio of the encounter, the central satellite density, or the spin-orbit coupling are found for the range of values studied. Long-pericentre orbits generate more concentrated disks and expanded bulges than initially, while short-pericentre orbits do the opposite. The structural coupling of the bulge and the disk is preserved or reinforced in the models because mergers trigger internal secular processes in the primary disk that induce significant bulge growth. This happens even though the encounters do not induce bars in the disks. Conclusions. Intermediate and minor mergers can be considered to be plausible mechanisms for the evolution of S0s if one includes their photometric scaling relations, because they can preserve and even strengthen any pre-existing structural bulge-disk coupling by triggering significant internal secular evolution, even without bars or dissipational effects. Satellite accretions thus seem to unavoidably entail internal secular evolution, meaning that it may be quite complex to isolate the effects of the internal secular evolution driven by mergers from the one due to purely intrinsic disk instabilities in individual early-type disks at the present.

Photometric scaling relations of antitruncated stellar discs in S0-Scd galaxies

It has been recently found that the characteristic photometric parameters of antitruncated discs in S0 galaxies follow tight scaling relations. We investigate if similar scaling relations are satisfied by galaxies of other morphological types. We have analysed the trends in several photometric planes relating the characteristic surface brightness and scalelengths of the breaks and the inner and outer discs of local antitruncated S0-Scd galaxies, using published data and fits performed to the surface brightness profiles of two samples of Type-III galaxies in the R and Spitzer 3.6 microns bands. We have performed linear fits to the correlations followed by different galaxy types in each plane, as well as several statistical tests to determine their significance. We have found that: 1) the antitruncated discs of all galaxy types from Sa to Scd obey tight scaling relations both in R and 3.6 microns, as observed in S0s; 2) the majority of these correlations are significant accounting for the numbers of the available data samples; 3) the trends are clearly linear when the characteristic scalelengths are plotted on a logarithmic scale; and 4) the correlations relating the characteristic surface brightnesses of the inner and outer discs and the breaks with the various characteristic scalelengths significantly improve when the latter are normalized to the optical radius of the galaxy. The results suggest that the scaling relations of Type-III discs are independent of the morphological type and the presence (or absence) of bars within the observational uncertainties of the available datasets, although larger and deeper samples are required to confirm this. The tight structural coupling implied by these scaling relations impose strong constraints on the mechanisms proposed for explaining the formation of antitruncated stellar discs in the galaxies across the whole Hubble Sequence (Abridged).