Related papers: Secular Evolution of the Galactic Disk
The bulk of old stars in the Galactic disk have migrated radially by up to several kpc in their lifetimes, yet the disk has remained relatively cool, i.e., the ratio of radial heating to migration has been small. Here, we demonstrate that…
Star clusters provide unique advantages for investigating Galactic spiral arms, particularly due to their precise ages, positions, and kinematic properties, which are further enhanced by ongoing updates from the astrometric data. In this…
In this review, I discuss just three aspects of the stability and evolution of galactic discs. (1) I first review our understanding of the bar instability and how it can be controlled. Disc galaxies in which the orbital speed does not…
New observations in favour of a significant role of secular evolution are reviewed: central star formation boosted in pseudo-bulge barred galaxies, relations between bulge and disk, evidence for rejuvenated bulges. Numerical simulations…
It has long been known that the vertical motions of Galactic disk stars increase with stellar age, commonly interpreted as vertical heating through orbit scattering. Here we map the vertical actions of disk stars as a function of age…
Frankel et al (2020) reported that the rate of diffusion in angular momentum by stars in the disk of the Milky Way was about ten times faster than the rate of heating, which places a stringent requirement on the nature of disk star…
The redistribution of stars in galactic disks is an important aspect of disk galaxy evolution. Stars that efficiently migrate in such a way that does not also appreciably heat their orbits can drastically affect the stellar populations…
Major mergers or/and the repeated minor mergers lead to dynamical heating of disks of galaxies. We analyze the available data on the velocity dispersion of stellar disks of S-S0 galaxies, including the new observational data obtained at 6m…
We examine the origin of radial and vertical gradients in the age/metallicity of the stellar component of a galaxy disc formed in the APOSTLE cosmological hydrody- namical simulations. Some of these gradients resemble those in the Milky…
We use a set of high-resolution N-body simulations of the Galactic disk to study its interactions with the population of satellites predicted cosmologically. One simulation illustrates that multiple passages of massive satellites with…
Scattering of stars by interstellar clouds or massive clumps increases the stellar velocity dispersion and promotes a radial disk profile that is exponential. Here we show that such scattering reaches a steady-state distribution function of…
Today we have numerous evidences that spirals evolve dynamically through various secular or episodic processes, such as bar formation and destruction, bulge growth and mergers, sometimes over much shorter periods than the standard galaxy…
The velocity dispersion of stars in the solar neighbourhood thin disc increases with time after star formation. Nordstrom et al. (2004) is the most recent observational attempt to constrain the age-velocity dispersion relation. They fitted…
We show that spiral waves in galaxy discs churn the stars and gas in a manner that largely preserves the overall angular momentum distribution and leads to little increase in random motion. Changes in the angular momenta of individual stars…
Spirals in galaxies have long been thought to be caused by gravitational instability in the stellar component of the disk, but discerning the precise mechanism had proved elusive. Tidal interactions, and perhaps bars, may provoke some…
By making spectral absorption-line observations of disk galaxies at intermediate inclinations, we have been able to determine the amplitude of their constituent stars' random motions in three dimensions. This full measure of the shape of…
Deep photometric surveys of the Milky Way have revealed diffuse structures encircling our Galaxy far beyond the "classical" limits of the stellar disk. This paper reviews results from our own and other observational programs, which together…
We present a comprehensive series of $N$-body as well as $N$-body + SPH simulations to study the secular evolution of the structure of disk galaxies. Our simulations are organized in a hierarchy of increasing complexity, ranging from…
We characterize empirically the radial diffusion of stars in the plane of a typical barred disk galaxy by calculating the local spatial diffusion coefficient and diffusion time-scale for bulge-disk-halo N-body self-consistent systems which…
Non-axisymmetric components, such as spirals and central bars, play a major role in shaping galactic discs. An important aspect of the disc secular evolution driven by these perturbers is the radial migration of stars. It has been suggested…