English

The modified dynamics is conducive to galactic warp formation

Astrophysics 2009-10-31 v1

Abstract

There is an effect in the modified dynamics (MOND) that is conducive to formation of warps. Because of the nonlinearity of the theory the internal dynamics of a galaxy is affected by a perturber over and above possible tidal effects. For example, a relatively distant and light companion or the mean influence of a parent cluster, with negligible tidal effects, could still produce a significant warp in the outer part of a galactic disk. We present results of numerical calculations for simplified models that show, for instance, that a satellite with the (baryonic) mass and distance of the Magellanic clouds can distort the axisymmetric field of the Milky Way enough to produce a warp of the magnitude (and position) observed. Details of the warp geometry remain to be explained: we use a static configuration that can produce only warps with a straight line of nodes. In more realistic simulations one must reckon with the motion of the perturbing body, which sometimes occurs on time scales not much longer than the response time of the disk.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.astro-ph/0001146,
  title  = {The modified dynamics is conducive to galactic warp formation},
  author = {Rafael Brada and Mordehai Milgrom},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:astro-ph/0001146},
  year   = {2009}
}

Comments

Latex, 9 pages, 3 embedded figures, to be published in ApJL

R2 v1 2026-07-22T07:43:15.379Z