Tidal Perturbations, Gravitational Amplification and Galaxy Spiral Arms

Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astrophysics

Scientific paper

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Gravitation, Spiral Galaxies, Astronomical Models, Three Dimensional Models, Galactic Structure, Computerized Simulation, Velocity Distribution, Perturbation

Scientific paper

Via two-dimensional (2D) simulations of a galaxy disk including self-gravity and stellar velocity dispersion, Toomre showed that a symmetric tidal perturbation can be gravitationally amplified into strong spiral arms. Via simulations and examination of observational surveys, it was found that tidal perturbations sufficient to create grand design spiral patterns in galaxies are extremely frequent. This paper extends Toomre's work by conducting three-dimensional simulations that include nonsymmetric perturbations by a variety of disturber masses, encounter orbits, and amounts of halo relative to the disk. The simulations are then discussed analytically by extending Toomre's use of the Goldreich/Lynden-Bell (GLB) equation for tidal arms evolving toward the density wave stage. The velocity dispersion normal to the disk results in a softening of gravitation via the disk thickness. In the present paper, use of softening to specify velocity dispersion permits analytic discussion of gravitational amplification in the GLB equation.

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