The effect of warm gas on the buckling instability in galactic bars

Abstract

By usingN-body and hydro simulations, we study the formation and evolution of bars in galaxies with significant gas content focusing on the phenomenon of the buckling instability. The galaxies are initially composed of a spherical dark matter halo and only stellar, or stellar and gaseous, disks with parameters that are similar to the Milky Way and are evolved for 10 Gyr. We consider different values of the gas fractionf = 0−0.3 and in order to isolate the effect of the gas, we kept the fraction constant during the evolution by not allowing the gas to cool and form stars. The stellar bars that form in simulations with higher gas fractions are weaker and shorter, and they do not form at all for gas fractions that are higher than 0.3. The bar with a gas fraction of 0.1 forms sooner due to initial perturbations in the gas, but despite the longer evolution, it does not become stronger than the one in the collisionless case at the end of evolution. The bars in the gas component are weaker; they reach their maximum strength around 4 Gyr and later decline to transform into spheroidal shapes. The distortion of the stellar bar during the buckling instability is weaker for higher gas fractions and weakens the bar less significantly, but it has a similar structure both in terms of radial profiles and in face-on projections. Forf = 0.2, the first buckling lasts significantly longer and the bar does not undergo the secondary buckling event, while forf = 0.3, the buckling does not occur. Despite these differences, all bars develop boxy/peanut shapes in the stellar and gas component by the end of the evolution, although their thickness is smaller for higher gas fractions.