The influence of the spiral arm parameters on radial migration in late-type-like galaxies

Abstract

ABSTRACT We performed test-particle simulations of a spiral late-type-like galaxy to study the radial migration in a steady potential. Our model includes a bulge, a disc, a dark matter halo, and spiral arms represented by a cosine potential. We varied the structural and dynamical parameters of the spiral arms to study the influence of each configuration on the stellar orbits, such as the pitch angle, the radial scale length, and the pattern speed. We analysed the changes in the z component of the angular momentum (Lz), radius (R), and eccentricity of individual stars at different times. We found that the stellar orbits are affected by radial migration in all cases. Also, we found that the most relevant parameter to the radial migration phenomenon, in co-rotation, is the radial scale length of the spiral arms.