Effects of Gas on Formation and Evolution of Stellar Bars and Nuclear Rings in Disk Galaxies

Abstract

We run self-consistent simulations of Milky Way-sized, isolated disk galaxies to study the formation and evolution of a stellar bar as well as a nuclear ring in the presence of gas. We consider two sets of models with cold or warm disks that differ in the radial velocity dispersions, and vary the gas fraction f_(gas) by fixing the total disk mass. A bar forms earlier and more strongly in the cold disks with larger f_(gas), while gas progressively delays the bar formation in the warm disks. The bar formation enhances a central mass concentration, which in turn causes the bar to decay temporarily, after which it regrows in size and strength, eventually becoming stronger in models with smaller f_(gas). Although all bars rotate fast in the beginning, they rapidly turn to slow rotators. In our models, only the gas-free, warm disk undergoes rapid buckling instability, while other disks thicken more gradually via vertical heating. The gas driven inward by the bar potential readily forms a star-forming nuclear ring. The ring is very small when it first forms and grows in size over time. The ring star formation rate is episodic and bursty due to feedback, and is well correlated with the mass inflow rate to the ring. Some expanding shells produced by star formation feedback are sheared out in the bar regions and collide with dust lanes to appear as filamentary interbar spurs. The bars and nuclear rings formed in our simulations have properties similar to those in the Milky Way.