Open AccessOn the relation between orbital structure and observed bar morphology
Author(s) -
Patsis P. A.
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
monthly notices of the royal astronomical society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.058
H-Index - 383
eISSN - 1365-2966
pISSN - 0035-8711
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2966.2005.08768.x
Subject(s) - physics , ellipse , bar (unit) , invariant (physics) , test particle , rotational symmetry , astrophysics , morphology (biology) , circular orbit , classical mechanics , geometry , astronomy , mathematical physics , mechanics , mathematics , biology , meteorology , genetics
We investigate the morphological relation between the orbits of the central family of periodic orbits ( x 1 family) and the bar itself using models of test particles moving in a barred potential. We show that different bar morphologies may have as a backbone the same set of x 1 periodic orbits. We point out that by populating initially axisymmetric stellar discs exponentially with test particles in circular, or almost circular motion, we may end up with a response bar which reveals a shape different in crucial details from that of the individual stable x 1 orbits. For example, a bar model in which the x 1 orbits are pure ellipses may have a much more complicated response morphology. This depends on the particular invariant curves around x 1 , which are populated in each model.