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We study azimuthal variations in the mean stellar metallicity, <[Fe/H]>, in a self-consistent, isolated simulation in which all stars form out of gas. We find <[Fe/H]> variations comparable to those observed in the Milky Way and which are coincident with the spiral density waves. The azimuthal variations are present in young and old stars and therefore are not a result of recently formed stars. Similar variations are present in the mean age and alpha-abundance. We measure the pattern speeds of the <[Fe/H]>-variations and find that they match those of the spirals, indicating that they are at the origin of the metallicity patterns. Because younger stellar populations are not just more [Fe/H]-rich and alpha-poor but also dynamically cooler, we expect them to more strongly support spirals, which is indeed the case in the simulation. However, if we measure the radial action, J_R, using the Stackel axisymmetric approximation, we find that the spiral ridges are traced by regions of high J_R, contrary to expectations. Assuming that the passage of stars through the spirals leads to unphysical variations in the measured J_R, we obtain an improved estimate of J_R by averaging over a 1 Gyr time interval. This time-averaged J_R is a much better tracer of the spiral structure, with minima at the spiral ridges. We conclude that the errors incurred by the axisymmetric approximation introduce correlated deviations large enough to render the instantaneous radial action inadequate for tracing spirals.

Metal-poor stars are key to our understanding of the early stages of chemical evolution in the Universe. New multi-filter surveys, such as the Southern Photometric Local Universe Survey (S-PLUS), are greatly advancing our ability to select low-metallicity stars. In this work, we analyse the chemodynamical properties and ages of 522 metal-poor candidates selected from the S-PLUS data release 3. About 92% of these stars were confirmed to be metal-poor ([Fe/H] ≤−1) based on previous medium-resolution spectroscopy. We calculated the dynamical properties of a subsample containing 241 stars, using the astrometry from Gaia Data Release 3. Stellar ages are estimated by a Bayesian isochronal method formalized in this work. We analyse the metallicity distribution of these metal-poor candidates separated into different subgroups of total velocity, dynamical properties, and ages. Our results are used to propose further restrictions to optimize the selection of metal-poor candidates in S-PLUS. The proposed astrometric selection (parallax>0.85 mas) is the one that returns the highest fraction of extremely metal-poor stars (16.3% have [Fe/H] ≤−3); the combined selection provides the highest fraction of very metal-poor stars (91.0% have [Fe/H] ≤−2), whereas the dynamical selection (eccentricity > 0.35 and diskness < 0.75) is better for targetting metal-poor (99.5% have [Fe/H] ≤−1). Using only S-PLUS photometric selections, it is possible to achieve selection fractions of 15.6%, 88.5% and 98.3% for metallicities below −3, −2 and −1, respectively. We also show that it is possible to use S-PLUS to target metal-poor stars in halo substructures such as Gaia-Sausage/Enceladus, Sequoia, Thamnos and the Helmi stream.

Metal-poor stars are key to our understanding of the early stages of chemical evolution in the Universe. New multifilter surveys, such as the Southern Photometric Local Universe Survey (S-PLUS), are greatly advancing our ability to select low-metallicity stars. In this work, we analyse the chemodynamical properties and ages of 522 metal-poor candidates selected from the S-PLUS data release 3. About 92 per cent of these stars were confirmed to be metal-poor ([Fe/H] ≤ −1) based on previous medium-resolution spectroscopy. We calculated the dynamical properties of a subsample containing 241 stars, using the astrometry from Gaia Data Release 3. Stellar ages are estimated by a Bayesian isochronal method formalized in this work. We analyse the metallicity distribution of these metal-poor candidates separated into different subgroups of total velocity, dynamical properties, and ages. Our results are used to propose further restrictions to optimize the selection of metal-poor candidates in S-PLUS. The proposed astrometric selection (parallax >0.85 mas) is the one that returns the highest fraction of extremely metal-poor stars (16.3 per cent have [Fe/H] ≤ −3); the combined selection provides the highest fraction of very metal-poor stars (91.0 per cent have [Fe/H] ≤ −2), whereas the dynamical selection (eccentricity >0.35 and discness < 0.75) is better for targeting metal-poor (99.5 per cent have [Fe/H] ≤ −1). Using only S-PLUS photometric selections, it is possible to achieve selection fractions of 15.6, 88.5, and 98.3 per cent for metallicities below −3, −2, and −1, respectively. We also show that it is possible to use S-PLUS to target metal-poor stars in halo substructures such as Gaia-Sausage/Enceladus, Sequoia, Thamnos, and the Helmi stream.

The major-axis density profiles of bars are known to be either exponential or ‘flat’. We develop an automated non-parametric algorithm to detect flat profiles and apply it to a suite of simulations (with and without gas). We demonstrate that flat profiles are a manifestation of a bar’s secular growth, producing a “shoulder” region (an overdensity above an exponential) in its outskirts. Shoulders are not present when bars form, but develop as the bar grows. If the bar does not grow, shoulders do not form. Shoulders are often accompanied by box/peanut bulges, but develop separately from them and are independent tracers of a bar’s growth. They can be observed at a wide range of viewing orientations with only their slope varying significantly with inclination. We present evidence that shoulders are produced by looped x1 orbits. Since the growth rate of the bar moderately correlates with the growth rate of the shoulder strength, these orbits are probably recently trapped. Shoulders therefore are evidence of bar growth. The properties of the shoulders do not, however, establish the age of a bar, because secondary buckling or strong spirals may destroy shoulders, and also because shoulders do not form if the bar does not grow much. In particular, our results show that an exponential profile is not necessarily an indication of a young bar.

Gaia has revealed clear evidence of bending waves in the vertical kinematics of stars in the Solar Neighbourhood. We study bending waves in two simulations, one warped, with the warp due to misaligned gas inflow, and the other unwarped. We find slow, retrograde bending waves in both models, with the ones in the warped model having larger amplitudes. We also find fast, prograde bending waves. Prograde bending waves in the unwarped model are very weak, in agreement with the expectation that these waves should decay on short, ∼ crossing, timescales, due to strong winding. However, prograde bending waves are much stronger for the duration of the warped model, pointing to irregular gas inflow along the warp as a continuous source of excitation. We demonstrate that large amplitude bending waves that propagate through the Solar Neighbourhood give rise to a correlation between the mean vertical velocity and the angular momentum, with a slope consistent with that found by Gaia. The bending waves affect populations of all ages, but the sharpest features are found in the young populations, hinting that short wavelength waves are not supported by the older, kinematically hotter, populations. Our results demonstrate the importance of misaligned gas accretion as a recurrent source of vertical perturbations of disc galaxies, including in the Milky Way.

Using N-body simulations we explore the effects of growing a supermassive black hole (SMBH) prior to or during the formation of a stellar bar. Keeping the final mass and growth rate of the SMBH fixed, we show that if it is introduced before or while the bar is still growing, the SMBH does not cause a decrease in bar amplitude. Rather, in most cases, it is strengthened. In addition early growing SMBHs always either decreases the buckling amplitude, delay buckling, or both. This weakening of buckling is caused by an increase in the disk vertical velocity dispersion at radii well beyond the nominal black hole sphere-of-influence. While we find considerable stochasticity and sensitivity to initial conditions, the only case where the SMBH causes a decrease in bar amplitude is when it is introduced after the bar has attained a steady state. In this case we confirm previous findings that the decrease in bar strength is a result of scattering of bar-supporting orbits with small pericenter radii. By heating the inner disk both radially and vertically, an early growing SMBH increases the fraction of stars that can be captured by the Inner Lindblad Resonance (ILR) and the vertical ILR, thereby strengthening both the bar and the boxy peanut shaped bulge. Using orbital frequency analysis of star particles, we show that when an SMBH is introduced early and the bar forms around it, the bar is populated by different families of regular bar-supporting orbits than when the bar forms without an SMBH.

The Milky Way (MW) stellar halo contains relics of ancient mergers that tell the story of our galaxy's formation. Some of them are identified due to their similarity in energy, actions, and chemistry, referred to as the "chemodynamical space," and are often attributed to distinct merger events. It is also known that our galaxy went through a significant merger event that shaped the local stellar halo during its first billion years. Previous studies using N-body only and cosmological hydrodynamical simulations have shown that such a single massive merger can produce several "signatures" in the chemodynamical space, which can potentially be misinterpreted as distinct merger events. Motivated by these, in this work we use a subset of the GASTRO library, which consists of several smoothed particle hydrodynamics+N-body models of a single accretion event in a MW-like galaxy. Here, we study models with orbital properties similar to the main merger event of our galaxy and explore the implications to known stellar halo substructures. We find that (i) supernova feedback efficiency influences the satellite's structure and orbital evolution, resulting in distinct chemodynamical features for models with the same initial conditions; (ii) very retrograde high-energy stars are the most metal-poor of the accreted dwarf galaxy and could be misinterpreted as a distinct merger; (iii) the most bound stars are more metal-rich in our models, the opposite of what is observed in the MW, suggesting a secondary massive merger; and, finally, (iv) our models can reconcile other known apparently distinct substructures to a unique progenitor.

Since thin disc stars are younger than thick disc stars on average, some Galaxy formation models predict that the thin disc started forming only after the thick disc had formed, around 10 Gyr ago. Accordingly, no significant old thin disc population should exist. Using 6-D coordinates from Gaia-DR2 and age estimates from Sanders \& Das (2018), we select ∼24000 old stars (τ>10 Gyr, with uncertainties ≲15%) within 2 kpc from the Sun. A cross-match with APOGEE-DR16 reveals comparable fractions of old thin/thick disc stars. We show that the sample pericenter radius (rper) distribution has three peaks, one associated with the stellar halo and the other two having contributions from the thin/thick discs. Using a high-resolution N-body+Smooth Particle Hydrodynamics simulation, we demonstrate that one peak, at rper≈7.1 kpc, is produced by stars from both discs which were born in the inner Galaxy and migrated to the Solar Neighbourhood. We estimate that, in the Solar Neighbourhood, ∼1/2 (∼1/3) of the old thin (thick) disc stars can be classified as migrators. Our results suggest that thin/thick discs are affected differently by radial migration inasmuch as they have different eccentricity distributions, regardless of vertical scale heights. Finally, we interpret the existence of a significant old thin disc population as evidence for an early co-formation of thin/thick discs, arguing that clump instabilities in the early disc offer a compelling explanation for the observed trends.

In recent years star formation has been discovered in the Milky Way’s warp. These stars formed in the warp (warp stars) must eventually settle into the plane of the disc. We use an N-body+smooth particle hydrodynamics model of a warped galaxy to study how warp stars settle into the disc. By following warp stars in angular momentum space, we show that they first tilt to partially align with the main disc in a time scale of ∼1Gyr⁠. Then, once differential precession halts this process, they phase mix into an axisymmetric distribution on a time scale of ∼6Gyr⁠. The warp stars end up contaminating the geometric thick disc. Because the warp in our fiducial simulation is growing, the warp stars settle to a distribution with a negative vertical age gradient as younger stars settle further from the mid-plane. While vertically extended, warp star orbits are still nearly circular and they are therefore subject to radial migration, with a net movement inwards. As a result warp stars can be found throughout the disc. The density distribution of a given population of warp stars evolves from a torus to an increasingly centrally filled-in density distribution. Therefore we argue that, in the Milky Way, warp stars should be found in the Solar Neighbourhood. Moreover, settled warp stars may constitute part of the young flaring population seen in the Milky Way’s outskirts.

A detailed study of the morphology of lenticular galaxies is an important way to understand how this type of galaxy formed and evolves over time. Decomposing a galaxy into its components (disc, bulge, bar, ...) allows recovering the colour gradients present in each system, its star formation history, and its assembly history. We use galfitm to perform a multi-wavelength structural decomposition of the closest lenticular galaxy, NGC 3115, resulting in the description of its stellar light into several main components: a bulge, a thin disc, a thick disc and also evidence of a bar. We report the finding of central bluer stellar populations in the bulge, as compared to the colour of the galaxy outskirts, indicating either the presence of an Active Galactic Nucleus (AGN) and/or recent star formation activity. From the spectral energy distribution results, we show that the galaxy has a low luminosity AGN component, but even excluding the effect of the nuclear activity, the bulge is still bluer than the outer-regions of the galaxy, revealing a recent episode of star formation. Based on all of the derived properties, we propose a scenario for the formation of NGC 3115 consisting of an initial gas-rich merger, followed by accretions and feedback that quench the galaxy, until a recent encounter with the companion KK084 that reignited the star formation in the bulge, provoked a core displacement in NGC 3115 and generated spiral-like features. This result is consistent with the two-phase formation scenario, proposed in previous studies of this galaxy.

A detailed study of the morphology of lenticular galaxies is an important way to understand how this type of galaxy is formed and evolves over time. Decomposing a galaxy into its components (disc, bulge, bar, ...) allows recovering the colour gradients present in each system, its star formation history, and its assembly history. We use galfitm to perform a multiwavelength structural decomposition of the closest lenticular galaxy, NGC 3115, resulting in the description of its stellar light into several main components: a bulge, a thin disc, a thick disc, and also evidence of a bar. We report the finding of central bluer stellar populations in the bulge, as compared to the colour of the galaxy outskirts, indicating either the presence of an active galactic nucleus (AGN) and/or recent star formation activity. From the spectral energy distribution results, we show that the galaxy has a low luminosity AGN component, but even excluding the effect of the nuclear activity, the bulge is still bluer than the outer-regions of the galaxy, revealing a recent episode of star formation. Based on all of the derived properties, we propose a scenario for the formation of NGC 3115 consisting of an initial gas-rich merger, followed by accretions and feedback that quench the galaxy, until a recent encounter with the companion KK084 that reignited the star formation in the bulge, provoked a core displacement in NGC 3115 and generated spiral-like features. This result is consistent with the two-phase formation scenario, proposed in previous studies of this galaxy.

The presence of stars on retrograde orbits in disc galaxies is usually attributed to accretion events, both via direct accretion, as well as through the heating of the disc stars. Recent studies have shown that retrograde orbits can also be produced via scattering by dense clumps, which are often present in the early stages of a galaxy’s evolution. However, so far it has been unclear whether other internally-driven mechanisms, such as bars, are also capable of driving retrograde motion. Therefore, in this paper, we investigate the efficiencies with which bars and clumps produce retrograde orbits in disc galaxies. We do this by comparing the retrograde fractions and the spatial distributions of the retrograde populations in four N-body+smooth particle hydrodynamics (SPH) simulations of isolated disc galaxies spanning a range of evolutionary behaviours. We find that both bars and clumps are capable of generating significant retrograde populations of order ∼10% of all stars. We also find that while clump-driven retrograde stars may be found at large galactocentric radii, bar-driven retrograde stars remain in the vicinity of the bar, even if the bar dissolves. Consequently, we find that retrograde stars in the Solar Neighbourhood in the clumpy models are exclusively clump-driven, but this is a trace population, constituting 0.01−0.04% of the total stellar population in this region. Finally, we find that neither bars (including dissolving ones) nor clumps in the models are able to produce rotationally supported counter-rotating discs.

A scenario for the formation of the bi-modality in the chemical space [α/Fe] vs [Fe/H] of the Milky Way was recently proposed in which α-enhanced stars are produced early and quickly in clumps. Besides accelerating the enrichment of the medium with α-elements, these clumps scatter the old stars, converting in-plane to vertical motion, forming a geometric thick disc. In this paper, by means of a detailed analysis of the data from smooth particle hydrodynamical simulations, we investigate the geometric properties (in particular of the chemical thick disc) produced in this scenario. For mono-age populations we show that the surface radial density profiles of high-[α/Fe] stars are well described by single exponentials, while that of low-[α/Fe] stars require broken exponentials. This break is sharp for young populations and broadens for older ones. The position of the break does not depend significantly on age. The vertical density profiles of mono-age populations are characterized by single exponentials, which flare significantly for low-[α/Fe] stars but only weakly (or not at all) for high-[α/Fe] stars. For low-[α/Fe] stars, the flaring level decreases with age, while for high-[α/Fe] stars it weakly increases with age (although with large uncertainties). All these properties are in agreement with observational results recently reported for the Milky Way, making this a plausible scenario for the formation of the Galactic thick disc.

We introduce the study of box/peanut (B/P) bulges in the action space of the initial axisymmetric system. We explore where populations with different actions end up once a bar forms and a B/P bulge develops. We find that the density bimodality due to the B/P bulge (the X-shape) is better traced by populations with low radial, $\rm J_{R,0}$, or vertical, $\rm J_{z,0}$, actions, or high azimuthal action, $\rm J_{\phi ,0}$. Generally populations separated by $\rm J_{R,0}$ have a greater variation in bar strength and vertical heating than those separated by $\rm J_{z,0}$. While the bar substantially weakens the initial vertical gradient of $\rm J_{z,0}$, it also drives a strikingly monotonic vertical profile of $\rm J_{R,0}$. We then use these results to guide us in assigning metallicity to star particles in a pure N-body model. Because stellar metallicity in unbarred galaxies depends on age as well as radial and vertical positions, the initial actions are particularly well suited for assigning metallicities. We argue that assigning metallicities based on single actions, or on positions, results in metallicity distributions inconsistent with those observed in real galaxies. We therefore use all three actions to assign metallicity to an N-body model by comparing with the actions of a star-forming, unbarred simulation. The resulting metallicity distribution is pinched on the vertical axis, has a realistic vertical gradient and has a stronger X-shape in metal-rich populations, as found in real galaxies.

Excesses on positron and electron fluxes-measured by ATIC and the PAMELA and Fermi-LAT telescopes-can be explained by dark matter annihilation in the Galaxy, however, it requires large boosts on the dark matter annihilation rate. There are many possible enhancement mechanisms such as the Sommerfeld effect or the existence of dark matter clumps in our halo. If enhancements on the dark matter annihilation cross section are taking place, the dark matter annihilation in the core of the Earth will be enhanced. Here we use recent results from the IceCube 40-string configuration to probe generic enhancement scenarios. We present results as a function of the dark matter-proton interaction cross section, sigma(chi p) weighted by the branching fraction into neutrinos f(nu(nu) over bar) as a function of a generic boost factor B-F, which parametrizes the expected enhancement of the annihilation rate. We find that dark matter models that require annihilation enhancements of O(100) or more and that annihilate significantly into neutrinos are excluded as an explanation for these excesses. We also determine the boost range that can be probed by the full IceCube telescope.