本文提出 Local Geometric Index 分类892个旋涡星系的局域宇宙结构，发现宏象星系多位于致密潮汐环境，絮状星系多位于贫金属且富气体的稀疏环境。
摘要：
我们研究了351个宏象旋涡星系和541个絮状旋涡星系的环境；这些星系近期利用卷积神经网络从 Sloan Digital Sky Survey（斯隆数字巡天）第17次数据发布中识别得到。我们引入一种名为 Local Geometric Index（局部几何指数）的新型估计量，以量化这892个旋涡星系局域环境的形态。根据星系的局部几何指数，我们将其局域环境识别为空洞、片状结构、纤维状结构或星系团。我们发现，宏象旋涡星系大多位于星系团和纤维状结构等致密环境中（约76%），而相当比例的絮状旋涡星系位于空洞和片状结构等稀疏环境中（约45%）。Kolmogorov-Smirnov 检验给出的 p 值小于10^-10，表明我们的结果在99.9%置信水平上具有统计显著性。此外，我们注意到，具有强大潮汐流的致密环境由宏象旋涡星系主导；另一方面，在片状结构和空洞等气体云丰度较高的贫金属环境中，主要分布的是絮状旋涡星系。
英文摘要：
We explore the environment of 351 grand-design and 541 flocculent spiral galaxies recently identified employing convolutional neural networks from the $17^{th}$ data release of Sloan Digital Sky Survey. We introduce a novel estimator called the Local Geometric Index to quantify the morphology of the local environment of these 892 spirals. Based on the local geometric index of the galaxies, we identify their local environments to be voids, sheets, filaments or clusters. We find that grand-designs are mostly located in dense environments like clusters and filaments ($\sim 76\%$), whereas a reasonable fraction of the flocculents lie in sparse environments like voids and sheets ($\sim 45\%$). A $p$-value $<$ $10 ^{-10}$ from a Kolmogorov-Smirnov test indicates that our results are statistically significant at $99.9\%$ confidence level. Further, we note that dense environments with large tidal flows are dominated by the grand-designs. Metal-poor environments, such as sheets and voids, with a high abundance of gas clouds, on the other hand, are mostly populated by the flocculents.
Spiral galaxies can be classified into the {\it Grand-designs} and {\it Flocculents} based on the nature of their spiral arms. The {\it Grand-designs} exhibit almost continuous and high contrast spiral arms and are believed to be driven by density waves, while the {\it Flocculents} have patchy and low-contrast spiral features and are primarily stochastic in origin. We train a convolutional neural network (CNN) model to classify spirals into {\it Grand-designs} and {\it Flocculents}, with a testing accuracy of $\mathrm{97.2\%}$. We then use the above model for classifying $\mathrm{1,354}$ new s…
Spiral arm properties of 46 galaxies in the Spitzer Survey of Stellar Structure in Galaxies (S4G) were measured at 3.6mu, where extinction is small and the old stars dominate. The sample includes flocculent, multiple arm, and grand design types with a wide range of Hubble and bar types. We find that most optically flocculent galaxies are also flocculent in the mid-IR because of star formation uncorrelated with stellar density waves, whereas multiple arm and grand design galaxies have underlying stellar waves. Arm-interarm contrasts increase from flocculent to multiple arm to grand design galax…
Spiral arms are the most singular features in disc galaxies. These structures can exhibit different patterns, namely grand design and flocculent arms, with easily distinguishable characteristics. However, their origin and the mechanisms shaping them are unclear. The overall role of spirals in the chemical evolution of disc galaxies is another unsolved question. In particular, it has not been fully explored if the \hii\,regions of spiral arms present different properties from those located in the interarm regions. Here we analyse the radial oxygen abundance gradient of the arm and interarm star…
Different spiral generation mechanisms are expected to produce different morphological and kinematic features. In this first paper in a series we carefully study the parameters of spiral structure in 155 face-on spiral galaxies, selected from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, in the three $gri$ bands. We use a method for deriving a set of parameters of spiral structure, such as the width of the spiral arms, their fraction to the total galaxy luminosity and their colour, which have not been properly studied before. Our method is based on an analysis of a set of photometric cuts perpendicular to the…
We perform simulations of isolated galaxies in order to investigate the likely origin of the spiral structure in M33. In our models, we find that gravitational instabilities in the stars and gas are able to reproduce the observed spiral pattern and velocity field of M33, as seen in HI, and no interaction is required. We also find that the optimum models have high levels of stellar feedback which create large holes similar to those observed in M33, whilst lower levels of feedback tend to produce a large amount of small scale structure, and undisturbed long filaments of high surface density gas,…
We investigate how the properties of spiral arms relate to other fundamental galaxy properties, including bars and disc breaks. We use previously published measurements of those properties, and our own measurements of arm and bar contrasts for a large sample of galaxies, using $3.6 \mathrm{μm}$ images from the Spitzer Survey of Stellar Structure in Galaxies (S4G). Flocculent galaxies are clearly distinguished from other spiral arm classes, especially by their lower stellar mass and surface density. Multi-armed and grand-design galaxies are similar in most of their fundamental parameters, exclu…
We investigate how the properties of spiral arms relate to other fundamental galaxy properties. To this end, we use previously published measurements of those properties, and our own measurements of arm-interarm luminosity contrasts for a large sample of galaxies, using 3.6$μ$m images from the Spitzer Survey of Stellar Structure in Galaxies. Flocculent galaxies are clearly distinguished from other spiral arm classes, especially by their lower stellar mass and surface density. Multi-armed and grand-design galaxies are similar in most of their fundamental parameters, excluding some bar propertie…
We analyze the dependence of disk morphology (arm class, Hubble type, bar type) of nearby spiral galaxies on the galaxy environment by using local background density ($Σ_{n}$), projected distance ($r_{p}$), and tidal index ($TI$) as measures of the environment. There is a strong dependence of arm class and Hubble type on the galaxy environment, while the bar type exhibits a weak dependence with a high frequency of SB galaxies in high density regions. Grand design fractions and early-type fractions increase with increasing $Σ_{n}$, $1/r_{p}$, and $TI$, while fractions of flocculent spirals and …
This paper, the first of two, introduces an observational study of spiral structure in galaxies chosen from the SINGS survey. Near infrared (NIR) and optical data are used to produce mass surface density maps, and from these the morphology of the disc is examined. The aim of this work is to characterise the prevalence of spiral structure in this sample and, in the cases where a clear spiral pattern is found, include the findings in a comparative study (reported in paper II). A two-armed (`grand design') spiral pattern is found in approximately half the galaxies studied, including all those tha…
The onset of spiral structure in galaxies appears to occur between redshifts 1.4 and 1.8 when disks have developed a cool stellar component, rotation dominates over turbulent motions in the gas, and massive clumps become less frequent. During the transition from clumpy to spiral disks, two unusual types of spirals are found in the Hubble Ultra Deep Field that are massive, clumpy and irregular like their predecessor clumpy disks, yet spiral-like or sheared like their descendants. One type is ``woolly'' with massive clumpy arms all over the disk and is brighter than other disk galaxies at the sa…
Clumpy galaxies in the GEMS and GOODS fields are examined for clues to their evolution into modern spirals. The magnitudes of the clumps and the surface brightnesses of the interclump regions are measured and fitted to models of stellar age and mass. There is an evolutionary trend from clump clusters with no evident interclump emission to clump clusters with faint red disks, to spiral galaxies of the flocculent or grand design types. Along this sequence, the interclump surface density increases and the mass surface density contrast between the clumps and the interclump regions decreases, sugge…
Spiral arms are the most characteristic features of disc galaxies, easily distinguishable due to their association with ongoing star formation. However, the role of spiral structure in the chemical evolution of galaxies is unclear. Here we explore gas-phase abundance variations between arm and interarm regions for a sample of 45 spiral galaxies using high spatial resolution VLT/MUSE Integral Field Spectroscopy data. We report the presence of more metal-rich HII regions in the spiral arms with respect to the corresponding interarm regions for a large subsample of galaxies ($45-65\%$ depending o…
The study of gas-dust interactions occurring in the interstellar medium of a galaxy is essential for understanding various physical processes taking place within it. A comparison of such events at different locations corresponding to diverse astrophysical environments provides more insight into the star-formation as well as dust destruction conditions and time-scales. We present a case study for two galaxies: NGC 3184 and NGC 7793, which are typical examples of a `grand design spiral' and a `flocculent spiral', respectively. We investigate the gas-dust correlations at various spatially resolve…
We investigate the relationship between the star formation rate per unit area and the surface density of the ISM (the local Kennicutt-Schmitt law) using a simplified model of the ISM and a simple estimate of the star formation rate based on the mass of gas in bound clumps, the local dynamical timescales of the clumps, and an efficiency parameter of around 5 per cent. Despite the simplicity of the approach, we are able to reproduce the observed linear relation between star formation rate and surface density of dense (molecular) gas. We use a simple model for the dependence of H_2 fraction on to…
Spiral arms are common features in low-redshift disc galaxies, and are prominent sites of star-formation and dust obscuration. However, spiral structure can take many forms: from galaxies displaying two strong `grand design' arms, to those with many `flocculent' arms. We investigate how these different arm types are related to a galaxy's star-formation and gas properties by making use of visual spiral arm number measurements from Galaxy Zoo 2. We combine UV and mid-IR photometry from GALEX and WISE to measure the rates and relative fractions of obscured and unobscured star formation in a sampl…
We investigate how star formation is spatially organized in the grand-design spiral NGC 1566 from deep HST photometry with the Legacy ExtraGalactic UV Survey (LEGUS). Our contour-based clustering analysis reveals 890 distinct stellar conglomerations at various levels of significance. These star-forming complexes are organized in a hierarchical fashion with the larger congregations consisting of smaller structures, which themselves fragment into even smaller and more compact stellar groupings. Their size distribution, covering a wide range in length-scales, shows a power-law as expected from sc…
Radio synchrotron emission is a powerful tool to study the strength and structure of magnetic fields in galaxies. Unpolarized synchrotron emission traces isotropic turbulent fields which are strongest in spiral arms and bars (20-30 μG) and in central starburst regions (50-100 μG). Such fields are dynamically important; they affect gas flows and drive gas inflows in central regions. -- Polarized emission traces ordered fields, which can be regular or anisotropic turbulent, where the latter originates from isotropic turbulent fields by the action of compression or shear. The strongest ordered fi…
Spiral structure (both flocculent and Grand Design types) is very rarely observed in dwarf galaxies because the formation of spiral arms requires special conditions. In this work we analyze the sample of about 40 dS-galaxies found by scanning by eye the images of late-type galaxies with $m_B<15^m$ and $M_B>-18^m$ and photometric diameter $D_{25}<12$~kpc. We found that apart from the lower average gas (HI) fraction the other properties of dS-galaxies including the presence of a bar and the isolation index do not differ much from those for dwarf Irr or Sm-types of similar luminosity and rotation…
Spiral galaxies are common in the local Universe, but their formation, evolution, and interplay with bars remain poorly understood. We use a sample of 391 nearby galaxies from the S$^4$G survey to characterise the winding angle and amplitude of spiral arms as a function of disc properties, such as bar strength, in all kinds of spirals (grand-design, multi-armed, and flocculent). We derive global pitch angles in 3.6 $μ$m de-projected images from i) average measurements of individual logarithmic spiral segments, and ii) for a subsample of 32 galaxies, from 2-D Fourier analyses. The strength of s…
Active galactic nucleus activity in nearby disk galaxies: The roles of bar strength and spiral arm morphology
Yerevan State University（埃里温国立大学）；Institute of Physics, Yerevan State University（埃里温国立大学物理研究所）；Alikhanian National Science Laboratory（阿利哈尼扬国家科学实验室）；Center for Cosmology and Astrophysics, Alikhanian National Science Laboratory（阿利哈尼扬国家科学宇宙学与天体物理学中心）；Universidade do Porto（波尔图大学）；Instituto de Astrofísica e Ciências do Espaço, Universidade do Porto（波尔图大学空间与天体物理研究所）；Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade do Porto（波尔图大学理学院）
