Breaking the degeneracy between warps and radial flows in external galaxies

Fuente: arXiv
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Autores principales: Labini, Francesco Sylos, De Marzo, Giordano, Straccamore, Matteo
Formato: Preprint
Publicado: 2025
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author Labini, Francesco Sylos
De Marzo, Giordano
Straccamore, Matteo
author_facet Labini, Francesco Sylos
De Marzo, Giordano
Straccamore, Matteo
contents Observations of the line-of-sight component of emitter velocities in galaxies are valuable for reconstructing their 2D velocity fields, albeit requiring certain assumptions. A common one is that radial flows can be neglected in the outer regions of galaxies, while their geometry can be deformed by a warp. A specular approach assumes that galactic discs are flat but allows for the presence of radial flows. This approach enables the reconstruction of 2D velocity maps that encompass both the transversal and radial velocity fields. Through the study of velocity fields in toy disc models, we find that the presence of warps is manifested as a dipolar correlation between the two velocity components obtained by assuming a flat disc. This shows that the analysis of angular velocity anisotropies provides an effective tool for breaking the degeneracy between warps and radial flows. We have applied these findings to the analysis of velocity fields of the galaxies from the THINGS sample and M33. Many of these galaxies exhibit such a dipolar correlation, indicating the presence of warps. However, we have found that the warp alone cannot explain all variations in the velocity field, suggesting that intrinsic perturbations are common. Furthermore, we have observed that the spatial distribution of the line-of-sight velocity dispersion may correlate with both velocity components providing independent evidence of non-trivial velocity fields. These findings offer a robust approach to reconstructing the velocity fields of galaxies, allowing us to distinguish between the presence of warps and complex velocity structures assessing their relative amplitude.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2503_22306
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Breaking the degeneracy between warps and radial flows in external galaxies
Labini, Francesco Sylos
De Marzo, Giordano
Straccamore, Matteo
Astrophysics of Galaxies
Observations of the line-of-sight component of emitter velocities in galaxies are valuable for reconstructing their 2D velocity fields, albeit requiring certain assumptions. A common one is that radial flows can be neglected in the outer regions of galaxies, while their geometry can be deformed by a warp. A specular approach assumes that galactic discs are flat but allows for the presence of radial flows. This approach enables the reconstruction of 2D velocity maps that encompass both the transversal and radial velocity fields. Through the study of velocity fields in toy disc models, we find that the presence of warps is manifested as a dipolar correlation between the two velocity components obtained by assuming a flat disc. This shows that the analysis of angular velocity anisotropies provides an effective tool for breaking the degeneracy between warps and radial flows. We have applied these findings to the analysis of velocity fields of the galaxies from the THINGS sample and M33. Many of these galaxies exhibit such a dipolar correlation, indicating the presence of warps. However, we have found that the warp alone cannot explain all variations in the velocity field, suggesting that intrinsic perturbations are common. Furthermore, we have observed that the spatial distribution of the line-of-sight velocity dispersion may correlate with both velocity components providing independent evidence of non-trivial velocity fields. These findings offer a robust approach to reconstructing the velocity fields of galaxies, allowing us to distinguish between the presence of warps and complex velocity structures assessing their relative amplitude.
title Breaking the degeneracy between warps and radial flows in external galaxies
topic Astrophysics of Galaxies
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2503.22306