Antitruncated Stellar Disks via Minor Mergers

Abstract

We use hydrodynamic simulations of minor mergers of galaxies to investigate the nature of surface brightness excesses at large radii observed in some spiral galaxies: antitruncated stellar disks. We find that this process can produce the antitruncation via two competing effects: (1) merger-driven gas inflows that concentrate mass in the center of the primary galaxy and contract its inner density profile; and (2) angular momentum transferred outward by the interaction, causing the outer disk to expand. In our experiments, this requires both a significant supply of gas in the primary disk, and that the encounter be prograde with moderate orbital angular momentum. The stellar surface mass density profiles of our remnants both qualitatively and quantitatively resemble the broken exponentials observed in local face-on spirals that display antitruncations. Moreover, the observed trend toward more frequent antitruncation relative to classical truncation in earlier Hubble types is consistent with a merger-driven scenario.