Galactic Bars in Cosmological Context

Abstract

Galactic disks can form in asymmetric potentials of the assembling dark matter (DM) halos, giving rise to the first generation of gas-rich bars. Properties of these bars differ from canonical bars analyzed so far. Moreover, rapid disk growth is associated with the influx of clumpy DM and baryons along the large-scale filaments. Subsequent interactions between this substructure and the disk can trigger generations of bars, which can explain their ubiquity in the Universe. I provide a brief summary of such bar properties and argue that they fit naturally within the broad cosmological context of a hierarchical buildup of structure in the universe.

8 pages, 6 figures, invited talk at the Pattern Speeds Along the Hubble Sequence; to be published by the Memorie della Societa` Astronomica Italiana