Simulations of isolated galaxy disks that are stable against bar formation readily manifest multiple, transient spiral patterns. It therefore seems likely that some spirals in real galaxies are similarly self-excited, although others are clearly driven by tidal interactions or by bars. The rapidly changing appearance of simulated spirals does not, however imply that the patterns last only a fraction of an orbit. Power spectrum analysis reveals a few underlying, longer-lived spiral waves that turn at different rates, which when super-posed give the appearance of swing-amplified transients. These longer-lived waves are genuine unstable spiral modes; each grows vigorously, saturates and decays over a total of several orbit periods. As each mode decays, the wave action created as it grew drains away to the Lindblad resonances, where it scatters stars. The resulting changes to the disk create the conditions for a new instability, giving rise to a recurring cycle of unstable modes.

We present first results from the Intermediate Redshift OSIRIS Chemo-Kinematic Survey (IROCKS) of z ∼ 1 star forming galaxies (Mieda et al. in prep). We have targeted Hα and [NII] emission lines in J-band and have spatially resolved the galaxies at sub-kilo parsec scale. We have combined our sample with deep HST continuum images, and are able to reveal the dynamics, morphologies, metallicity distribution, emission-line diagnostics, and star formation rates of galaxies spanning this crucial z ∼ 1 epoch.

We present new Gemini/GMOS integral field unit observations of the central region of the merging compact group of galaxies HCG 31. Using this data set, we derive the oxygen abundances for the merging galaxies HCG 31A and HCG 31C. We found a smooth metallicity gradient between the nuclei of these galaxies, suggesting a mixing of metals between these objects. These results are confirmed by high-resolution Fabry-Perot data, from which we infer that gas is flowing between HCG 31A and HCG 31C.

Disc galaxies have a number of structures, such as bars, spirals, rings, discy bulges, m = 1 asymmetries, thick discs, warps etc. I will summarise what is known about their origin and in particular whether it is due to an external or an internal process. The former include interactions, major or minor mergers etc, while the latter include instabilities, or driving by another component of the same galaxy, as e.g. the bar or the halo. In cases where more than one process is eligible, I will analyse whether it is possible to distinguish between different origins, and what it would take to do so. This discussion will show that, at least in some cases, it is difficult to distinguish between an internal and an external origin.

The relative distribution of matter in galaxies ought to be one of the most definitive predictions of galaxy formation models yet its validation is challenged by numerous observational, theoretical, and operational challenges. All galaxies are believed to be dominated by an invisible matter component in their outskirts. A debate has however been blazing for the last two decades regarding the relative fraction of baryons and dark matter in the inner parts of galaxies: whether galaxies are centrally dominated by baryons (“maximal disk”) is of issue. Some of those debates have been misconstrued on account of operational confusion, such as dark matter fractions being measured and compared at different radii. All galaxies are typically baryon-dominated (maximal) at the center and dark-matter dominated (sub-maximal) in their outskirts; for low-mass galaxies (Vtot ≲ 200 km s− 1), the mass of the dark halo equals the stellar mass at least within 2 disk scale lengths, the transition occurs at larger effective radii for more massive galaxies. An ultimate goal for galaxy structure studies is to achieve accurate data-model comparisons for the relative fractions of baryonic to total matter at any radius.

Based both on observations and simulations, recent works propose that the speed of the spiral pattern in disk galaxies may decrease with increasing radius; the implications are that patterns are actually short-lived, and that the azimuthal color/age gradients across spiral arms predicted by density wave theory could not be produced. We, however, have consistently found such gradients, and measured spiral pattern speeds by comparing the observations with stellar population synthesis models (González & Graham 1996; Martínez-García et al. 2009a, b; Martínez-García & González-Lópezlira 2011). Here, we summarize our previous results in non-barred and weakly barred spirals, together with six new, as yet unpublished, objects. On the other hand, we have indeed found a trend whereby pattern speeds at smaller radii are larger than expected from a model that assumes purely circular orbits (cf. Figure 1), likely due to the effect of spiral shocks on the orbits of newborn stars. The results suggest that spirals may behave as steady long-lived patterns.

We use visual classifications of the brightest 250,000 galaxies in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Main Galaxy Sample provided by citizen scientists via the Galaxy Zoo project (www.galaxyzoo.org, Lintott et al. 2008) to identify a sample of local disc galaxies with reliable bar identifications.

These data, combined with information on the atomic gas content from the ALFALFA survey (Haynes et al. 2011) show that disc galaxies with higher gas content have lower bar fractions.

We use a gas deficiency parameter to show that disc galaxies with more/less gas than expected for their stellar mass are less/more likely to host bars. Furthermore, we see that at a fixed gas content there is no residual correlation between bar fraction and stellar mass. We argue that this suggests previously observed correlations between galaxy colour/stellar mass and (strong) bar fraction (e.g. from the sample in Masters et al. 2011, and also see Nair & Abraham 2010) could be driven by the interaction between bars and the gas content of the disc, since more massive, optically redder disc galaxies are observed to have lower gas contents.

Furthermore we see evidence that at a fixed gas content the global colours of barred galaxies are redder than those of unbarred galaxies. We suggest that this could be due to the exchange of angular momentum beyond co-rotation which might stop a replenishment of gas from external sources, and act as a source of feedback to temporarily halt or reduce the star formation in the outer parts of barred discs.

These results (published as Masters et al. 2012) combined with those of Skibba et al. (2012), who use the same sample to show a clear (but subtle and complicated) environmental dependence of the bar fraction in disc galaxies, suggest that bars are intimately linked to the evolution of disc galaxies.

Bars serve a crucial signpost in galaxy evolution because they form quickly once a disk is sufficiently massive and dynamically cold. Although the bar fraction in the local Universe is well-established since the mid-60s, a variety of studies have concluded varying bar fractions due to different definitions of bars, use of low quality data or different sample selection. The Spitzer Survey of Stellar Structure in Galaxies (S4G) offers us the ideal data set for resolving this outstanding issue once and for all. S4G consists of over 2000 nearby galaxies chosen based on optical brightness, distance, galactic latitude and size in a 40 Mpc volume. With a 4 minute integration time per pixel over >1.5 × D25 diameter for each galaxy, the data provide the deepest, homogenous, mid-infrared (3.6 and 4.5 microns) data on the nearby Universe. The data are so deep that we are tracing stellar surface densities << 1 solar mass per square parsec. With these data we can confidently constrain the bar fraction and thus shed important light on the evolutionary state of galaxies as a function of mass, environment and other galaxy host properties.

Rings are common in galaxies. Several kinds of rings are known: collisional, polar, and resonance rings, of which the latter is by far most common. Resonance rings are prime tracers of the underlying dynamical structure of disk galaxies, in particular of orbital resonances and of manifolds. Rings are also indicators of angular momentum transport, and this is a key factor in secular evolution (see the various reviews in Falcón-Barroso & Knapen 2012).

Resonance rings come in three flavours, primarily defined by their size, namely nuclear, inner, and outer rings. From studies like those of Buta (1995), Knapen (2005) and Comerón et al. (2010, 2013) we know that the radii of nuclear rings range from a few tens of parsec to some 3.5 kpc, while inner rings and outer rings have typical radii of 1.2 and 2.5–3 times the length of the bar. Many host galaxies of rings are barred, but so are most galaxies in general. Some 20% of all rings occur in non-barred galaxies, which implies that rings do not, or hardly, occur preferentially in barred galaxies (Knapen 2005, Comerón et al. 2010, 2013). In most non-barred ringed galaxies an oval, a past interaction, or even a prominent spiral pattern lies at the dynamical origin of the ring, but this needs additional scrutiny.

From an inventory of all known nuclear rings, Comerón et al. (2010) reach the following conclusions. Star-forming nuclear rings occur in 20 ± 2% of disk galaxies with −3 < T < 7; 18/96 occur in disk galaxies without a bar (19%); they are found in S0 to Sd galaxies, peaking in types Sab Sb; when nuclear rings occur in barred galaxies, the ring radius is limited to one quarter of the bar radius; and stronger bars host smaller rings (cf. Knapen 2005).

We are now using the Spitzer Survey of Spiral Structure in Galaxies (S4G; Sheth et al. 2010) to expand our survey to inner and outer rings (Comerón et al. 2013). We aim to study the relations between ring and host properties – as we did before for nuclear rings. We will use the S4G sample size and image depth to reach further insight into the secular evolution of galaxies by measuring structural properties of rings, as well as those of components like bars and disks. We will then be able to tackle outstanding questions such as the origin of rings in non-barred galaxies, and how exactly ring properties are determined by the bar.

Bars are the most important driver of secular evolution. A significant fraction of barred galaxies also harbor small secondary bars. Secondary bars are visible even in near-infrared images, so they are not just dusty and blue, but stellar features (Erwin & Sparke 2002). Since they are quite common, secondary bars are probably long-lived stellar features. The random relative orientation of the two bars indicates that they are dynamically decoupled with different pattern speeds (Buta & Crocker 1993). Corsini et al. (2003) presented conclusive direct kinematic evidence for a decoupled secondary bar in NGC 2950. Dynamically decoupled secondary bars have long been hypothesized to be a mechanism to drive gas past the ILR of primary bars to feed active galactic nuclei (Shlosman et al. 1989). However, the dynamics of secondary bars are still not well understood, and it is still unclear what role secondary bars play in the AGN fueling process.

Numerical simulations offer the best approach to understanding double-barred systems. Decoupled secondary bar in the earlier gaseous simulations only last a short time (< 1 Gyr, e.g. Friedli & Martinet 1993). Orbital studies of double-barred systems discovered a family of loop orbits that may be building blocks of long-lived nuclear stellar bars (Maciejewski & Sparke 1997, 2000). To complement orbital studies, which are not fully self-consistent, N-body simulations are preferred to further our understanding of double-barred systems. Debattista & Shen (2007) and Shen & Debattista (2009) managed to form long-lived double-barred systems with purely collisionless simulations, where a pre-existing rotating pseudo-bulge is introduced initially. The shape and size of secondary bars in the models are comparable to observed ones. They found that the rotation of the two bars is not rigid. The amplitude and pattern speed of the secondary bars oscillate as they rotate through their primary counterparts. Although the secondary bar rotates faster than the primary bar in this model, the stellar velocity field in the central region only shows a weakly twisted kinematic minor axis.

Recently more simulations of double-barred galaxies with simpler initial conditions are explored (Du, Shen & Debattista 2014). We expect that the new models can be used to cross-check with the kinematic properties of double-barred galaxies from IFU observations such as SAURON and Atlas3D.

We present a study of the kinematics of a sample of isolated spiral galaxies in the Spitzer Survey of Stellar Structure in Galaxies (S4G). We use Hα Fabry-Perot data from the GHαFaS instrument at the William Herschel Telescope (WHT) in La Palma, complemented with images at 3.6 microns, in the R band and in the Hα filter. The resulting data cubes and velocity field maps allow a complete study of the kinematics of a galaxy, including in-depth investigations of the rotation curve, velocity moment maps, velocity residual maps, gradient maps and position-velocity (PV) diagrams. We find clear evidence of the secular evolution processes going on in these galaxies, such as asymmetries in the velocity field in the bar zone, and non-circular motions, probably in response to the potential of the structural components of the galaxies, or to past or present interactions.

Bar driven secular evolution plays a key role in changing the morphology and kinematics of disk galaxies, leading to the formation of rapidly rotating boxy/peanut bulges. If these disk galaxies also hosted a preexisting classical bulge, how would the secular evolution influence the classical bulge, and also the observational properties.

We first study the co-evolution of a bar and a preexisting non-rotating low-mass classical bulge such as might be present in galaxies like the Milky Way. It is shown with N-body simulations that during the secular evolution, such a bulge can gain significant angular momentum emitted by the bar through resonant and stochastic orbits. Thereby it transforms into a cylindrically rotating, anisotropic and triaxial object, embedded in the fast rotating boxy bulge that forms via disk instability (Saha et al. 2012). The composite boxy/peanut bulge also rotates cylindrically.

We then show that the growth of the bar depends only slightly on the rotation properties of the preexisting classical bulge. For the initially rotating small classical bulge, cylindrical rotation in the resulting composite boxy/peanut bulge extends to lower heights (Saha & Gerhard 2013). More massive classical bulges also gain angular momentum emitted by the bar, inducing surprisingly large rotational support within about 4 Gyrs (Saha et al. in prep).

Since Edwin Hubble introduced his famous tuning fork diagram more than 70 years ago, spiral galaxies and early-type galaxies (ETGs) have been regarded as two distinct families. The spirals are characterized by the presence of disks of stars and gas in rapid rotation, while the early-types are gas poor and described as spheroidal systems, with less rotation and often non-axisymmetric shapes. The separation is physically relevant as it implies a distinct path of formation for the two classes of objects. I will give an overview of recent findings, from independent teams, that motivated a radical revision to Hubble's classic view of ETGs. These results imply a much closer link between spiral galaxies and ETGs than generally assumed.

NIRS0S (Near-IR S0 galaxy Survey), is a K-band survey of ~ 200 early-type disk galaxies, mainly S0s, 2-3 mag deeper than the 2Micron All Sky Survey. In depth morphological analysis was done, in which multi-component structural decompositions played an important role. Possible implications to internal dynamical galaxy evolution were discussed. S0s were suggested to be former spirals in which star formation has ceased, forming a parallel sequence with spirals (see Fig. 1). If that evolution is faster among the brighter galaxies, the observed magnitude difference between the barred and non-barred S0s could be understood. Bars are suggested to play a critical role in such evolution. For example, the inner lenses in the bright non-barred S0s can be explained as former barlenses (inner parts of bars), in which the elongated bar component has dissolved. We suggest that the last destructive merger event happened at a fairly large redshift.

Near-IR observations are considered to give an extinction-free view of the old stellar population in galaxies, thus ideal for the analysis of gravitational torques associated with bar and spiral structures. In the past, H or Ks band data have often been employed (Buta et al. 2010, Salo et al. 2010). S4G (Spitzer Survey of Stellar Structure in Galaxies, Sheth et al. 2010) provides new deep homogenious 3.6 and 4.5 micron data for over 2000 nearby galaxies, allowing to probe the bar and spiral properties over a wide range of morphological types and environments. Here we compare the Fourier-amplitude profiles derived from S4G data for about 50 early-type disk galaxies (SO and S0/a), with those from NIRSOS Ks data (Near-IR S0 Survey, Laurikainen et al. 2011). We also make detailed Ks-3.6 micron color maps. Interestingly, nuclear ring features stand up very clearly in these maps, indicating significantly different contributions of recent star formation in the Ks and 3.6 micron bands. However, the effect of these detailed differences on the overall force profiles is fairly small: this confirms that the S4G data can be confidently used for estimation of bar torques.

Early-type galaxies (ETGs) have been characterized as objects dominated by old stellar populations, containing little or no cold gas and dust, and thus, non-existent star formation. However, there are indications in the literature that some ETGs deviate from this: some have significant amounts of gas and dust, are forming stars, and/or display stellar substructures (tidal features, disks or shells, e.g., Kormendy et al. 1997, Rix, Carollo & Freeman 1999). A better understanding of the evolution of ETGs and the details of their “peculiarities” is critical to properly constrain models of galaxy formation. We present preliminary results on a photometric analysis of substructures in local ETGs, based on 3.6μm IRAC images from the Spitzer Survey of Stellar Structure in Galaxies (S4G; Sheth et al. 2010), which comprises one of the largest mid-IR photometric surveys of the local Universe. Relatively unhindered by extinction and dominated by the low-mass stellar populations that dominate a galaxy's stellar mass budget, the IR is the ideal waveband to trace the details of stellar structures in galaxies. Based on 2D GALFIT (Peng et al. 2002) decomposition, we find tidal features in 17% of 146 ETGs from S4G. For both the GALFIT model and the galaxy residual images, we calculate the total counts inside an annular region centered on the galaxy, where the inner radius is the effective radius of the galaxy. Assuming that a tidal feature and its host galaxy have the same mass-to-luminosity ratio (M/L), the ratio of the residual counts over model counts translates into the ratio of their stellar masses. We find that the tidal features in the majority of peculiar ETGs in our sample account for no more than 11% of the galaxy's total stellar mass. Considering that simulations (Canalizo et al. 2007) suggest an upper limit in relative stellar mass of 25% for shells resulting from a past major merger, the values we find support a merger origin. We are in the process of applying the decomposition method to GALEX UV images and optical SDSS images of these peculiar ETGs in order to characterize the underlying substructure and provide constraints on astrophysical properties such as star formation rates and stellar masses associated to these tidal features, based on broad-band SED template fitting techniques.

In our contribution we show the effects of environmental evolution on cluster and field dwarf elliptical galaxies (dEs), presenting the first large-scale integral-field spectroscopic data for this galaxy class. Our sample con sists of 12 galaxies and no two of them are alike. We find that the level of rotation is not tied to flattening; we observe kinematic twists; we discover large-scale kinematically-decoupled components; we see varying gradient s in line-strength maps: from nearly flat to strongly peaked in the center. The great variety of morphological, kinematic, and stellar population parameters seen in our data supports the claim that dEs are defunct dwarf spiral/irregular galaxies and points to a formation scenario that allows for a stochastic shaping of galaxy properties. The combined influence of ram-pressure stripping and harassment fulfills these requirements, still, the exact impact of the two is not yet understood. We further investigate the properties of our sample by performing a detailed comprehensive analysis of its kinematic, dynamical, and stellar population parameters. The combined knowledge of the dynamical properties and star-formation histories, together with model predictions for different formation mechanisms, will be used to quant itatively determine the actual transformation paths for these galaxies.

What happens to dwarf galaxies as they enter the cluster potential well is one of the main unknowns in studies of galaxy evolution. Several evidence suggests that late-type galaxies enter the cluster and are transformed to dwarf early-type galaxies (dEs). We study the Virgo cluster to understand which mechanisms are involved in this transformation. We find that the dEs in the outer parts of Virgo have rotation curves with shapes and amplitudes similar to late-type galaxies of the same luminosity (Fig. 1). These dEs are rotationally supported, have disky isophotes, and younger ages than those dEs in the center of Virgo, which are pressure supported, often have boxy isophotes and are older (Fig. 1). Ram pressure stripping, thus, explains the properties of the dEs located in the outskirts of Virgo. However, the dEs in the central cluster regions, which have lost their angular momentum, must have suffered a more violent transformation. A combination of ram pressure stripping and harassment is not enough to remove the rotation and the spiral/disky structures of these galaxies. We find that on the the Faber-Jackson and the Fundamental Plane relations dEs deviate from the trends of massive elliptical galaxies towards the position of dark matter dominated systems such as the dwarf spheroidal satellites of the Milky Way and M31. Both, rotationally and pressure supported dEs, however, populate the same region in these diagrams. This indicates that dEs have a non-negligible dark matter fraction within their half light radius.