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The Milky Way's last significant merger, the Gaia Enceladus/Sausage (GES), is thought to have taken place between 8-11 Gyr ago. Recent studies in the literature suggest that the bar of the Milky Way is rather old, indicating that it formed at a similar epoch to the GES merger. We investigate the possible link between these events using one of the Auriga cosmological simulations which has salient features in common with the Milky Way, including a last significant merger with kinematic signatures resembling that of the GES. In this simulation, the GES-like merger event triggers tidal forces on the disc, gas inflows and a burst of star formation, with the formation of a bar occuring within 1 Gyr of the first pericentre. To highlight the effects of the merger, we rerun the simulation from z=4 with the progenitors of the GES-like galaxy removed well before the merger time. The consequence is a delay in bar formation by around 2 Gyr, and this new bar forms without any significant external perturbers. We conclude that this Milky Way-like simulation shows a route to the real Milky Way's bar forming around the epoch of the GES merger due to tidal forces on its first pericentre. We explore all Auriga galaxies with GES-like merger events, and find that those with stellar mass ratios below 10% form bars within 1 Gyr of the merger, while bar formation is delayed in the more massive merger scenarios. These include the 4 oldest bars in the simulation suite. Lastly, we note some later morphological differences between the disc of the original simulation and our rerun, in particular that the latter does not grow radially for the final 7 Gyr. Our study suggests that the GES may therefore be responsible for the formation of the Milky Way's bar, as well as for the build-up of its extended disc., Comment: 14 pages, 9 figures, submitted to MNRAS

The origin of thick disks and their evolutionary connection with thin disks are still a matter of debate. We provide new insights into this topic by connecting the stellar populations of thick disks at redshift $z=0$ with their past formation and growth, in 24 Milky Way-mass galaxies from the AURIGA zoom-in cosmological simulations. We projected each galaxy edge on, and decomposed it morphologically into two disk components, in order to define geometrically the thin and the thick disks as usually done in observations. We produced age, metallicity and [Mg/Fe] edge-on maps. We quantified the impact of satellite mergers by mapping the distribution of ex-situ stars. Thick disks are on average $\sim 3$~Gyr older, $\sim 0.25$~dex more metal poor and $\sim 0.06$~dex more [Mg/Fe]-enhanced than thin disks. Their average ages range from $\sim 6$ to $\sim 9$~Gyr, metallicities from $\sim -0.15$ to $\sim 0.1$~dex, and [Mg/Fe] from $\sim 0.12$ to $\sim 0.16$~dex. These properties are the result of an early initial in-situ formation, followed by a later growth driven by the combination of direct accretion of stars, some in-situ star formation fueled by mergers, and dynamical heating of stars. The balance between these processes varies from galaxy to galaxy. Mergers play a key role in the mass assembly of thick disks, contributing an average accreted mass fraction of $\sim 22$\% in the analyzed thick-disk dominated regions. In two galaxies, about half of the geometric thick-disk mass was directly accreted. While primordial thick disks form at high redshift in all galaxies, young metal-rich thin disks, with much lower [Mg/Fe] abundances, start to form later but at different times (higher or lower redshift) depending on the galaxy. We conclude that thick disks result from the interplay of external processes with the internal evolution of the galaxy., Comment: 57 pages, 43 figures, 3 tables; Published in Astronomy & Astrophysics

The Milky Way (MW) is by far the best-studied galaxy and has been regarded as an ideal laboratory for understanding galaxy evolution. However, direct comparisons of Galactic and extra-galactic observations are marred by many challenges, including selection effects and differences in observations and methodology. In this study, we present a novel code GalCraft to address these challenges by generating mock integral-field spectrograph data cubes of the MW using simple stellar population models and a mock stellar catalog of the Galaxy derived from E-Galaxia. The data products are in the same format as external galaxies, allowing for direct comparisons. We investigate the ability of pPXF to recover kinematics and stellar population properties for an edge-on mock observation of the MW. We confirm that pPXF can distinguish kinematic and stellar population differences between thin and thick disks. However, pPXF struggles to recover star formation history, where the SFR is overestimated in the ranges between 2-4 and 12-14 Gyr compared to the expected values. This is likely due to the template age spacing, pPXF regularization algorithm, and spectral similarities in old population templates. Furthermore, we find systematic offsets in the recovered kinematics, potentially due to insufficient spectral resolution and the variation of line-of-sight velocity with [M/H] and age through a line-of-sight. With future higher resolution and multi-[$\alpha$/Fe] SSP templates, GalCraft will be useful to identify key signatures such as [$\alpha$/Fe]-[M/H] distribution at different $R$ and $|z|$ and potentially measure radial migration and kinematic heating efficiency to study detailed chemodynamical evolution of MW-like galaxies., Comment: 27 pages, 27 figures (8 figs in appendix), submitted to MNRAS. Comments are welcome

We trace the evolution of the edge-on spiral galaxy NGC 3501, making use of its stellar populations extracted from deep integral-field spectroscopy MUSE observations. We present stellar kinematic and population maps, as well as the star formation history, of the south-western half of the galaxy. The derived maps of the stellar line-of-sight velocity and velocity dispersion are quite regular, show disc-like rotation, and no other structural component of the galaxy. However, maps of the stellar populations exhibit structures in the mass-weighted and light-weighted age, total metallicity and [Mg/Fe] abundance. These maps indicate that NGC 3501 is a young galaxy, consisting mostly of stars with ages between 2 to 8 Gyr. Also, they show a thicker more extended structure that is metal-poor and $\alpha$-rich, and another inner metal-rich and $\alpha$-poor one with smaller radial extension. While previous studies revealed that NGC 3501 shows only one morphological disc component in its vertical structure, we divided the galaxy into two regions: an inner metal-rich midplane and a metal-poor thicker envelope. Comparing the star formation history of the inner thinner metal-rich disc and the thicker metal-poor disc, we see that the metal-rich component evolved more steadily, while the metal-poor one experienced several bursts of star formation. We propose this spiral galaxy is being observed in an early evolutionary phase, with a thicker disc already in place and an inner thin disc in an early formation stage. So we are probably witnessing the birth of a future massive thin disc, continuously growing embedded in a preexisting thicker disc., Comment: 15 pages, 12 figures. Accepted for publication in MNRAS

The epoch in which galactic discs settle is a major benchmark to test models of galaxy formation and evolution but is as yet largely unknown. Once discs settle and become self-gravitating enough, stellar bars are able to form; therefore, determining the ages of bars can shed light on the epoch of disc settling, and on the onset of secular evolution. Nevertheless, until now, timing when the bar formed has proven challenging. In this work, we present a new methodology for obtaining the bar age, using the star formation history of nuclear discs. Nuclear discs are rotation-supported structures, built by gas pushed to the centre via bar-induced torques, and their formation is thus coincident with bar formation. In particular, we use integral field spectroscopic (IFS) data from the TIMER survey to disentangle the star formation history of the nuclear disc from that of the underlying main disc, which enables us to more accurately determine when the nuclear disc forms. We demonstrate the methodology on the galaxy NGC 1433 -- which we find to host an old bar that is $8.0^{+1.6}_{-1.1}\rm{(sys)}^{+0.2}_{-0.5}\rm{(stat)}$ Gyr old -- and describe a number of tests carried out on both the observational data and numerical simulations. In addition, we present evidence that the nuclear disc of NGC 1433 grows in accordance with an inside-out formation scenario. This methodology is applicable to high-resolution IFS data of barred galaxies with nuclear discs, making it ideally suited for the TIMER survey sample. In the future we will thus be able to determine the bar age for a large sample of galaxies, shedding light on the epoch of disc settling and bar formation., Comment: Accepted for Publication by A&A, 18 pages, 14 figures

Observations and simulations of interacting galaxies and mergers in the local universe have shown that interactions can significantly enhance the star formation rates (SFR) and fueling of Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN). However, at higher redshift, some simulations suggest that the level of star formation enhancement induced by interactions is lower due to the higher gas fractions and already increased SFRs in these galaxies. To test this, we measure the SFR enhancement in a total of 2351 (1327) massive ($M_*>10^{10}M_\odot$) major ($1

Theoretical works have shown that off-plane motions of bars can heat stars in the vertical direction during buckling but is not clear how do they affect the rest of components of the Stellar Velocity Ellipsoid (SVE). We study the 2D spatial distribution of the vertical, $\sigma_{z}$, azimuthal, $\sigma_{\phi}$ and radial, $\sigma_{r}$ velocity dispersions in the inner regions of Auriga galaxies, a set of high-resolution magneto-hydrodynamical cosmological zoom-in simulations, to unveil the influence of the bar on the stellar kinematics. $\sigma_{z}$ and $\sigma_{\phi}$ maps exhibit non-axisymmetric features that closely match the bar light distribution with low $\sigma$ regions along the bar major axis and high values in the perpendicular direction. On the other hand, $\sigma_{r}$ velocity dispersion maps present more axisymmetric distributions. We show that isophotal profile differences best capture the impact of the bar on the three SVE components providing strong correlations with bar morphology proxies although there is no relation with individual $\sigma$. Time evolution analysis shows that these differences are a consequence of the bar formation and that they tightly coevolve with the strength of the bar. We discuss the presence of different behaviours of $\sigma_{z}$ and its connection with observations. This work helps us understand the intrinsic $\sigma$ distribution and motivates the use of isophotal profiles as a mean to quantify the effect of bars., Comment: 13 pages, 6 Figures. Accepted for publications in MNRAS

The mass function of globular cluster (GC) populations is a fundamental observable that encodes the physical conditions under which these massive stellar clusters formed and evolved. The high-mass end of star cluster mass functions are commonly described using a Schechter function, with an exponential truncation mass $M_{c,*}$. For the GC mass functions in the Virgo galaxy cluster, this truncation mass increases with galaxy mass ($M_{*}$). In this paper we fit Schechter mass functions to the GCs in the most massive galaxy group ($M_{\mathrm{200}} = 5.14 \times 10^{13} M_{\odot}$) in the E-MOSAICS simulations. The fiducial cluster formation model in E-MOSAICS reproduces the observed trend of $M_{c,*}$ with $M_{*}$ for the Virgo cluster. We therefore examine the origin of the relation by fitting $M_{c,*}$ as a function of galaxy mass, with and without accounting for mass loss by two-body relaxation, tidal shocks and/or dynamical friction. In the absence of these mass-loss mechanisms, the $M_{c,*}$-$M_{*}$ relation is flat above $M_* > 10^{10} M_{\odot}$. It is therefore the disruption of high-mass GCs in galaxies with $M_{*}\sim 10^{10} M_{\odot}$ that lowers the $M_{c,*}$ in these galaxies. High-mass GCs are able to survive in more massive galaxies, since there are more mergers to facilitate their redistribution to less-dense environments. The $M_{c,*}-M_*$ relation is therefore a consequence of both the formation conditions of massive star clusters and their environmentally-dependent disruption mechanisms., Comment: Accepted to MNRAS

The existence of massive galaxies lacking a classical bulge has often been proposed as a challenge to $\Lambda$CDM. However, recent simulations propose that a fraction of massive disc galaxies might have had very quiescent merger histories, and also that mergers do not necessarily build classical bulges. We test these ideas with deep MUSE observations of NGC 5746, a massive ($\sim 10^{11}$ M$_\odot$) edge-on disc galaxy with no classical bulge. We analyse its stellar kinematics and stellar populations, and infer that a massive and extended disc formed very early: 80% of the galaxy's stellar mass formed more than 10 Gyr ago. Most of the thick disc and the bar formed during that early phase. The bar drove gas towards the center and triggered the formation of the nuclear disc followed by the growth of a boxy/peanut-shaped bulge. Around $\sim$ 8 Gyr ago, a $\sim$1:10 merger happened, possibly on a low-inclination orbit. The satellite did not cause significant vertical heating, did not contribute to the growth of a classical bulge, and did not destroy the bar and the nuclear disc. It was however an important event for the galaxy: by depositing its stars throughout the whole galaxy it contributed $\sim 30$% of accreted stars to the thick disc. NGC 5746 thus did not completely escape mergers, but the only relatively recent significant merger did not damage the galaxy and did not create a classical bulge. Future observations will reveal if this is representative of the formation histories of massive disc galaxies., Comment: Accepted for publication in MNRAS. 22 pages, 21 figures (including appendix)

The connection between the Stellar Velocity Ellipsoid (SVE) and the dynamical evolution of galaxies has been a matter of debate in the last years and there is no clear consensus whether different heating agents (e.g. spiral arms, giant molecular clouds, bars and mergers) leave clear detectable signatures in the present day kinematics. Most of these results are based on a single and global SVE and have not taken into account that these agents do not necessarily equally affect all regions of the stellar disc.We study the 2D spatial distribution of the SVE across the stellar discs of Auriga galaxies, a set of high resolution magneto-hydrodynamical cosmological zoom-in simulations, to unveil the connection between local and global kinematic properties in the disc region. We find very similar, global, $\sigma_{z}/\sigma_{r}$= 0.80$\pm$ 0.08 values for galaxies of different Hubble types. This shows that the global properties of the SVE at z=0 are not a good indicator of the heating and cooling events experienced by galaxies. We also find that similar $\sigma_{z}/\sigma_{r}$radial profiles are obtained through different combinations of $\sigma_{z}$ and $\sigma_{r}$ trends: at a local level, the vertical and radial components can evolve differently, leading to similar $\sigma_{z}/\sigma_{r}$ profiles at z=0. By contrast, the 2D spatial distribution of the SVE varies a lot more from galaxy to galaxy. Present day features in the SVE spatial distribution may be associated with specific interactions such as fly-by encounters or the accretion of low mass satellites even in the cases when the global SVE is not affected. The stellar populations decomposition reveals that young stellar populations present colder and less isotropic SVEs and more complex 2D distributions than their older and hotter counterparts., Comment: 13 pages, 9 Figures, Figure 1 compares simulations and observations. Accepted for publication in MNRAS Title Updated

Dynamical models allow us to connect the motion of a set of tracers to the underlying gravitational potential, and thus to the total (luminous and dark) matter distribution. They are particularly useful for understanding the mass and spatial distribution of dark matter (DM) in a galaxy. Globular clusters (GCs) are an ideal tracer population in dynamical models, since they are bright and can be found far out into the halo of galaxies. We aim to test how well Jeans-Anisotropic-MGE (JAM) models using GCs (positions and line-of-sight velocities) as tracers can constrain the mass and radial distribution of DM halos. For this, we use the E-MOSAICS suite of 25 zoom-in simulations of L* galaxies. We find that the DM halo properties are reasonably well recovered by the JAM models. There is, however, a strong correlation between how well we recover the mass and the radial distribution of the DM and the number of GCs in the galaxy: the constraints get exponentially worse with fewer GCs, and at least 150 GCs are needed in order to guarantee that the JAM model will perform well. We find that while the data quality (uncertainty on the radial velocities) can be important, the number of GCs is the dominant factor in terms of the accuracy and precision of the measurements. This work shows promising results for these models to be used in extragalactic systems with a sample of more than 150 GCs., Comment: 18 pages, 13 figures. Accepted for publication in MNRAS

Using simulated galaxies in their cosmological context, we analyse how the flaring of mono-age populations (MAPs) influences the flaring and the age structure of geometrically-defined thick discs. We also explore under which circumstances the geometric thin and thick discs are meaningfully distinct components, or are part of a single continuous structure as in the Milky Way. We find that flat thick discs are created when MAPs barely flare or have low surface density at the radius where they start flaring. When looking at the vertical distribution of MAPs, these galaxies show a continuous thin/thick structure. They also have radial age gradients and tend to have quiescent merger histories. Those characteristics are consistent with what is observed in the Milky Way. Flared thick discs, on the other hand, are created when the MAPs that flare have a high surface density at the radius where they start flaring. The thick discs' scale-heights can either be dominated by multiple MAPs or just a few, depending on the mass and scale-height distribution of the MAPs. In a large fraction of these galaxies, thin and thick discs are clearly distinct structures. Finally, flared thick discs have diverse radial age gradients and merger histories, with galaxies that are more massive or that have undergone massive mergers showing flatter age radial gradients in their thick disc., Comment: 15 pages, 14 figures. Accepted to MNRAS

Galaxy interactions and mergers are thought to play an important role in the evolution of galaxies. Studies in the nearby universe show a higher AGN fraction in interacting and merging galaxies than their isolated counterparts, indicating that such interactions are important contributors to black hole growth. To investigate the evolution of this role at higher redshifts, we have compiled the largest known sample of major spectroscopic galaxy pairs (2381 with $\Delta V <5000$ km s$^{-1}$) at $0.5

The central regions of disc galaxies hold clues to the processes that dominate their formation and evolution. The TIMER project has obtained high signal-to-noise and spatial resolution integral-field spectroscopy data of the inner few kpc of 21 nearby massive barred galaxies, allowing studies of the stellar kinematics with unprecedented spatial resolution. We confirm theoretical predictions of the effects of bars on stellar kinematics, and identify box/peanuts through kinematic signatures in mildly and moderately inclined galaxies, finding a lower limit to the fraction of massive barred galaxies with box/peanuts at ~62%. Further, we provide kinematic evidence of the connection between barlenses, box/peanuts and bars. We establish the presence of nuclear discs in 19 galaxies and show that their kinematics are characterised by near-circular orbits with low pressure support, and are consistent with the bar-driven secular evolution picture for their formation. In fact, we show that these nuclear discs have, in the region where they dominate, larger rotational support than the underlying main galaxy disc. We define a kinematic radius for the nuclear discs and show that it relates to bar radius, ellipticity and strength, and bar-to-total ratio. Comparing our results with photometric studies, we find that state-of-the-art galaxy image decompositions are able to discern nuclear discs from classical bulges, if the images employed have enough physical spatial resolution. In fact, we show that nuclear discs are typically identified in such image decompositions as photometric bulges with (near-)exponential profiles. However, we find that the presence of composite bulges (galaxies hosting both a classical bulge and a nuclear disc) can often be unnoticed in studies based on photometry alone, and suggest a more stringent threshold to the Sersic index to identify galaxies with pure classical bulges., Comment: Accepted for publication in A&A; 24 pages, 9 figures, 3 tables, including 2 appendices. A full resolution PDF is available at http://www.sc.eso.org/~dgadotti/kinematics.pdf and FITS files with the derived (spatially-resolved) stellar kinematics (v, sigma, h3 and h4) for all TIMER galaxies are available at https://www.muse-timer.org/data

The mass of a star is the most fundamental parameter for its structure, evolution, and final fate. It is particularly important for any kind of stellar archaeology and characterization of exoplanets. There exists a variety of methods in astronomy to estimate or determine it. In this review we present a significant number of such methods, beginning with the most direct and model-independent approach using detached eclipsing binaries. We then move to more indirect and model-dependent methods, such as the quite commonly used isochrone or stellar track fitting. The arrival of quantitative asteroseismology has opened a completely new approach to determine stellar masses and to complement and improve the accuracy of other methods. We include methods for different evolutionary stages, from the pre-main sequence to evolved (super)giants and final remnants. For all methods uncertainties and restrictions will be discussed. We provide lists of altogether more than 200 benchmark stars with relative mass accuracies between $[0.3,2]\%$ for the covered mass range of $M\in [0.1,16]\,\msun$, $75\%$ of which are stars burning hydrogen in their core and the other $25\%$ covering all other evolved stages. We close with a recommendation how to combine various methods to arrive at a "mass-ladder" for stars., Comment: Invited review article for The Astronomy and Astrophysics Review. 146 pages, 16 figures, 11 tables. Accepted version by the Journal. It includes summary figure of accuracy/precision of methods for mass ranges and summary table for individual methods

Stellar populations in barred galaxies save an imprint of the influence of the bar on the host galaxy's evolution. We present a detailed analysis of star formation histories (SFHs) and chemical enrichment of stellar populations in nine nearby barred galaxies from the TIMER project. We use integral field observations with the MUSE instrument to derive unprecedented spatially resolved maps of stellar ages, metallicities, [Mg/Fe] abundances and SFHs, as well as H$\alpha$ as a tracer of ongoing star formation. We find a characteristic V-shaped signature in the SFH perpendicular to the bar major axis which supports the scenario where intermediate age stars ($\sim 2$-$6\ \mathrm{Gyr}$) are trapped on more elongated orbits shaping a thinner part of the bar, while older stars ($> 8\ \mathrm{Gyr}$) are trapped on less elongated orbits shaping a rounder and thicker part of the bar. We compare our data to state-of-the-art cosmological magneto-hydrodynamical simulations of barred galaxies and show that such V-shaped SFHs arise naturally due to the dynamical influence of the bar on stellar populations with different ages and kinematic properties. Additionally, we find an excess of very young stars ($< 2\ \mathrm{Gyr}$) on the edges of the bars, predominantly on the leading side, confirming typical star formation patterns in bars. Furthermore, mass-weighted age and metallicity gradients are slightly shallower along the bar than in the disc likely due to orbital mixing in the bar. Finally, we find that bars are mostly more metal-rich and less [Mg/Fe]-enhanced than the surrounding discs. We interpret this as a signature that the bar quenches star formation in the inner region of discs, usually referred to as star formation deserts. We discuss these results and their implications on two different scenarios of bar formation and evolution., Comment: Accepted for publication in Astronomy and Astrophysics; 14 pages, 14 figures, 3 tables (including appendix: 29 pages, 29 figures)

The {\alpha}-element abundances of the globular cluster (GC) and field star populations of galaxies encode information about the formation of each of these components. We use the E-MOSAICS cosmological simulations of ~L* galaxies and their GCs to investigate the [{\alpha}/Fe]-[Fe/H] distribution of field stars and GCs in 25 Milky Way-mass galaxies. The [{\alpha}/Fe]-[Fe/H] distribution go GCs largely follows that of the field stars and can also therefore be used as tracers of the [{\alpha}/Fe]-[Fe/H] evolution of the galaxy. Due to the difference in their star formation histories, GCs associated with stellar streams (i.e. which have recently been accreted) have systematically lower [{\alpha}/Fe] at fixed [Fe/H]. Therefore, if a GC is observed to have low [{\alpha}/Fe] for its [Fe/H] there is an increased probability that this GC was accreted recently alongside a dwarf galaxy. There is a wide range of shapes for the field star [{\alpha}/Fe]-[Fe/H] distribution, with a notable subset of galaxies exhibiting bimodal distributions, in which the high [{\alpha}/Fe] sequence is mostly comprised of stars in the bulge, a high fraction of which are from disrupted GCs. We calculate the contribution of disrupted GCs to the bulge component of the 25 simulated galaxies and find values between 0.3-14 per cent, where this fraction correlates with the galaxy's formation time. The upper range of these fractions is compatible with observationally-inferred measurements for the Milky Way, suggesting that in this respect the Milky Way is not typical of L* galaxies, having experienced a phase of unusually rapid growth at early times.

Stellar feedback plays a significant role in modulating star formation, redistributing metals, and shaping the baryonic and dark structure of galaxies -- however, the efficiency of its energy deposition to the interstellar medium is challenging to constrain observationally. Here we leverage HST and ALMA imaging of a molecular gas and dust shell ($M_{H2} \sim 2\times 10^{5} ~{\rm M}_{\odot}$) in an outflow from the nuclear star forming ring of the galaxy NGC 3351, to serve as a boundary condition for a dynamical and energetic analysis of the outflowing ionised gas seen in our MUSE TIMER survey. We use \texttt{STARBURST99} models and prescriptions for feedback from simulations to demonstrate that the observed star formation energetics can reproduce the ionised and molecular gas dynamics -- provided a dominant component of the momentum injection comes from direct photon pressure from young stars, on top of supernovae, photoionisation heating and stellar winds. The mechanical energy budget from these sources is comparable to low luminosity AGN, suggesting that stellar feedback can be a relevant driver of bulk gas motions in galaxy centres - although here $\lesssim 10^{-3}$ of the ionized gas mass is escaping the galaxy. We test several scenarios for the survival/formation of the cold gas in the outflow, including in-situ condensation and cooling. Interestingly, the geometry of the molecular gas shell, observed magnetic field strengths and emission line diagnostics are consistent with a scenario where magnetic field lines aided survival of the dusty ISM as it was initially launched (with mass loading factor $\lesssim 1$) from the ring by stellar feedback. This system's unique feedback driven morphology can hopefully serve as a useful litmus test for feedback prescriptions in magnetohydrodynamical galaxy simulations., Comment: Accepted for publication in MNRAS. 27 pages, 17 figures

The kinematics of the Milky Way disc as a function of age are well measured at the solar radius, but have not been studied over a wider range of Galactocentric radii. Here, we measure the kinematics of mono-age, mono-$\mathrm{[Fe/H]}$ populations in the low and high $\mathrm{[\alpha/Fe]}$ discs between $4 \lesssim R \lesssim 13$ kpc and $|z| \lesssim 2$ kpc using 65,719 stars in common between APOGEE DR14 and $\it{Gaia}$ DR2 for which we estimate ages using a Bayesian neural network model trained on asteroseismic ages. We determine the vertical and radial velocity dispersions, finding that the low and high $\mathrm{[\alpha/Fe]}$ discs display markedly different age--velocity-dispersion relations (AVRs) and shapes $\sigma_z/\sigma_R$. The high $\mathrm{[\alpha/Fe]}$ disc has roughly flat AVRs and constant $\sigma_z/\sigma_R = 0.64\pm 0.04$, whereas the low $\mathrm{[\alpha/Fe]}$ disc has large variations in this ratio which positively correlate with the mean orbital radius of the population at fixed age. The high $\mathrm{[\alpha/Fe]}$ disc component's flat AVRs and constant $\sigma_z/\sigma_R$ clearly indicates an entirely different heating history. Outer disc populations also have flatter radial AVRs than those in the inner disc, likely due to the waning effect of spiral arms. Our detailed measurements of AVRs and $\sigma_z/\sigma_R$ across the disc indicate that low $\mathrm{[\alpha/Fe]}$, inner disc ($R \lesssim 10\,\mathrm{kpc}$) stellar populations are likely dynamically heated by both giant molecular clouds and spiral arms, while the observed trends for outer disc populations require a significant contribution from another heating mechanism such as satellite perturbations. We also find that outer disc populations have slightly positive mean vertical and radial velocities, likely because they are part of the warped disc., Comment: Accepted for publication in MNRAS - The revised version has various updates to the text following suggestions from the referee, but general results remain the same. Code is available https://github.com/jmackereth/monoage-velocity-dispersion, and the APOGEE DR14 age catalogue can be found alongside a paper summary http://www.astro.ljmu.ac.uk/~astjmack/dynamical-heating.html

Stellar haloes encode a fossil record of a galaxy's accretion history, generally in the form of structures of low surface brightness, such as stellar streams. While their low surface brightness makes it challenging to determine their age, metallicity, kinematics and spatial structure, the infalling galaxies also deposit globular clusters (GCs) in the halo, which are bright and therefore easier to observe and characterise. To understand how GCs associated with stellar streams can be used to estimate the stellar mass and the infall time of their parent galaxy, we examine a subset of 15 simulations of galaxies and their star clusters from the E-MOSAICS project. E-MOSAICS is a suite of hydrodynamical simulations incorporating a sub-grid model for GC formation and evolution. We find that more massive accreted galaxies typically contribute younger and more metal rich GCs. This lower age results from a more extended cluster formation history in more massive galaxies. In addition, at fixed stellar mass, galaxies that are accreted later host younger clusters, because they can continue to form GCs without being subjected to environmental influences for longer. This explains the large range of ages observed for clusters associated with the Sagittarius dwarf galaxy in the halo of the Milky Way compared to clusters which are thought to have formed in satellites accreted early in the Milky Way's formation history. Using the ages of the GCs associated with the Sagittarius dwarf, we estimate a virial radius crossing lookback time (infall time) of $9.3 \pm 1.8 Gyr$., Comment: Accepted to MNRAS

The Time Inference with MUSE in Extragalactic Rings (TIMER) project is a survey with the VLT-MUSE integral-field spectrograph of 24 nearby barred galaxies with prominent central structures (e.g., nuclear rings or inner discs). The main goals of the project are: (i) estimating the cosmic epoch when discs of galaxies settle, leading to the formation of bars; (ii) testing the hypothesis whereby discs in more massive galaxies are assembled first; and (iii) characterising the history of external gas accretion in disc galaxies. We present details on the sample selection, observations, data reduction, and derivation of high-level data products, including stellar kinematics, ages and metallicities. We also derive star formation histories and physical properties and kinematics of ionised gas. We illustrate how this dataset can be used for a plethora of scientific applications, e.g., stellar feedback, outflows, nuclear and primary bars, stellar migration and chemical enrichment, and the gaseous and stellar dynamics of nuclear spiral arms, barlenses, box/peanuts and bulges. Amongst our first results - based on a few selected galaxies -, we show that the dynamics of nuclear rings and inner discs is consistent with the picture in which they are formed by bars, that the central few hundred parsecs in massive disc galaxies tend to show a pronounced peak in stellar metallicity, and that nuclear rings can efficiently prevent star formation in this region. Finally, we present evidence that star-bursting nuclear rings can be fed with low-metallicity gas from low-mass companions., Comment: Accepted for publication in MNRAS; 24 pages including 15 colour figures, two tables and an appendix; a version with high resolution figures can be found at http://www.sc.eso.org/~dgadotti/paper_1.pdf

One of the fundamental assumptions of chemical evolution models (CEMs) of the Milky Way (MW) and other spirals is that higher gas accretion rates are expected in the past, and in the inner regions of the Galaxy. This leads to the so-called `inside-out disc formation scenario'. Yet, these are probably the most unconstrained inputs of such models. In the present paper, we aim at investigating these main assumptions by studying how gas is accreted in four simulated MW-like galaxies assembled within the $\Lambda$CDM scenario. The galaxies were obtained using two different simulation techniques, cosmological setups and initial conditions. Two of them are MW candidates corresponding to the chemodynamical model of Minchev et al. (2013, 2014) (known as MCM) and the Local Group cosmological simulation of Nuza et al. (2014). We investigate vertical and radial gas accretion on to galaxy discs as a function of cosmic time and disc radius. We find that accretion in the MW-like galaxies seem to happen in two distinct phases, namely: an early, more violent period; followed by a subsequent, slowly declining phase. Our simulations seem to give support to the assumption that the amount of gas incorporated into the MW disc exponentially decreases with time, leading to current net accretion rates of $0.6-1\,$M$_\odot\,$yr$^{-1}$. In particular, accretion timescales on to the simulated thin-disc-like structures are within $\sim5-7\,$Gyr, consistent with expectations from CEMs. Moreover, our simulated MW discs are assembled from the inside-out with gas in the inner disc regions accreted in shorter timescales than in external ones, in qualitative agreement with CEMs of the Galaxy. However, this type of growth is not general to all galaxies and it is intimately linked to their particular merger and gas accretion history., Comment: Replaced to match published version. References and table added; 20 pages, 13 figures, 2 tables. Gas accretion timescale vs. galactocentric radius for simulated MW candidates shown in Table B1

In chemodynamical evolution models it is usually assumed that the Milky Way galaxy forms from the inside-out implying that gas inflows onto the disk decrease with galactocentric distance. Similarly, to reproduce differences between chemical abundances of the thick disk and bulge with respect to those of the thin disk, higher accretion fluxes at early times are postulated. By using a suite of Milky Way-like galaxies extracted from cosmological simulations, we investigate the accretion of gas on the simulated stellar disks during their whole evolution. In general, we find that the picture outlined above holds, although the detailed behavior depends on the assembly history of the Galaxy and the complexities inherent to the physics of galaxy formation., Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures. To appear in the Proceedings of IAU Symposium 334,"Rediscovering our Galaxy", Eds. C. Chiappini, I. Minchev, E. Starkenburg & M. Valentini, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge

Galaxy formation entails the hierarchical assembly of mass, along with the condensation of baryons and the ensuing, self-regulating star formation. The stars form a collisionless system whose orbit distribution retains dynamical memory that can constrain a galaxy's formation history. The ordered-rotation dominated orbits with near maximum circularity $\lambda_z \simeq1$ and the random-motion dominated orbits with low circularity $\lambda_z \simeq0$ are called kinematically cold and kinematically hot, respectively. The fraction of stars on `cold' orbits, compared to the fraction of stars on `hot' orbits, speaks directly to the quiescence or violence of the galaxies' formation histories. Here we present such orbit distributions, derived from stellar kinematic maps via orbit-based modelling for a well defined, large sample of 300 nearby galaxies. The sample, drawn from the CALIFA survey, includes the main morphological galaxy types and spans the total stellar mass range from $10^{8.7}$ to $10^{11.9}$ solar masses. Our analysis derives the orbit-circularity distribution as a function of galaxy mass, $p(\lambda_z~|~M_\star)$, and its volume-averaged total distribution, $p(\lambda_z)$. We find that across most of the considered mass range and across morphological types, there are more stars on `warm' orbits defined as $0.25\le \lambda_z \le 0.8$ than on either `cold' or `hot' orbits. This orbit-based "Hubble diagram" provides a benchmark for galaxy formation simulations in a cosmological context., Comment: Published in Nature Astronomy, 1 January 2018; doi:10.1038/s41550-017-0348-1; 22pages, 8 figures, 2 tables

We analyze age-velocity dispersion relations (AVRs) from kinematics of individual stars in eight Local Group galaxies ranging in mass from Carina ($M_{*} \sim 10^{6}$) to M31 ($M_{*} \sim 10^{11}$). Observationally the $\sigma$ vs. stellar age trends can be interpreted as dynamical heating of the stars by GMCs, bars/spiral arms, or merging subhalos; alternatively the stars could have simply been born out of a more turbulent ISM at high redshift and retain that larger velocity dispersion till present day - consistent with recent IFU studies. To ascertain the dominant mechanism and better understand the impact of instabilities and feedback, we develop models based on observed SFHs of these Local Group galaxies in order to create an evolutionary formalism which describes the ISM velocity dispersion due to a galaxy's evolving gas fraction. These empirical models relax the common assumption that the stars are born from gas which has constant velocity dispersion at all redshifts. Using only the observed SFHs as input, the ISM velocity dispersion and a mid-plane scattering model fits the observed AVRs of low mass galaxies without fine tuning. Higher mass galaxies above $M_{vir} > 10^{11}$ need a larger contribution from latent dynamical heating processes (for example minor mergers), in excess of the ISM model. Using the SFHs we also find that supernovae feedback does not appear to be a dominant driver of the gas velocity dispersion compared to gravitational instabilities - at least for dispersions $\sigma \gtrsim 25$ km/s. Together our results point to stars being born with a velocity dispersion close to that of the gas at the time of their formation, with latent dynamical heating operating with a galaxy mass-dependent efficiency. These semi-empirical relations may help constrain the efficiency of feedback and its impact on the physics of disk settling in galaxy formation simulations., Comment: 21 pages, 10 figures. accepted for publication in MNRAS

Schwarzschild orbit-based dynamical models are widely used to uncover the internal dynamics of early-type galaxies and globular clusters. Here we present for the first time the Schwarzschild models of late-type galaxies: an SBb galaxy NGC 4210 and an S0 galaxy NGC 6278 from the CALIFA survey. The mass profiles within $2\,R_e$ are constrained well with $1\sigma$ statistical error of $\sim 10\%$. The luminous and dark mass can be disentangled with uncertainties of $\sim 20\%$ and $\sim 50\%$ respectively. From $R_e$ to $2\,R_e$, the dark matter fraction increases from $14\pm10\%$ to $18\pm10\%$ for NGC 4210 and from $15\pm10\%$ to $30\pm20\%$ for NGC 6278. The velocity anisotropy profiles of both $\sigma_r/\sigma_t$ and $\sigma_z/\sigma_R$ are well constrained. The inferred internal orbital distributions reveal clear substructures. The orbits are naturally separated into three components: a cold component with near circular orbits, a hot component with near radial orbits, and a warm component in between. The photometrically-identified exponential disks are predominantly made up of cold orbits only beyond $\sim 1\,R_e$, while they are constructed mainly with the warm orbits inside. Our dynamical hot components are concentrated in the inner regions, similar to the photometrically-identified bulges. The reliability of the results, especially the orbit distribution, are verified by applying the model to mock data., Comment: accepted by MNRAS

In the Milky Way, the thick disk can be defined using individual stellar abundances, kinematics, or age; or geometrically, as stars high above the mid-plane. In nearby galaxies, where only a geometric definition can be used, thick disks appear to have large radial scale-lengths, and their red colors suggest that they are uniformly old. The Milky Way's geometrically thick disk is also radially extended, but it is far from chemically uniform: alpha-enhanced stars are confined within the inner Galaxy. In simulated galaxies, where old stars are centrally concentrated, geometrically thick disks are radially extended, too. Younger stellar populations flare in the simulated disks' outer regions, bringing those stars high above the mid-plane. The resulting geometrically thick disks therefore show a radial age gradient, from old in their central regions to younger in their outskirts. Based on our age estimates for a large sample of giant stars in the APOGEE survey, we can now test this scenario for the Milky Way. We find that the geometrically-defined thick disk in the Milky Way has indeed a strong radial age gradient: the median age for red clump stars goes from ~9 Gyr in the inner disk to 5 Gyr in the outer disk. We propose that at least some nearby galaxies could also have thick disks that are not uniformly old, and that geometrically thick disks might be complex structures resulting from different formation mechanisms in their inner and outer parts., Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures. Accepted for publication in ApJ

Lenticular galaxies (S0s) represent the majority of early-type galaxies in the local Universe, but their formation channels are still poorly understood. While galaxy mergers are obvious pathways to suppress star formation and increase bulge sizes, the marked parallelism between spiral and lenticular galaxies (e.g. photometric bulge-disc coupling) seemed to rule out a potential merger origin. Here, we summarise our recent work in which we have shown, through N-body numerical simulations, that disc-dominated lenticulars can emerge from major mergers of spiral galaxies, in good agreement with observational photometric scaling relations. Moreover, we show that mergers simultaneously increase the light concentration and reduce the angular momentum relative to their spiral progenitors. This explains the mismatch in angular momentum and concentration between spirals and lenticulars recently revealed by CALIFA observations, which is hard to reconcile with simple fading mechanisms (e.g. ram-pressure stripping)., Comment: 3 pages, 1 figure, Proceedings of IAU Symposium 321, "Formation and evolution of galaxy outskirts", Eds. A. Gil de Paz, J. C. Lee & J. H. Knapen, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge

We show that the masses of red giant stars can be well predicted from their photospheric carbon and nitrogen abundances, in conjunction with their spectroscopic stellar labels log g, Teff, and [Fe/H]. This is qualitatively expected from mass-dependent post main sequence evolution. We here establish an empirical relation between these quantities by drawing on 1,475 red giants with asteroseismic mass estimates from Kepler that also have spectroscopic labels from APOGEE DR12. We assess the accuracy of our model, and find that it predicts stellar masses with fractional r.m.s. errors of about 14% (typically 0.2 Msun). From these masses, we derive ages with r.m.s errors of 40%. This empirical model allows us for the first time to make age determinations (in the range 1-13 Gyr) for vast numbers of giant stars across the Galaxy. We apply our model to 52,000 stars in APOGEE DR12, for which no direct mass and age information was previously available. We find that these estimates highlight the vertical age structure of the Milky Way disk, and that the relation of age with [alpha/M] and metallicity is broadly consistent with established expectations based on detailed studies of the solar neighbourhood., Comment: 18 pages, 15 figures. Re-submitted to MNRAS after taking into account comments from the referee. Catalogue of masses and ages for giants in APOGEE DR12 will be made available once the paper is accepted

The radial profiles of stars in disc galaxies are observed to be either purely exponential (Type-I), truncated (Type-II) or anti-truncated (Type-III) exponentials. Controlled formation simulations of isolated galaxies can reproduce all of these profile types by varying a single parameter, the initial halo spin. In this paper we examine these simulations in more detail in an effort to identify the physical mechanism that leads to the formation of Type-III profiles. The stars in the anti-truncated outskirts of such discs are now on eccentric orbits, but were born on near-circular orbits at much smaller radii. We show that, and explain how, they were driven to the outskirts via non-linear interactions with a strong and long-lived central bar, which greatly boosted their semi-major axis but also their eccentricity. While bars have been known to cause radial heating and outward migration to stellar orbits, we link this effect to the formation of Type-III profiles. This predicts that the anti-truncated parts of galaxies have unusual kinematics for disc-like stellar configurations: high radial velocity dispersions and slow net rotation. Whether such discs exist in nature, can be tested by future observations., Comment: 16 pages, 15 figures, accepted for publication in MNRAS major changes from submitted version, central conclusion slightly modified, initial conditions code pyICs publicly available on https://github.com/jakobherpich/pyICs

A number of simulators have argued that major mergers can sometimes preserve discs (e.g. Springel & Hernquist 2005), but the possibility that they could explain the emergence of lenticular galaxies (S0s) has been generally neglected. In fact, observations of S0s reveal a strong structural coupling between their bulges and discs, which seems difficult to reconcile with the idea that they come from major mergers. However, in Querejeta et al. (2015a) we have used N-body simulations of binary mergers to show that, under favourable conditions, discs are first destroyed but soon regrow out of the leftover debris, matching observational photometric scaling relations (e.g. Laurikainen et al. 2010). Additionally, in Querejeta et al. (2015b) we have shown how the merger scenario agrees with the recent discovery that S0s and most spirals are not compatible in an angular momentum--concentration plane. This important result from CALIFA constitutes a serious objection to the idea that spirals transform into S0s mainly by fading (e.g. via ram-pressure stripping, as that would not explain the observed simultaneous change in $\lambda_\mathrm{Re}$ and concentration), but our simulations of major mergers do explain that mismatch. From such a 3D comparison we conclude that mergers must be a relevant process in the build-up of the current population of S0s., Comment: 10 pages, 3 figures. Proceedings from the European Week of Astronomy (EWASS), Tenerife, June 2015 (Sp3)

The CALIFA team has recently found that the stellar angular momentum and concentration of late-type spiral galaxies are incompatible with those of lenticular galaxies (S0s), concluding that fading alone cannot satisfactorily explain the evolution from spirals into S0s. Here we explore whether major mergers can provide an alternative way to transform spirals into S0s by analysing the spiral-spiral major mergers from the GalMer database that lead to realistic, relaxed S0-like galaxies. We find that the change in stellar angular momentum and concentration can explain the differences in the $\lambda_\mathrm{Re}$--$R_{90}/R_{50}$ plane found by the CALIFA team. Major mergers thus offer a feasible explanation for the transformation of spirals into S0s., Comment: 7 pages, 1 figure, accepted for publication in A&A

The radial density profiles of stellar galaxy discs can be well approximated as an exponential. Compared to this canonical form, however, the profiles in the majority of disc galaxies show downward or upward breaks at large radii. Currently, there is no coherent explanation in a galaxy formation context of the radial profile per se, along with the two types of profile breaks. Using a set of controlled hydrodynamic simulations of disc galaxy formation, we find a correlation between the host halo's initial angular momentum and the resulting radial profile of the stellar disc: galaxies that live in haloes with a low spin parameter {\lambda} <~ 0.03 show an up-bending break in their disc density profiles, while galaxies in haloes of higher angular momentum show a down-bending break. We find that the case of pure exponential profiles ({\lambda} ~ 0.035) coincides with the peak of the spin parameter distribution from cosmological simulations. Our simulations not only imply an explanation of the observed behaviours, but also suggest that the physical origin of this effect is related to the amount of radial redistribution of stellar mass, which is anti-correlated with {\lambda}., Comment: 6 pages, 3 figures, adapted to the published version in MNRAS-L

The third generation of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS-III) took data from 2008 to 2014 using the original SDSS wide-field imager, the original and an upgraded multi-object fiber-fed optical spectrograph, a new near-infrared high-resolution spectrograph, and a novel optical interferometer. All the data from SDSS-III are now made public. In particular, this paper describes Data Release 11 (DR11) including all data acquired through 2013 July, and Data Release 12 (DR12) adding data acquired through 2014 July (including all data included in previous data releases), marking the end of SDSS-III observing. Relative to our previous public release (DR10), DR12 adds one million new spectra of galaxies and quasars from the Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (BOSS) over an additional 3000 sq. deg of sky, more than triples the number of H-band spectra of stars as part of the Apache Point Observatory (APO) Galactic Evolution Experiment (APOGEE), and includes repeated accurate radial velocity measurements of 5500 stars from the Multi-Object APO Radial Velocity Exoplanet Large-area Survey (MARVELS). The APOGEE outputs now include measured abundances of 15 different elements for each star. In total, SDSS-III added 2350 sq. deg of ugriz imaging; 155,520 spectra of 138,099 stars as part of the Sloan Exploration of Galactic Understanding and Evolution 2 (SEGUE-2) survey; 2,497,484 BOSS spectra of 1,372,737 galaxies, 294,512 quasars, and 247,216 stars over 9376 sq. deg; 618,080 APOGEE spectra of 156,593 stars; and 197,040 MARVELS spectra of 5,513 stars. Since its first light in 1998, SDSS has imaged over 1/3 of the Celestial sphere in five bands and obtained over five million astronomical spectra., Comment: DR12 data are available at http://www.sdss3.org/dr12. 30 pages. 11 figures. Accepted to ApJS

We derive age constraints for 1639 red giants in the APOKASC sample for which seismic parameters from Kepler, as well as effective temperatures, metallicities and [alpha/Fe] values from APOGEE DR12 are available. We investigate the relation between age and chemical abundances for these stars, using a simple and robust approach to obtain ages. We first derive stellar masses using standard seismic scaling relations, then determine the maximum possible age for each star as function of its mass and metallicity, independently of its evolutionary stage. While the overall trend between maximum age and chemical abundances is a declining fraction of young stars with increasing [alpha/Fe], at least 14 out of 241 stars with [alpha/Fe]>0.13 are younger than 6 Gyr. Five stars with [alpha/Fe]>0.2 have ages below 4 Gyr. We examine the effect of modifications in the standard seismic scaling relations, as well as the effect of very low helium fractions, but these changes are not enough to make these stars as old as usually expected for alpha-rich stars (i.e., ages greater than 8-9 Gyr). Such unusual alpha-rich young stars have also been detected by other surveys, but defy simple explanations in a galaxy evolution context., Comment: 15 pages, 12 figures, 2 tables. MNRAS in press

Galactic Archaeology, i.e. the use of chemo-dynamical information for stellar samples covering large portions of the Milky Way to infer the dominant processes involved in its formation and evolution, is now a powerful method thanks to the large recently completed and ongoing spectroscopic surveys. It is now important to ask the right questions when analyzing and interpreting the information contained in these rich datasets. To this aim, we have developed a chemodynamical model for the Milky Way that provides quantitative predictions to be compared with the chemo-kinematical properties extracted from the stellar spectra. Three key parameters are needed to make the comparison between data and model predictions useful in order to advance in the field, namely: precise proper-motions, distances and ages. The uncertainties involved in the estimate of ages and distances for field stars are currently the main obstacles in the Galactic Archaeology method. Two important developments might change this situation in the near future: asteroseismology and the now launched Gaia. When combined with the large datasets from surveys like RAVE, SEGUE, LAMOST, Gaia-ESO, APOGEE , HERMES and the future 4MOST we will have the basic ingredients for the reconstruction of the MW history in hands. In the light of these observational advances, the development of detailed chemo-dynamical models tailored to the Milky Way is urgently needed in the field. Here we show the steps we have taken, both in terms of data analysis and modelling. The examples shown here illustrate how powerful can the Galactic Archaeology method become once ages and distances are known with better precision than what is currently feasible., Comment: Proc. of the workshop "Asteroseismology of stellar populations in the Milky Way" (Sesto, 22-26 July 2013), Astrophysics and Space Science Proceedings, (eds. A. Miglio, L. Girardi, P. Eggenberger, J. Montalban)

We present a catalogue and images of visually detected features, such as asymmetries, extensions, warps, shells, tidal tails, polar rings, and obvious signs of mergers or interactions, in the faint outer regions (at and outside of R_25) of nearby galaxies. This catalogue can be used in future quantitative studies that examine galaxy evolution due to internal and external factors. We are able to reliably detect outer region features down to a brightness level of 0.03 MJy/sr per pixel at 3.6 microns in the Spitzer Survey of Stellar Structure in Galaxies (S4G). We also tabulate companion galaxies. We find asymmetries in the outer isophotes in 22+/-1 per cent of the sample. The asymmetry fraction does not correlate with galaxy classification as an interacting galaxy or merger remnant, or with the presence of companions. We also compare the detected features to similar features in galaxies taken from cosmological zoom re-simulations. The simulated images have a higher fraction (33 per cent) of outer disc asymmetries, which may be due to selection effects and an uncertain star formation threshold in the models. The asymmetries may have either an internal (e.g., lopsidedness due to dark halo asymmetry) or external origin., Comment: 26 pages, 16 embedded + 100 online-only figures, accepted for publication in MNRAS

We study seven simulated disc galaxies, three with a quiescent merger history, and four with mergers in their last 9 Gyr of evolution. We compare their structure at z=0 by decomposing them into "mono-age populations" (MAPs) of stars within 500 Myr age bins. All studied galaxies undergo a phase of merging activity at high redshift, so that stars older than 9 Gyr are found in a centrally concentrated component, while younger stars are mostly found in discs. We find that most MAPs have simple exponential radial and vertical density profiles, with a scale-height that typically increases with age. Because a large range of merger histories can create populations with simple structures, this suggests that the simplicity of the structure of mono-abundance populations observed in the Milky Way by Bovy et al. (2012b,c) is not necessarily a direct indicator of a quiescent history for the Milky Way. Similarly, the anti-correlation between scale-length and scale-height does not necessarily imply a merger-free history. However, mergers produce discontinuities between thin and thick disc components, and jumps in the age-velocity relation. The absence of a structural discontinuity between thin and thick disc observed in the Milky Way would seem to be a good indicator that no merger with a mass ratio larger than 1:15-1:10 occurred in the last 9 Gyr. Mergers at higher redshift might nevertheless be necessary to produce the thickest, hottest components of the Milky Way's disc., Comment: 15 pages, 13 figures. Accepted for publication in MNRAS

We study the relation between stellar ages and vertical velocity dispersion (the age-velocity relation, or AVR) in a sample of seven simulated disc galaxies. In our simulations, the shape of the AVR for stars younger than 9 Gyr depends strongly on the merger history at low redshift, with even 1:10 - 1:15 mergers being able to create jumps in the AVR (although these jumps might not be detectable if the errors on stellar ages are on the order of 30%). For galaxies with a quiescent history at low redshift, we find that the vertical velocity dispersion rises smoothly for ages up to 8-9 Gyr, following a power law with a slope of ~0.5, similar to what is observed in the solar neighbourhood by the Geneva-Copenhagen Survey. For these galaxies, we show that the slope of the AVR is not imprinted at birth, but is the result of subsequent heating. By contrast, in all our simulations, the oldest stars form a significantly different population, with a high velocity dispersion. These stars are usually born kinematically hot in a turbulent phase of intense mergers at high redshift, and also include some stars accreted from satellites. This maximum in velocity dispersion is strongly decreased when age errors are included, suggesting that observations can easily miss such a jump with the current accuracy of age measurements., Comment: 12 pages, 10 figures. Accepted for publication in MNRAS

Using the suite of high-resolution zoom re-simulations of individual haloes by Martig et al., and the large-scale simulation \emph{MassiveBlack-II}, we examine the differences in measured galaxy properties from techniques with various aperture definitions of where galaxies end. We perform techniques popular in the literature and present a new technique of our own, where the aperture radius is based on the baryonic mass profiles of simulated (sub)haloes. For the average Milky-Way-mass system, we find the two most popular techniques in the literature return differences of order 30 per cent for stellar mass, a factor of 3 for gas mass, 40 per cent for star formation rate, and factors of several for gas accretion and ejection rates. Individual cases can show variations greater than this, with the severity dependent on the concentration of a given system. The average difference in integrated properties for a more general galaxy population are not as striking, but are still significant for stellar and gas mass, especially for optical-limit apertures. The large differences that can occur are problematic for comparing results from various publications. We stress the importance of both defining and justifying a technique choice and discourage using popular apertures that use an exact fraction of the virial radius, due to the unignorable variation in galaxy-to-(sub)halo size. Finally, we note that technique choice does not greatly affect simulated galaxies from lying within the scatter of observed scaling relations, but it can alter the derived best-fit slope for the Kennicutt-Schmidt relation., Comment: Accepted by MNRAS, 18 pages, 16 figures

Direct N-body simulations of globular clusters in a realistic Milky Way-like potential are carried out using the code NBODY6 to determine the impact of the host galaxy disk mass and geometry on the survival of star clusters. A relationship between disk mass and star cluster dissolution timescale is derived. These N-body models show that doubling the mass of the disk from 5x10^10 solar masses to 10x10^10 solar masses halves the dissolution time of a satellite star cluster orbiting the host galaxy at 6 kpc from the galactic center. Different geometries in a disk of identical mass can determine either the survival or dissolution of a star cluster orbiting within the inner 6 kpc of the galactic center. Furthermore, disk geometry has measurable effects on the mass loss of star clusters up to 15 kpc from the galactic center. N-body simulations performed with a fine output time step show that at each disk crossing the outer layers of star clusters experience an increase in velocity dispersion of ~5% of the average velocity dispersion in the outer section of star clusters. This leads to an enhancement of mass-loss -- a clearly discernable effect of disk shocking. By running models with different inclinations we determine that star clusters with an orbit perpendicular to the Galactic plane have larger mass loss rates than both clusters evolving in the Galactic plane or in an inclined orbit., Comment: Accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journal

[Abridge] In the first paper of this series (paper I) we presented a new approach for studying the chemo-odynamical evolution in disk galaxies, focusing on the Milky Way. Here we extend these results to different distances from the Galactic center, looking for variations of observables that can be related to on-going and future spectroscopic surveys. By separating the effects of kinematic heating and radial migration, we show that migration is much more important, even for the oldest and hottest stellar population. The distributions of stellar birth guiding radii and final guiding radii (signifying contamination from migration and heating, respectively) widen with increasing distance from the Galactic center. As a result, the slope in the age-metallicity relation flattens significantly at Galactic radii larger than solar. The radial metallicity and [Mg/Fe] gradients in our model show significant variations with height above the plane due to changes in the mixture of stellar ages. An inversion in the radial metallicity gradient is found from negative to weakly positive (at r<10 kpc), and from positive to negative for the [Mg/Fe] gradient, with increasing distance from the disk plane. We relate this to the combined effect of (i) the predominance of young stars close to the disk plane and old stars away from it, (ii) the more concentrated older stellar component, and (iii) the flaring of mono-age disk populations. We also investigate the effect of recycled gas flows on the mean [Fe/H] and find that in the region 4

Despite the recent advancements in the field of galaxy formation and evolution, fully self-consistent simulations are still unable to make the detailed predictions necessary for the planned and ongoing large spectroscopic and photometry surveys of the Milky Way disc. These difficulties arise from the very uncertain nature of sub-grid physical energy feedback within models, affecting both star formation rates and chemical enrichment. To avoid these problems, we have introduced a new approach which consists of fusing disc chemical evolution models with compatible numerical simulations. We demonstrate the power of this method by showing that a range of observational results can be explained by our new model. We show that due to radial migration from mergers at high redshift and the central bar at later times, a sizable fraction of old metal-poor, high-[alpha/Fe] stars can reach the solar vicinity. This naturally accounts for a number of recent observations related to both the thin and thick discs, despite the fact that we use thin-disc chemistry only. Within the framework of our model, the MW thick disc has emerged naturally from (i) stars born with high velocity dispersions at high redshift, (ii) stars migrating from the inner disc very early on due to strong merger activity, and (iii) further radial migration driven by the bar and spirals at later times. A significant fraction of old stars with thick-disc characteristics could have been born near the solar radius., Comment: Invited review at IAUS 298, Setting the scene for Gaia and LAMOST - the current and next generations of surveys and models, held in Lijiang, China, May 17-21, 2013. Will appear in IAU Symposium, vol 298, S. Feltzing, G. Zhao, N. Walton and P. Whitelock, eds

We have undertaken an ambitious program to visually classify all galaxies in the five CANDELS fields down to H<24.5 involving the dedicated efforts of 65 individual classifiers. Once completed, we expect to have detailed morphological classifications for over 50,000 galaxies up to z<4 over all the fields. Here, we present our detailed visual classification scheme, which was designed to cover a wide range of CANDELS science goals. This scheme includes the basic Hubble sequence types, but also includes a detailed look at mergers and interactions, the clumpiness of galaxies, $k$-corrections, and a variety of other structural properties. In this paper, we focus on the first field to be completed -- GOODS-S. The wide area coverage spanning the full field includes 7634 galaxies that have been classified by at least three different people. In the deep area of the field, 2534 galaxies have been classified by at least five different people at three different depths. With this paper, we release to the public all of the visual classifications in GOODS-S along with the GUI that we developed to classify galaxies. We find that the level of agreement among classifiers is good and depends on both the galaxy magnitude and the galaxy type, with disks showing the highest level of agreement and irregulars the lowest. A comparison of our classifications with the Sersic index and rest-frame colors shows a clear separation between disk and spheroid populations. Finally, we explore morphological k-corrections between the V-band and H-band observations and find that a small fraction (84 galaxies in total) are classified as being very different between these two bands. These galaxies typically have very clumpy and extended morphology or are very faint in the V-band., Comment: 15 pages, 14 figures, Accepted for publication in The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series For access to data tables prior to publication contact jeyhan@astro.rit.edu

We study the global efficiency of star formation in high resolution hydrodynamical simulations of gas discs embedded in isolated early-type and spiral galaxies. Despite using a universal local law to form stars in the simulations, we find that the early-type galaxies are offset from the spirals on the large-scale Kennicutt relation, and form stars 2 to 5 times less efficiently. This offset is in agreement with previous results on morphological quenching: gas discs are more stable against star formation when embedded in early-type galaxies due to the lower disc self-gravity and increased shear. As a result, these gas discs do not fragment into dense clumps and do not reach as high densities as in the spiral galaxies. Even if some molecular gas is present, the fraction of very dense gas (above 10^4 cm-3) is significantly reduced, which explains the overall lower star formation efficiency. We also analyse a sample of local early-type and spiral galaxies, measuring their CO and HI surface densities and their star formation rates as determined by their non-stellar 8um emission. As predicted by the simulations, we find that the early-type galaxies are offset from the Kennicutt relation compared to the spirals, with a twice lower efficiency. Finally, we validate our approach by performing a direct comparison between models and observations. We run a simulation designed to mimic the stellar and gaseous properties of NGC524, a lenticular galaxy, and find a gas disc structure and global star formation rate in good agreement with the observations. Morphological quenching thus seems to be a robust mechanism, and is also consistent with other observations of a reduced star formation efficiency in early-type galaxies in the COLD GASS survey. This lower efficiency of star formation is not enough to explain the formation of the whole Red Sequence, but can contribute to the reddening of some galaxies., Comment: 15 pages, 8 figures, accepted for publication in MNRAS

We study the evolution of galactic bars and the link with disk and spheroid formation in a sample of zoom-in cosmological simulations. Our simulation sample focuses on galaxies with present-day stellar masses in the 10^10-10^11 Msun range, in field and loose group environments, with a broad variety of mass growth histories. In our models, bars are almost absent from the progenitors of present-day spirals at z>1.5, and they remain rare and generally too weak to be observable down to z~1. After this characteristic epoch, the fractions of observable and strong bars raise rapidly, bars being present in 80% of spiral galaxies and easily observable in two thirds of these at z<0.5. This is quantitatively consistent with the redshift evolution of the observed bar fraction. Our models predict that the decrease in the bar fraction with increasing redshift should continue with a fraction of observable bars <10-15% in disk galaxies at z>1. Our models also predict later bar formation in lower-mass galaxies, in agreement with existing data. We find that the characteristic epoch of bar formation, namely redshift z~0.8-1, corresponds to the epoch at which today's spirals acquire their disk-dominated morphology. At higher redshift, disks tend to be rapidly destroyed by mergers and gravitational instabilities and rarely develop significant bars. The bar formation epoch corresponds to the transition between an early "violent" phase of spiral galaxy formation at z>1 and a late "secular" phase at z<0.8. In the secular phase, the presence of bars substantially contributes to the growth of the bulge, but the bulge mass budget remains statistically dominated by the contribution of mergers, interactions and disk instabilities at high redshift. Early bars at z>1 are often short-lived, while most of the bars formed at z<1 persist down to z=0, late cosmological gas infall being necessary to maintain some of them., Comment: 15 pages, 15 figures, ApJ accepted

We analyze a suite of 33 cosmological simulations of the evolution of Milky Way-mass galaxies in low-density environments. Our sample spans a broad range of Hubble types at z=0, from nearly bulgeless disks to bulge-dominated galaxies. Despite the fact that a large fraction of the bulge is typically in place by z=1, we find no significant correlation between the morphology at z=1 and at z=0. The z=1 progenitors of disk galaxies span a range of morphologies, including smooth disks, unstable disks, interacting galaxies and bulge-dominated systems. By z=0.5, spiral arms and bars are largely in place and the progenitor morphology is correlated with the final morphology. We next focus on late-type galaxies with a bulge-to-total ratio B/T<0.3 at z=0. These show a correlation between B/T at z=0 and the mass ratio of the largest merger at z<2, as well as with the gas accretion rate at z>1. We find that the galaxies with the lowest B/T tend to have a quiet baryon input history, with no major mergers at z<2, and with a low and constant gas accretion rate that keeps a stable angular-momentum direction. More violent merger or gas accretion histories lead to galaxies with more prominent bulges. Most disk galaxies have a bulge Sersic index n<2. The galaxies with the highest bulge Sersic index tend to have histories of intense gas accretion and disk instability rather than active mergers., Comment: Accepted for publication in ApJ. 29 pages, 32 figures