Dynamical Friction in Barred Galaxies

Abstract
Weinberg’s (1985) perturbative calculation of the dynamical friction by halos on bars predicts that bars will be slowed down very quickly. Previous numerical experiments (e.g. Hernquist & Weinberg 1992) have obtained results that are in agreement with Weinberg’s calculation. Observations, however, suggest that most bars are rotating rapidly. (In this context, a bar is slow if the major axis Lagrange point is far outside the bar, while a fast bar ends at, or near, this Lagrange point.) Neither Weinberg’s calculation nor the numerical experiments have, to the present date, been fully self-consistent, so possibly important effects such as resonance capture and the back reaction on the bar were not included.

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