Thick disk and pseudobulge formation in a clump cluster

Abstract

Bulges in spiral galaxies have been supposed to be classified into two types: classical bulges or pseudobulges. Classical bulges are thought to form by galactic merger with bursty star formation, whereas pseudobulges are suggested to form by secular evolution. Noguchi (1998,199) suggested another bulge formation scenario, ‘clump-origin bulge’ [1,2]. He demonstrated using a numerical simulation that a galactic disc suffers dynamical instability to form clumpy structures in the early stage of disc formation, then the clumps are sucked into the galactic centre by dynamical friction and merge into a single bulge at the centre. Therefore, clump-origin bulges may have their own unique properties. I perform a high-resolution N-body/SPH simulation for the formation of the clump-origin bulge in an isolated galaxy model and study the formation of the clump-origin bulge. I find that the clump-origin bulge resembles pseudobulges in dynamical properties, a nearly exponential surface density profile, a barred boxy shape and a significant rotation. I also find that this bulge consists of old and metal-rich stars. These natures, old metal-rich population but pseudobulge-like structures, mean that the clump-origin bulge can not be simply classified into classical bulges nor pseudobulges. From these results, I discuss similarities of the clump-origin bulge to the Milky Way (MW) bulge.