Modeling Merging Galaxies using MINGA - Improving Restricted N-body by Dynamical Friction

Abstract

Modeling interacting galaxies to reproduce observed systems is still a challenge due to the extended parameter space (among other problems). Orbit and basic galaxy parameters can be tackled by fast simulation techniques like the restricted N-body method, applied in the fundamental work by Toomre & Toomre (1972). This approach allows today for the study of millions of models in a short time. One difficulty for the classical restricted N-body method is the missing orbital decay, not allowing for galaxy mergers. Here we present an extension of the restricted N-body method including dynamical friction. This treatment has been developed by a quantitative comparison with a set of self-consistent merger simulations. By varying the dynamical friction (formalism, strength and direction), we selected the best-fitting parameters for a set of more than 250000 simulations. We show that our treatment reliably reproduces the orbital decay and tidal features of merging disk galaxies for mass ratios up to q=1/3 between host and satellite. We implemented this technique into our genetic algorithm based modeling code MINGA and present first results.