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arXiv · 2610.15007

The Galactic disk structure revealed by Gaia XP spectra

Zhenkang Tang·Jianhui Lian·Jialong Zhou·Jiadong Li
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Abstract

The spatial structures of chemical populations constrain Galactic disk evolution and its underlying physical processes. Gaia XP spectra provide one of the largest spectroscopic samples available. We use Gaia XP spectra to study Galactic disk mono-abundance populations (MAPs), measuring their scale heights as a function of radius and radial surface-mass-density profiles. We construct a red giant branch (RGB) sample and divide it into MAPs according to $[α/{\rm M}]$ and $[{\rm M/H}]$. The sample covers a $6\times6$ kpc region centered on the Sun in the Galactic plane and extends to $|Z|<3.7$ kpc. We estimate XP completeness using a Gaia photometric parent sample and combine PARSEC isochrones with a Kroupa initial mass function (IMF) to calculate the selection function and convert observed stellar counts into intrinsic stellar mass densities. We fit vertical density profiles with an exponential model to derive scale heights and integrate the fitted profiles to obtain surface mass densities. The resulting profiles are generally consistent with those from APOGEE. All MAPs show flaring, with the high-$α$ population exhibiting the strongest flaring and the metal-poor and sub-solar low-$α$ populations showing the weakest. Surface-mass-density profiles differ significantly among MAPs: the high-$α$ and metal-rich low-$α$ populations show approximately exponential declines, whereas the other low-$α$ populations exhibit plateau-like features, indicating that the Galactic disk cannot be described by a simple single-exponential profile. These differential structures suggest a complex Galactic disk assembly history likely regulated by birth conditions, secular dynamical heating, radial migration, and external perturbations.

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Zhenkang Tang, Jianhui Lian, Jialong Zhou, Jiadong Li. 2026-10-10. The Galactic disk structure revealed by Gaia XP spectra. https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.15007

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