2008/08/01 by Rok Roškar, Victor P. Debattista, Thomas R. Quinn +2 · 5 citations
Physics and Astronomy · #Astronomy and Astrophysical Research #Galaxies: Formation, Evolution, Phenomena #Stellar, planetary, and galactic studies #astro-ph
paper · pdf · doi:10.1086/592231
published as 2008, ApJL 684, L79 · 4 pages, 3 figures; Accepted for publication in ApJL
arxiv created 2008/08/01 · openalex publication_date 2008/08/13 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2016/06/24 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/31
Stars in disks of spiral galaxies are usually assumed to remain roughly at their birth radii. This assumption is built into decades of modeling of the evolution of stellar populations in our own Galaxy and in external systems. We present results from self-consistent high-resolution N -body + smooth particle hydrodynamics simulations of disk formation, in which stars migrate across significant galactocentric distances due to resonant scattering with transient spiral arms, while preserving their circular orbits. We investigate the implications of such migrations for observed stellar populations. Radial migration provides an explanation for the observed flatness and spread in the age-metallicity relation and the relative lack of metal-poor stars in the solar neighborhood. The presence of radial migration also prompts rethinking of interpretations of extragalactic stellar population data, especially for determinations of star formation histories.