New Insights into Barred Galaxy NGC 4371 Through Schwarzschild Modeling

Recent research has applied the barred Schwarzschild modeling technique to the barred S0 galaxy NGC 4371, providing new insights into its structure and dynamics. The study, conducted by Behzad Tahmasebzadeh and a team of researchers, utilized data from the TIMER and ATLAS3D projects to construct a detailed gravitational potential model. This model incorporates a fixed black hole mass, a spherical dark matter halo, and a stellar mass distribution derived from infrared imaging.

The findings indicate that both models fit the observational data remarkably well, revealing a consistent bar pattern speed of approximately 23.6 ± 2.8 km/s/kpc and 22.4 ± 3.5 km/s/kpc from the two modeling approaches. The dimensionless bar rotation parameter was determined to be 1.88 ± 0.37, suggesting that NGC 4371 features a relatively slow bar.

Notably, the study predicts a significant presence of dark matter within the bar region, with a ratio of dark matter mass to total mass estimated at around 0.51 ± 0.06. This aligns with predictions from cosmological simulations, which suggest that fast bars are typically found in baryon-dominated disks. Furthermore, the research marks the first instance of a real barred galaxy being modeled using the Schwarzschild method, including a three-dimensional bar structure.

This work contributes to the understanding of galaxy dynamics and the role of dark matter in shaping the structure of barred galaxies. The implications of these findings extend to broader astrophysical contexts, potentially influencing future studies on galaxy formation and evolution.

The full details of the research can be found in the paper titled "Schwarzschild Modeling of Barred S0 Galaxy NGC 4371" by Behzad Tahmasebzadeh et al., available on arXiv: arXiv:2310.00497.