Abstract
Abstract We investigate whether a spiral arm in disk galaxies can possibly be stationary, assuming that the spiral structure is some pattern formed by a density wave. We numerically calculated stellar orbits in assumed galactic potentials with spiral patterns and analyzed the orbital behavior in the potentials to study the criteria for the disk parameters, in which a stationary spiral structure is possible. We found the following results: the spiral potential drives the dynamical evolution, which results in the spiral structure, bar structure, or disappearance of the structure, depending on the form of the assumed spiral pattern. If a stationary spiral structure appears, the only possible pitch angle of the arms is around $5^{\circ}$. Therefore, observed spiral arms in late-type spiral galaxies with large pitch angles cannot be a stationary structure if the arms are induced by a density wave.
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