On the survival and destruction of spiral galaxies in clusters

Abstract

We follow the evolution of disk galaxies within a cluster that forms hierarchically in a cold dark matter N-body simulation. At a redshift z=0.5 we select several dark matter halos that have quiet merger histories and are about to enter the newly forming cluster environment. The halos are replaced with equilibrium high resolution model spirals that are constructed to represent examples of low surface brightness (LSB) and high surface brightness (HSB) galaxies. Varying the disk and halo structural parameters reveals that the response of a spiral galaxy to tidal encounters depends primarily on the potential depth of the mass distribution and the disk scale length. LSB galaxies, characterised by slowly rising rotation curves and large scale lengths, evolve dramatically under the influence of rapid encounters with substructure and strong tidal shocks from the global cluster potential --- galaxy harassment. We find that up to 90% of their stars are tidally stripped and congregate in large diffuse tails that trace the orbital path of the galaxy and form the diffuse intra-cluster light. The bound stellar remnants closely resemble the dwarf spheroidals (dE's) that populate nearby clusters. HSB galaxies are stable to the chaos of cluster formation and tidal encounters. These disks lie well within the tidally limited dark matter halos and their potentials are more concentrated. Although very few stars are stripped, the scale height of the disks increases substantially and no spiral features remain, therefore we speculate that these galaxies would be identified as S0 galaxies in present day clusters.