Statistical analysis of the likelihood of bars in disk galaxies

Abstract

We make use of HI content information from the Arecibo Legacy Fast ALFA survey catalog to study the stellar and atomic gas content of barred disk galaxies. These 21-cm observations are augmented with the extensive optical data gathered in the NASA-Sloan Atlas catalog and with information on galaxy morphologies and bar probabilites included in the catalog by Domínguez Sánchez et al. (2018). We find, in agreement with previous studies, that the bar probability ofthe disk population shows a bimodal distribution, both in terms of the stellar mass and the (g -- r) optical color, which we attribute to the tendency of the late disks to be low-mass, blue objects, while earlier spirals are more massive and redder. We also confirm that the bar fraction decreases with increasing gas mass fraction and neutral hydrogen excess. This anticorrelation results from the inhibiting effect the gas has in the formation of bars