N-body/hydrodynamic simulations of galaxies in a cluster environment

Full text: We study the influence of stellar bulges on the star formation and morphology of disk galaxies which experience ram pressure. Several Tree-SPH simulations have been performed to study the dependence of the star-formation rate on the mass and size of a stellar bulge. In addition different strengths of ram pressure and different alignments of the disk with respect to the intra-cluster medium (ICM) are applied. The simulations are carried out with the combined N-body/hydrodynamic code GADGET-2 with radiative cooling and a recipe for star formation. To simulate the ram pressure acting on the model galaxies, a special wind tunnel setup was developed. The same galaxy with different bulge sizes was used to accomplish 30 simulations with varying inclination angles and surrounding gas densities. Additionally, for comparison reasons, the galaxies are also evolved in isolation. (author)