Disc galaxy evolution models in a hierarchical formation scenario: structure and dynamics

We predict the internal structure and dynamics of present-day disc galaxies using galaxy evolution models within a hierarchical formation scenario. The halo mass aggregation histories, for a flat cold dark matter model with cosmological constant, were generated and used to calculate the virialization of dark matter haloes. A diversity of halo density profiles were obtained, the most typical one being close to that suggested by Navarro, Frenk & White. We modelled the way in which discs in centrifugal equilibrium are built within the evolving dark haloes, using gas accretion rates proportional to the halo mass aggregation rates, and assuming detailed angular momentum conservation. We calculated the gravitational interactions between halo and disc - including the adiabatic contraction of the halo due to disc formation - and the hydrodynamics, star formation and evolution of the galaxy discs. We find that the slope and zero-point of the Tully-Fisher (TF) relation in the infrared bands may be explained as a direct consequence of the cosmological initial conditions. This relation is almost independent of the assumed disc mass fraction, when the disc component in the rotation curve decomposition is non-negligible. Thus, the power spectrum of fluctuations can be normalized at galaxy scales through the TF relation independently of the disc mass fraction assumed. The rms scatter of the model TF relation originates mainly from the scatter in the dark halo structure and, to a minor extension, from the dispersion of the primordial spin parameter λ. The scatter obtained from our models does not disagree with the observational estimates. Our models allow us to understand why the residuals of the TF relation do not correlate significantly with disc size or surface brightness. We can also explain why low and high surface brightness galaxies have the same TF relation; the key point is the dependence of the star formation efficiency on the disc surface density. The correlations between gas fraction and surface brightness, and between scalelength and V_max obtained with our models agree with those observed. Discs formed within the growing haloes, where λ is assumed to be time independent, have nearly exponential surface density distributions. The shape of the rotation curves changes with disc surface brightness and is nearly flat for most cases. The rotation curve decompositions show a dominance of dark matter down to very small radii, in conflict with some observational inferences. The introduction of shallow cores in the dark halo attenuates this difficulty and produces haloes with slightly smaller rotation velocities. Other features of our galaxy models are not strongly influenced by the shallow core.