Gas dynamics and inflow in gas-rich galaxy mergers

We performed N-body/SPH simulations of merging gas-rich disk galaxies with mass ratios of 1 : 1 and 3 : 1. A stellar disk and bulge component and a dark halo was realized with collisionless particles, the gas was represented by SPH particles. Since we did not include star formation we focused on the gas dynamics and its influence on the structure of merger remnants. We find that equal-mass mergers are in general more effective in driving gas to the center. Around 50% of the gas resides in the central regions after the merger is complete. The gas in unequal-mass mergers keeps a large amount of its initial angular momentum and settles in a large scale disk while only 20-30% of the gas is driven to the center. This general result is almost independent of the merger geometry. The gas in the outer regions accumulates in dense knots within tidal tails which could lead to the formation of open clusters or dwarf satellites. Later on, the gas knots loose, angular momentum by dynamical friction and successively sink to the center of the remnant thereby increasing the total gas content of the disk. Due to the influence of the gas the simulated merger remnant becomes more oblate than its pure stellar counterpart. The shape, of the stellar LOSVD changes and the third-order Gauss-Hermite coefficient h(3) is in good agreement with observations.