Environmental effects on barred and spiral DSFGs at high redshift

Investigate how protocluster environmental influences at redshift greater than two prohibit or induce the formation and sustainability of barred spiral galaxies, relative to local cluster-member galaxies.

Background

Several disk galaxies in the Koi Pond protocluster exhibit spiral arms and possible bars, while residing in the outskirts of the core where tidal and ram-pressure effects may be weaker. The paper contrasts these systems with more heavily dust-obscured, clumpy disks and suggests that environmental conditions may influence the development and persistence of dynamically stable disk structures.

The authors explicitly leave unresolved whether high-redshift protocluster environments suppress or promote barred and spiral morphologies, making this a question about how environmental processing affects disk evolution during Cosmic Noon.

References

It is still unclear how $z>2$ environmental influences may further prohibit or induce the formation and sustainability of (barred-)spirals as compared to local cluster member galaxies.

— The Koi Pond: A Strongly Lensed Protocluster Core hosting a Diverse Population of DSFGs  (2608.15997 - Foo et al., 17 Aug 2026) in Section 4.2, “Resolving the Stellar Build-up of DSFG Members”

Although it has been thoroughly studied in the literature, to date there is no clear consensus on the effects of the environment on bar formation and evolution.

— Euclid: Quick Data Release (Q1) -- Exploring the detailed visual morphology of galaxies in clusters  (2609.08962 - Mas-Buitrago et al., 8 Sep 2026) in Section 4.2, Barred galaxies