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.