The growth of discs and bulges during hierarchical galaxy formation - I. Fast evolution versus secular processes

Abstract

We present a theoretical model for the evolution of mass, angular momentum and size of galaxy discs and bulges, and we implement it into the semi-analytic galaxy formation code, Semi-Analytic Galaxy Evolution. The model follows both secular and violent evolutionary channels, including smooth accretion, disc instabilities, minor and major mergers. We find that the combination of our recipe with hierarchical clustering produces two distinct populations of bulges: Merger-driven bulges, akin to classical bulges and ellipticals, and instability-driven bulges, akin to secular (or pseudo-)bulges. The model mostly reproduces the mass-size relation of gaseous and stellar discs, the evolution of the m..