The slope of the baryonic tully-fisher relation

Abstract

We present the results of a baryonic Tully-Fisher relation (BTFR) study for a local sample of relatively isolated disk galaxies. We derive a BTFR with a slope near 3 measured over about 4 dex in baryon mass for our combined HI and bright spiral disk samples. This BTFR is significantly flatter and has less scatter than the TFR (stellar mass only) with its slope near 4 reported for other samples and studies. A BTFR slope near 3 is in better agreement with the expected slope from simple ACDM cosmological simulations that include both stellar and gas baryons. The scatter in the TFR/BTFR appears to depend on W20: galaxies that rotate slower have more scatter. The atomic gas-to-stars ratio shows a break near W20 = 250 km s-1 probably associated with a change in star formation efficiency. In contrast, the absence of such a break in the BTFR suggests that this relation was probably set at the main epoch of baryon dissipation rather than as a product of later galactic evolution.