arxiv.org/abs/2511.21805 Effects of Resolution and Local Stability on Galactic Disks: I. Multiple Spiral Mode Formation via Swing Amplification
Simulations of Milky Way-like disk-halo systems find that higher numerical resolution delays the epochs of spiral and bar formation, with the delay larger in more stable models. In sufficiently resolved models with a responsive live halo, spirals appear in a cascading sequence in which higher-m modes grow and decay first, followed by lower-m modes.