Résumé
Astron.Astrophys. 421 (2004) 863-876 We present a detailed analysis of the evolution of a simulated isolated disc
galaxy. The simulation includes stars, gas, star formation and simple chemical
yields. Stellar particles are split in two populations: the old one is present
at the beginning of the simulation and is calibrated according to various ages
and metallicities; the new population borns in the course of the simulation and
inherits the metallicity of the gas particles. The results have been calibrated
in four wavebands with the spectro-photometric evolutionary model GISSEL2000
(Bruzual & Charlot 1993). Dust extinction has also been taken into account. A
rest-frame morphological and bidimensional photometric analysis has been
performed on simulated images, with the same tools as for observations. The
effects of the stellar bar formation and the linked star formation episode on
the global properties of the galaxy (mass and luminosity distribution, colours,
isophotal radii) have been analysed. In particular, we have disentangled the
effects of stellar evolution from dynamic evolution to explain the cause of the
isophotal radii variations. We show that the dynamic properties (e.g. mass) of
the area enclosed by any isophotal radius depends on the waveband and on the
level of star formation activity. It is also shown that the bar isophotes
remain thinner than mass isodensities a long time (> 0.7 Gyr) after the maximum
of star formation rate. We show that bar ellipticity is very wavelength
dependent as suggested by real observations. Effects of dust extinction on
photometric and morphological measurements are systematically quantified.