The evolution of stellar bars across galaxy environments and cosmic time – Virginia Cuomo

Stellar bars are important structures largely hosted in disc galaxies, playing a crucial role in their secular evolution across various distance scales and cosmic time. A key factor influencing the fate of stellar bars is the environment in which their host galaxies form and evolve. Environmental influences drive several mechanisms, including mergers, interactions between galaxies, and interactions with large-scale structures, all of which can dramatically alter galaxy dynamics. Bars are not immune to these environmental mechanisms, which can initiate their formation and modify their properties throughout the evolution of barred galaxies.Additionally, the formation and evolution of barred galaxies is a complex issue that depends on internal galaxy factors as well (such as stellar and gas content and the shape of the dark matter halo). This talk aims to explore the interplay between environmentally-driven and internal mechanisms in the formation of bars and the modification of their properties, providing critical insights into the evolution of barred galaxies. We will discuss the photometric and dynamical properties of stellar bars, with a particular focus on barred galaxies located in the Virgo Cluster. With the advent of the James Webb Space Telescope, stellar bars have been observed up to redshift z∼3, indicating that bar-driven secular evolution began at early cosmic time. This presentation will review key findings related to the fraction and properties of stellar bars across cosmic times and propose future perspectives for research in this field.