Accretion of Small Satellites and Gas Inflows in a Disc Galaxy
  Galaxy interactions can have an important effect in a galaxy's evolution.
Cosmological models predict a large number of small satellites around galaxies.
It is important to study the effect that these small satellites can have on the
host. The present work explores the effect of small N-body spherical satellites
with total mass ratios in the range approx 1:1000-1:100 in inducing gas flows
to the central regions of a disc galaxy with late-type morphology resembling
the Milky Way. Two model galaxies are considered: barred and non-barred models;
the latter one is motivated in order to isolate and understand better the
effects of the satellite. Several circular and non-circular orbits are
explored, considering both prograde and retrogade orientations. We show that
satellites with such small mass ratios can still produce observable distortions
in the gas and stellar components of the galaxy. In terms of gas flows, the
prograde circular orbits are more favourable for producing gas flows, where in
some cases up to $60% of the gas of the galaxy is driven to the central region.
We find, hence, that small satellites can induce significant gas flows to the
central regions of a disc galaxy, which is relevant in the context of fuelling
active galactic nuclei.
