SDSS-IV MaNGA: Stellar Population Gradients Within Barred Galaxies
  Bars in galaxies are thought to stimulate both inflow of material and radial
mixing along them. Observational evidence for this mixing has been inconclusive
so far however, limiting the evaluation of the impact of bars on galaxy
evolution. We now use results from the MaNGA integral field spectroscopic
survey to characterise radial stellar age and metallicity gradients along the
bar and outside the bar in 128 strongly barred galaxies. We find that age and
metallicity gradients are flatter in the barred regions of almost all barred
galaxies when compared to corresponding disk regions at the same radii. Our
results re-emphasize the key fact that by azimuthally averaging integral field
spectroscopic data one loses important information from non-axisymmetric galaxy
components such as bars and spiral arms. We interpret our results as
observational evidence that bars are radially mixing material in galaxies of
all stellar masses, and for all bar morphologies and evolutionary stages.
