Giant disk galaxies : Where environment trumps mass in galaxy evolution
  We identify some of the most HI massive and fastest rotating disk galaxies in
the local universe with the aim of probing the processes that drive the
formation of these extreme disk galaxies. By combining data from the Cosmic
Flows project, which has consistently reanalyzed archival galaxy HI profiles,
and 3.6$\mu$m photometry obtained with the Spitzer Space Telescope, with which
we can measure stellar mass, we use the baryonic Tully-Fisher (BTF)
relationship to explore whether these massive galaxies are distinct. We discuss
several results, but the most striking is the systematic offset of the
HI-massive sample above the BTF. These galaxies have both more gas and more
stars in their disks than the typical disk galaxy of similar rotational
velocity. The "condensed" baryon fraction, $f_C$, the fraction of the baryons
in a dark matter halo that settle either as cold gas or stars into the disk, is
twice as high in the HI-massive sample than typical, and almost reaches the
universal baryon fraction in some cases, suggesting that the most extreme of
these galaxies have little in the way of a hot baryonic component or cold
baryons distributed well outside the disk. In contrast, the star formation
efficiency, measured as the ratio of the mass in stars to that in both stars
and gas, shows no difference between the HI-massive sample and the typical disk
galaxies. We conclude that the star formation efficiency is driven by an
internal, self-regulating process, while $f_C$ is affected by external factors.
We also found that the most massive HI detected galaxies are located
preferentially in filaments. We present the first evidence of an environmental
effect on galaxy evolution using a dynamical definition of a filament.
