Disk galaxies with broken luminosity profiles from cosmological
  simulations
  We present SPH cosmological simulations of the formation of three disk
galaxies with a detailed treatment of chemical evolution and cooling. The
resulting galaxies have properties compatible with observations: relatively
high disk-to-total ratios, thin stellar disks and good agreement with the
Tully-Fisher and the luminosity-size relations. They present a break in the
luminosity profile at 3.0 +- 0.5 disk scale lengths, while showing an
exponential mass profile without any apparent breaks, in line with recent
observational results. Since the stellar mass profile is exponential, only
differences in the stellar populations can be the cause of the luminosity
break. Although we find a cutoff for the star formation rate imposed by a
density threshold in our star formation model, it does not coincide with the
luminosity break and is located at 4.3 +- 0.4 disk scale lengths, with star
formation going on between both radii. The color profiles and the age profiles
are "U-shaped", with the minimum for both profiles located approximately at the
break radius. The SFR to stellar mass ratio increases until the break,
explaining the coincidence of the break with the minimum of the age profile.
Beyond the break we find a steep decline in the gas density and, consequently,
a decline in the SFR and redder colors. We show that most stars (64-78%) in the
outer disk originate in the inner disk and afterwards migrate there. Such
stellar migrations are likely the main origin of the U-shaped age profile and,
therefore, of the luminosity break.
