Conceptual

Deep HI Disk Radial Profiles and the R001 Size-Mass Relation in Galaxies

Using total-power FAST 21-cm imaging that reaches the 0.01 solar-mass-per-square-parsec level, defines a new galaxy-disk radius R001 at that iso-density contour and shows the outer HI radial profile is self-similar when normalized by R001, giving a very tight R001 versus HI-mass size-mass relation. The R001/R1 ratio correlates with a galaxy's HI-to-stellar-mass ratio and specific star-formation rate but not with stellar mass, HI mass or dark-matter mass, implying self-similar outer-disk gas transport absent major tidal interactions.