Related papers: Formation and evolution of galactic spheroids by m…
There are many proposed mechanisms driving the morphological transformation of disk galaxies to elliptical galaxies. In this paper, we determine if the observed transformation in low mass groups can be explained by the merger histories of…
The origin of boxy and disky elliptical galaxies is investigated. The results of two collisionless N-body simulations of spiral-spiral mergers with mass ratios of 1:1 and 3:1 are discussed and the projected properties of the merger remnants…
Tidal dwarf galaxies form during the interaction, collision or merger of massive spiral galaxies. They can resemble "normal" dwarf galaxies in terms of mass, size, and become dwarf satellites orbiting around their massive progenitor. They…
The standard disc formation scenario postulates that disc forms as the gas cools and flows into the centre of the dark matter halo, conserving the specific angular momentum. Major mergers have been shown to be able to destroy or highly…
The history of the formation and evolution of the Milky Way Galaxy is found in the spatial distribution, kinematics, age and chemical abundance distributions of long-lived stars. From this fossil record one can in principle extract the star…
I set the stage for discussion of the stellar populations in interacting galaxies by looking back over the slow development of our understanding of these systems. From early anecdotal collections, to systematic cataloging, and finally to…
We simulate the formation and chemodynamical evolution of 124 elliptical galaxies by using a GRAPE-SPH code that includes various physical processes associated with the formation of stellar systems: radiative cooling, star formation,…
I will present recent theoretical results on the formation and the high redshift assembly of spheroids. These findings have been obtained by utilising different and complementary techniques: chemodynamical models offer great insight in the…
We perform collisionless N-body simulations to investigate whether binary mergers between rotationally-supported dwarfs can lead to the formation of dwarf spheroidal galaxies (dSphs). Our simulation campaign is based on a hybrid approach…
How elliptical galaxy dynamics relate to galaxy structure, stellar populations, spiral galaxies and environment are reviewed. The evidence assembled shows that most, if not all, galaxies originally classified as gE contain disks within…
We study the formation of hot spheroidal systems within the frame of a scenario where galaxy formation and evolution is related to the gentle mass aggregation history and primordial angular momentum of protogalaxies, both defined by the…
In the current galaxy formation scenarios, two physical phenomena are invoked to build disk galaxies: hierarchical mergers and more quiescent external gas accretion, coming from intergalactic filaments. Although both are thought to play a…
Recent spectroscopic observations of planetary nebulae (PNe) in several elliptical galaxies have revealed structural and kinematical properties of the outer stellar halo regions. In order to elucidate the origin of the properties of these…
Collisionless N-body simulations of merging disk-galaxies with mass ratios ($\eta$) of 1:1, 2:1, 3:1, and 4:1 have been performed using direct summation with the special purpose hardware GRAPE. The simulations are used to examine whether…
We investigate the origins of galaxy morphology (defined by bulge-to-total K-band luminosity) in the LambdaCDM cosmology using two galaxy formation models ,based on the Millennium simulation, by Bower et al. (the Durham model) and De Lucia…
This paper addresses the questions of what we have learned about how and when dense star clusters form, and what studies of star clusters have revealed about galaxy formation and evolution. One important observation is that globular…
N-body simulations of major spiral-spiral mergers with different mass ratios q <= 4:1 are presented. All mergers lead to spheroidal stellar systems with de Vaucouleurs-like surface density profiles, resembling elliptical galaxies. The…
Bulges and disks are major structural components that define galaxy morphology. The mass ratios of bulges and disks increase statistically with the galaxy mass, with the high-mass end occupied by elliptical galaxies. Although previous…
The last decade of research on elliptical galaxies has produced a wealth of new information concerning both their detailed structure and their global scaling relations. We review the old and new results about isophote shapes and…
Galaxy interactions and mergers play a significant, but still debated and poorly understood role in the star formation history of galaxies. Numerical and theoretical models cannot yet explain the main properties of merger-induced…