Related papers: Minor mergers and the size evolution of elliptical…
Multiple, sequential mergers are unavoidable in the hierarchical build-up picture of galaxies, in particular for the minor mergers that are frequent and highly likely to have occured several times for most present-day galaxies. However, the…
We revisit collisionless major and minor mergers of spheroidal galaxies in the context of the size evolution of elliptical galaxies. The simulations are performed as a series of mergers with mass-ratios of 1:1 and 1:10 for models…
We use semi-analytical modelling of galaxy formation to predict the redshift-size-evolution of elliptical galaxies. Using a simple model in which relative sizes of elliptical galaxies of a given mass correlate with the fraction of stars…
Massive quiescent galaxies at high redshift are significantly more compact than their present-day counterparts. We investigate the roles, in determining this evolution, of major and minor mergers, and of the accretion of diffuse envelopes…
Recent work has suggested that the amplitude of the size mass relation of massive early type galaxies evolves with redshift. Here we use a semi-analytical galaxy formation model to study the size evolution of massive early type galaxies. We…
Recent studies have shown that massive galaxies in the distant universe are surprisingly compact, with typical sizes about a factor of three smaller than equally massive galaxies in the nearby universe. It has been suggested that these…
There is observational evidence for inside-out growth of elliptical galaxies since $z \gtrsim 2-3$, which is not driven by in-situ star formation. Many systems at high redshift have small sizes $\sim 1kpc$ and surface brightness profiles…
Building galaxy merger trees from a state-of-the-art cosmological hydrodynamics simulation, Horizon-AGN, we perform a statistical study of how mergers and smooth accretion drive galaxy morphologic properties above $z > 1$. More…
Observations suggest that effective radii of high-z massive spheroids are as much as a factor ~6 smaller than low-z galaxies of comparable mass. Given the apparent absence of low-z counterparts, this has often been interpreted as indicating…
High-resolution numerical simulations of galaxy mergers are analysed. The global structure and isophotal shapes of the merger remnants are in good agreement with the observations. Whereas equal-mass mergers lead to anisotropic, boxy…
It has been widely remarked that compact, massive, elliptical-like galaxies are abundant at high redshifts but exceedingly rare in the Universe today, implying significant evolution such that their sizes at z ~ 2+/-0.6 have increased by…
In hierarchical models of galaxy formation, ellipticals form from the merging of disk galaxies drawn together by gravity as their surrounding dark halos coalesce. Using semi-analytic techniques, we are able to follow the merging, star…
Recent studies have shown that massive quiescent galaxies at high redshift are much more compact than present-day galaxies of the same mass. Here we compare the radial stellar density profiles and the number density of a sample of massive…
Elliptical galaxies formed in a major merger tend to become more nearly spherical with time, thanks to the gravitational effect of their central black hole (or black holes). Observational results indicate that elliptical galaxies with older…
We study whether dry merger-driven size growth of massive elliptical galaxies depends on their initial structural concentration, and analyse the validity of the homology hypothesis for virial mass determination in massive ellipticals grown…
We have explored the buildup of the local mass-size relation of elliptical galaxies using two visually classified samples. At low redshift we compiled a subsample of 2,656 elliptical galaxies from SDSS, whereas at higher redshift (up to…
Aims:In this study we investigate the evolution of shape and kinematics of elliptical galaxies in a cosmological framework. Methods: We use a set of hydrodynamic, self-consistent simulations operating in the context of a concordance…
We address the formation of massive stellar spheroids between redshifts $z=4$ and 1 using a suite of AMR hydro-cosmological simulations. The spheroids form as bulges, and the spheroid mass growth is partly driven by violent disc instability…
Early-type galaxies (ETGs) are observed to be more compact at z>2 than in the local Universe. Remarkably, much of this size evolution appears to take place in a short (1.8 Gyr) time span between z=2.2 and z=1.3, which poses a serious…
Massive galaxies at high-z have smaller effective radii than those today, but similar central densities. Their size growth therefore relates primarily to the evolving abundance of low-density material. Various models have been proposed to…