Related papers: Early assembly of the most massive galaxies
We present an end-to-end description of the formation process of globular clusters (GCs) which combines a treatment for their formation and dynamical evolution within galaxy haloes with a state-of-the-art semi-analytic simulation of galaxy…
This paper presents a review of the topic of galaxy formation and evolution, focusing on basic features of galaxies, and how these observables reveal how galaxies and their stars assemble over cosmic time. I give an overview of the observed…
Most stars form in dense star clusters deeply embedded in residual gas. These objects must therefore be seen as the fundamental building blocks of galaxies. With this contribution some physical processes that act in the very early and also…
A dense-enough gas-accumulation evolves, over a few Myr of intensifying star formation, to an embedded cluster. If it contains a sufficient amount of mass, O stars form and explosively expel the remaining gas, whereas poorer clusters reduce…
Three billion years after the big bang (at redshift z=2), half of the most massive galaxies were already old, quiescent systems with little to no residual star formation and extremely compact with stellar mass densities at least an order of…
The most successful cosmological models to date envision structure formation as a hierarchical process in which gravity is constantly drawing lumps of matter together to form increasingly larger structures. Clusters of galaxies currently…
Brightest Cluster Galaxies (BCGs) might have been assembled relatively late (z<1) via mergers. By exploiting the high-resolution HST/ACS imaging, we find four BCGs (COSMOS-P 125516, 102810, 036694 and 089357) in major dry merging in 29…
Young, massive star clusters are the most notable and significant end products of violent star-forming episodes triggered by galaxy collisions, mergers, and close encounters. The question remains, however, whether or not at least a fraction…
In this chapter, we delve into the formation and primary characteristics of two significant components within galaxy clusters: the brightest cluster galaxies (BCGs) and the intracluster light (ICL). Drawing upon recent and pertinent studies…
We use high resolution simulations to study the formation and distribution of galaxies within a cluster which forms hierarchically. We follow both dark matter and baryonic gas which is subject to thermal pressure, shocks and radiative…
We use galaxy and dark halo data from the public database for the Millennium Simulation to study the growth of galaxies in the De Lucia et al. (2006) model for galaxy formation. Previous work has shown this model to reproduce many aspects…
Gravitational lensing studies suggest that the Universe may contain a population of dark galaxies; we investigate this intriguing possibility and propose a mechanism to explain their nature. In this mechanism a dark galaxy is formed with a…
Present-day galaxy clusters are the largest virialized structures in the Universe, yet their early assembly remains poorly understood. At z$>$2, clusters in formation span tens of Mpc and host gas-rich, dust-obscured galaxies embedded in…
The first galaxies formed at high redshifts, and were likely substantially less massive than typical galaxies in the local universe. We argue that (1) the reionization of a clumpy intergalactic medium by redshift z=6, (2) its enrichment by…
Recent high-resolution observations with the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) reveal that young star clusters of extraordinary luminosity and compactness ("super star clusters") are commonly found in starburst systems. Cluster formation appears…
Massive present-day early-type (elliptical and lenticular) galaxies probably gained the bulk of their stellar mass and heavy elements through intense, dust-enshrouded starbursts - that is, increased rates of star formation - in the most…
The K-band Hubble diagram of Brightest Cluster Galaxies (BCGs) is presented for a large, X-ray selected cluster sample extending out to z = 0.8. The controversy over the degree of BCG evolution is shown to be due to sample selection, since…
Galaxies with Milky Way-like stellar masses have a wide range of bulge and black hole masses; in turn, these correlate with other properties such as star formation history. While many processes may drive bulge formation, major and minor…
Observations of high redshift galaxies have revealed a multitude of large clumpy rapidly star-forming galaxies. Their formation scenario and their link to present day spirals is still unknown. In this Letter we perform adaptive mesh…
In cold dark matter cosmologies, the most massive dark matter halos undergo rapid growth between a redshift of z=1 and z=0, corresponding to the past 7 billion years of cosmic time. There is thus an expectation that the stellar masses of…