Related papers: A perturbative analysis of Quasi-Radial density wa…
Bars and spiral arms have played an important role as constraints on the dynamics and on the distribution of dark matter in the optical parts of disk galaxies. Dynamics linked to the dissipative nature of gas, and its transformation into…
Rotation curves constrain a galaxy's underlying mass density profile, under the assumption that the observed rotation produces a centripetal force that exactly balances the inward force of gravity. However, most rotation curves are measured…
The structure of a sample of high-redshift (z=2), rotating galaxies with high star formation rates and turbulent gas velocities of sigma=40-80 km/s is investigated. Fitting the observed disk rotational velocities and radii with a Mo, Mao,…
There are two theories of stellar spiral arms in isolated disc galaxies that model stellar spiral arms with different longevities: quasi-stationary density wave theory, which characterises spirals as rigidly rotating, long-lived patterns…
We consider the perturbations of a relativistic star as an initial-value problem. Having discussed the formulation of the problem (the perturbation equations and the appropriate boundary conditions at the centre and the surface of the star)…
Spiral density waves can arise in galactic disks as linear instabilities of the underlying stellar distribution function. Such an instability grows exponentially in amplitude at some fixed growth rate $\beta$ before saturating nonlinearly.…
We report the detection of small scale bending waves, also known as corrugations, in the dust lanes of five nearby edge-on disc galaxies. This phenomenon, where the disc mid-plane bends to become wavy, just as in warps but on a smaller…
We present evidence that recurrent spiral activity, long manifested in simulations of disk galaxies, results from the super-position of a few transient spiral modes. Each mode lasts between 5 and 10 rotations at its corotation radius where…
We show that the propagation of warps in gaseous disks can be strongly affected by compressional effects, when the thickness of the disk is taken into account. The physical reason is that, in realistic self-gravitating disks, the sound time…
Many protoplanetary disks exhibit annular gaps in dust emission, which may be produced by planets. Simulations of planet-disk interaction aimed at interpreting these observations often treat the disk thermodynamics in an overly simplified…
In this review, I discuss just three aspects of the stability and evolution of galactic discs. (1) I first review our understanding of the bar instability and how it can be controlled. Disc galaxies in which the orbital speed does not…
An update of the set of low surface brightness galaxies is presented which can be used to set constraints on the otherwise ambiguous decompositions of their rotation curves into contributions due to the various components of the galaxies.…
We consider disk stability in the quasi-linear formulation of MOND (QUMOND), the basis for some $N$-body integrators. We generalize the Toomre criterion for the stability of disks to tightly wound, axisymmetric perturbations. We apply this…
Recent observations of high-redshift galaxies ($z \lesssim 7$) reveal that a substantial fraction have turbulent, gas-rich disks with well-ordered rotation and elevated levels of star formation. In some instances, disks show evidence of…
The radiation force on dust grains may be dynamically important in driving turbulence and outflows in rapidly star-forming galaxies. Recent studies focus on the highly optically-thick limit relevant to the densest ultra-luminous galaxies…
Does the environment of a galaxy directly influence the kinematics of its bar? We present observational evidence that bars in high-density environments exhibit significantly slower rotation rates than bars in low-density environments.…
We develop a fully nonlinear approximation to the short-wavelength limit of eccentric waves in astrophysical discs, based on the averaged Lagrangian method of Whitham (1965). In this limit there is a separation of scales between the rapidly…
The mechanism behind angular momentum transport in protoplanetary disks, and whether this transport is turbulent in nature, is a fundamental issue in planet formation studies. Recent ALMA observations have suggested that turbulent…
The morphology of a disk galaxy is closely linked to its kinematic state. This is because density wave features are likely made of spontaneously-formed modes which are allowed to arise in the galactic resonant cavity of a particular basic…
We present fully three-dimensional local MRI simulations with the object of studying the excitation of non-axisymmetric spiral density waves that are observed to always be present in such simulations. They are potentially important for…