Related papers: When did round disk galaxies form?
The class `bulges' contains objects with very different formation and evolution paths and very different properties. I review two types of `bulges', the boxy/peanut bulges (B/Ps) and the discy bulges. The former are parts of bars seen…
Globular cluster systems exhibit a bewildering variety of characteristics. No single scenario appears to be able to account for the wide range of specific globular cluster frequencies that are observed in galaxies of various types. The…
The complex problem of when and how galaxies formed has not until recently been susceptible of direct attack. It has been known for some time that the excessive number of blue galaxies counted at faint magnitudes implies that a considerable…
We present 0".2-resolution Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array observations at 870 um for 25 Halpha-seleced star-forming galaxies (SFGs) around the main-sequence at z=2.2-2.5. We detect significant 870 um continuum emission in 16…
We consider the most commonly occurring circumstances which apply to galaxies, namely membership in galaxy groups of about $10^{13}h^{-1} M_\odot$ total mass, and estimate the accompanying physical conditions of intergalactic medium (IGM)…
This work examines the evolution of bar formation in disk galaxies over the last 6 giga-years by analyzing the barred galaxy fraction as a function of key structural parameters. A representative sample of local and distant field galaxies…
Kn-band imaging of a sample of 30 edge-on spiral galaxies with a boxy or peanut-shaped (B/PS) bulge is discussed. Galaxies with a B/PS bulge tend to have a more complex morphology than galaxies with other bulge types, unsharp-masked images…
Disc dominated galaxies can be difficult to accommodate in a hierarchical formation scenario like $\Lambda$CDM, where mergers are an important growth mechanism. However, observational evidence indicates that these galaxies are common. We…
Selecting disk galaxies from the cosmological, hydrodynamical simulation Magneticum Pathfinder we show that almost half of our poster child disk galaxies at $z=2$ show significantly declining rotation curves and low dark matter fractions,…
We study the evolution of galactic bars and the link with disk and spheroid formation in a sample of zoom-in cosmological simulations. Our simulation sample focuses on galaxies with present-day stellar masses in the 10^10-10^11 Msun range,…
How and when did galaxies form and assemble their stars and stellar mass? The answer to these questions, so crucial to astrophysics and cosmology, requires the full reconstruction of the so called cosmic star formation rate density (SFRD),…
We analyse maps of the spatially-resolved nebular emission of $\approx$1500 star-forming galaxies at $z\approx0.6$-$2.2$ from deep KMOS and MUSE observations to measure the average shape of their rotation curves. We use these to test claims…
We investigate the formation of Milky-Way-mass galaxies using FIRE-2 LCDM cosmological zoom-in simulations by studying the orbital evolution of stars formed in the main progenitor of the galaxy, from birth to the present day. We classify in…
The density-wave theory of spiral structure proposes that star formation occurs in or near a spiral-shaped region of higher density that rotates rigidly within the galactic disk at a fixed pattern speed. In most interpretations of this…
Star formation history shows a gradual decline since the last 8-9 Gyr (z=1). The bulk of present-day stellar mass and metal content was formed at redshifts lower than 2-3, which is consistent with a hierarchical scenario of galaxy…
We test the hypothesis that metal-poor globular clusters form within disk galaxies at redshifts z>3. Numerical simulations demonstrate that giant gas clouds, which are cold and dense enough to produce massive star clusters, assemble…
We present early results regarding the morphological and structural properties of galaxies seen with the James Webb Space Telescope at $z > 3$ in the Early Release Observations of SMACS 0723, a galaxy cluster at $z=0.39$. We investigate,…
Many of the early-type galaxies observed so far at z>1 turned out to have smaller radii with respect to that of a typical present-day early-type galaxy with comparable mass. This has generated the conviction that in the past early-type…
The exponential profile has long been hypothesized as the fundamental morphology of galactic disks. The IllustrisTNG simulations reproduce diverse surface-density profiles: Type I (single exponential), Type II (down-bending), and Type III…
Cosmological simulations of galaxy formation appear to show a two-phase character with a rapid early phase at z>2 during which in-situ stars are formed within the galaxy from infalling cold gas followed by an extended phase since z<3 during…