Related papers: Misalignment between cold gas and stellar componen…
We investigate, by means of numerical simulations, the possibility of forming counter-rotating old stellar components by major mergers between an elliptical and a spiral galaxy. We show that counter-rotation can appear both in dissipative…
Most elliptical galaxies contain central black holes (BHs), and most also contain significant amounts of hot gas capable of accreting on to the central BH due to cooling times short compared to the Hubble time. Why therefore do we not see…
Using a semi-analytical model for galaxy formation, combined with a large N-body simulation, we investigate the origin of the dichotomy among early-type galaxies. We find that boxy galaxies originate from mergers with a progenitor mass…
Detailed high-resolution observations of the innermost regions of nearby galaxies have revealed the presence of supermassive black holes1. These black holes may interact with their host galaxies by means of 'feedback' in the form of energy…
The current understanding of galaxy formation is that it proceeds in a 'bottom up' way, with the formation of small clumps of gas and stars that merge hierarchically until giant galaxies are built up. The baryonic gas loses the thermal…
The formation, evolution and death of massive stars release large quantities of energy and momentum into the gas surrounding the sites of star formation. This process, generically termed 'feedback', inhibits further star formation either by…
We use numerical simulations to study the kinematic structure of remnants formed from mergers of equal-mass disk galaxies. In particular, we show that remnants of dissipational mergers, which include the radiative cooling of gas, star…
The formation of stars from gas drives the evolution of galaxies. Yet, it remains one of the hardest processes to understand when trying to connect observations of stellar and galaxy populations to models of large scale structure formation.…
A significant fraction of clusters of galaxies are observed to have substructure, which implies that merging between clusters and subclusters is a rather common physical process of cluster formation. It still remains unclear how cluster…
The merger history of a galaxy is thought to be one of the major factors determining its internal dynamics, with galaxies having undergone different types or mergers (e.g. dry, minor or major mergers) predicted to show different dynamical…
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…
The structural properties of elliptical galaxies are consistent with their formation in a merging hierarchy. In this picture, the role of gaseous processes and dissipation decreased with increasing mass creating preferentially rotationally…
It is widely accepted that shell galaxies form as a result of a merger between an elliptical and a small disk galaxy. Simulations of the stellar component have shown that the shells are created either by ``phase-wrapping'' of debris on…
The correspondence between galaxy major mergers and starburst activity is well-established observationally and in simulations of low redshift galaxies. However, the evolution of the properties of interactions and of the galaxies involved…
Using high-resolution SPH numerical simulations, we investigate the effects of gas on the inspiral and merger of a massive black hole binary. This study is motivated by both observational and theoretical work that indicate the presence of…
We investigate the evolution of star-forming gas-rich disks, using a 3D chemodynamical model including a dark halo, stars, and a two-phase interstellar medium with feedback processes from the stars. We show that galaxy evolution proceeds…
We describe techniques for incorporating feedback from star formation and black hole accretion into simulations of isolated and merging galaxies. At present, the details of these processes cannot be resolved in simulations on galactic…
Elliptical galaxies outside dense clusters are observed to contain small amounts (relative to spiral galaxies) of cold interstellar gas. This review discusses the atomic gas, the molecular gas, and the dust in elliptical galaxies. Field…
Under the merger hypothesis, elliptical galaxies are built through mergers of gas-rich spirals. However, the relative paucity of HI in most normal ellipticals demands significant processing of atomic gas into other forms if this process is…
At low redshift, massive black holes are found in the centers of almost all large elliptical galaxies, and also in many lower-mass systems. Their evolution is believed to be inextricably entangled with that of their host galaxies. On the…