Related papers: The structural and dynamical properties of compact…

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…

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…

We characterize the kinematics, morphology, stellar populations and star formation histories of a sample of massive compact galaxies in the nearby Universe, which might provide a closer look to the nature of their high redshift (z > 1.0)…

How elliptical galaxies form is a key question in observational cosmology. While the formation of massive ellipticals is strongly linked to mergers, the low mass (Mstar < 10^9.5 MSun) regime remains less well explored. In particular,…

We present a detailed stellar population analysis of 27 massive elliptical galaxies within 4 very rich clusters at redshift z~0.2: A115, A655, A963 and A2111. Using the new, high-resolution stellar populations models developed in our group,…

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…

We present the evolution of galaxy sizes, from redshift 2 to 0, for actively star forming and passive galaxies in the cosmological hydrodynamical 1003 cMpc3 simulation of the EAGLE project. We find that the sizes increase with stellar mass…

The traditional view of elliptical galaxies has been that they formed in a single, rapid burst of star formation at high redshift, and have evolved quiescently since that time. In opposition to this traditional view is evidence that at…

The presence of massive, compact, quiescent galaxies at z>2 presents a major challenge for theoretical models of galaxy formation and evolution. Using one of the deepest large public near-IR surveys to date, we investigate in detail the…

We study the evolution of the number density, as a function of the size, of passive early-type galaxies with a wide range of stellar masses 10^10<M*/Msun<10^11.5) from z~3 to z~1, exploiting the unique dataset available in the GOODS-South…

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…

Stellar archeology shows that massive elliptical galaxies today formed rapidly about ten billion years ago with star formation rates above several hundreds solar masses per year (M_sun/yr). Their progenitors are likely the…

The standard picture holds that giant elliptical galaxies formed in a single burst at high redshift. Aging of their stellar populations subsequently caused them to fade and become redder. The Canada-France Redshift Survey provides a sample…

The formation and evolution of elliptical galaxies (EGs) is still an open question. In particular, recent observations suggest that elliptical galaxies are not only simple spheroidal systems of old stars. In this paper we analyze a sample…

[abridged] Massive, passively evolving galaxies at redshifts z>1 exhibit on the average physical sizes smaller by factors ~3 than local early type galaxies (ETGs) endowed with the same stellar mass. Small sizes are in fact expected on…

We present a structural analysis of 138 compact elliptical galaxies (cEs) in the redshift range of $z < 0.05$ using the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) DR12 data. We perform single- and double-component S\'ersic model fitting to their SDSS…

Velocity dispersions $\sigma$ and Mg absorption line-strengths Mg$_b$ have been measured for a sample of 16 ellipticals in 3 clusters at a redshift of 0.37. Like local cluster ellipticals, these objects show a correlation between Mg$_b$ and…

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…

The size-mass galaxy distribution is a key diagnostic for galaxy evolution. Massive compact galaxies are potential surviving relics of a high-redshift phase of star formation. Some of these could be nearly unresolved in SDSS imaging and…

The optical rest-frame sizes of 10 of the most massive (~5x10^{11}h_{70}^{-2}M_sun) galaxies found in the near-infrared MUNICS survey at 1.2<z<1.7 are analysed. Sizes were estimated both in the J and K' filters. These massive galaxies are…