Related papers: A Cosmological Solution to the Impossibly Early Ga…
The growth of structure probes the re-ionization history and quasar abundance in the Universe, constituting an important probe of the cosmological predictions. Halos are not directly observable, however, so their mass and evolution must be…
The current hierarchical merging paradigm and $\Lambda$CDM predict that the $z \sim 4-8$ universe should be a time in which the most massive galaxies are transitioning from their initial halo assembly to the later baryonic evolution seen in…
The so-called `impossibly early galaxy' problem, first identified via the Hubble Space Telescope's observation of galaxies at redshifts z > 10, appears to have been exacerbated by the more recent James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) discovery…
The standard cosmological model, now strongly constrained by direct observation at early epochs, is very successful in describing the structure of the evolved universe on large and intermediate scales. Unfortunately, serious contradictions…
Early JWST observations have revealed substantial numbers of galaxies out to redshifts as high as $z \simeq 14$, reflecting a slow evolution of the galaxy UV luminosity function (LF) not anticipated by many models of galaxy evolution. The…
We study the formation of dark matter halos in the concordance LCDM model over a wide range of redshifts, from z=20 to the present. Our primary focus is the halo mass function, a key probe of cosmology. By performing a large suite of…
Observations with WFC3/IR on the Hubble Space Telescope and the use of gravitational lensing techniques have facilitated the discovery of galaxies as far back as z ~ 10-12, a truly remarkable achievement. However, this rapid emergence of…
We review theoretical approaches to the study of galaxy formation, with emphasis on the role of hydrodynamic simulations in modeling the high redshift galaxy population. We present new predictions for the abundance of star-forming galaxies…
Galaxies can form in a sufficiently deep gravitational potential so that efficient gas cooling occurs. We estimate that such potential is provided by a halo of mass $M \gtsim M_{c} \approx 7.0 \times 10^{12} ~ (\Delta_{c}(z)…
The evolution of the galaxy stellar mass function is especially useful to test the current model of galaxy formation. Observational data have revealed a few inconsistencies with predictions from the $\Lambda {\rm CDM}$ model. For example,…
We show that the observed upper bound on the line-of-sight velocity dispersion of the stars in an early-type galaxy, sigma<400km/s, may have a simple dynamical origin within the LCDM cosmological model, under two main hypotheses. The first…
We present a robust method to constrain average galaxy star formation rates, star formation histories, and the intracluster light as a function of halo mass. Our results are consistent with observed galaxy stellar mass functions, specific…
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…
The old dream of integrating into one the study of micro and macrocosmos is now a reality. Cosmology, astrophysics, and particle physics intersect in a scenario (but still not a theory) of cosmic structure formation and evolution called…
We explore the clustering properties of high redshift dark matter halos, focusing on halos massive enough to host early generations of stars or galaxies at redshift 10 and greater. Halos are extracted from an array of dark matter…
Given a galaxy's stellar mass, its host halo mass has a lower limit from the cosmic baryon fraction and known baryonic physics. At z>4, galaxy stellar mass functions place lower limits on halo number densities that approach expected…
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…
Massive galaxies, such as nearby ellipticals, have relatively low number densities, yet they host the majority of the stellar mass in the universe. Understanding their origin is a central problem of galaxy formation. Age dating of stellar…
This work studies the connection between the first galaxies and their hosting dark matter halos in the early Universe when Reionization is concluding. Our numerical models (already presented in an earlier study) trace the star formation…
We propose a general framework leveraging the halo-galaxy connection to link galaxies observed at different redshift in a statistical way, and use the link to infer the redshift evolution of the galaxy population. Our tests based on…