Related papers: Ghostly Halos in Dwarf Galaxies: Constraints on th…
On dwarf galaxy scales, the different shapes of the galaxy stellar mass function and the dark halo mass function require a star-formation efficiency (SFE) in these systems that is currently more than 1 dex lower than that of Milky Way-size…
It is commonly believed that galaxies use, throughout the Hubble time, a very small fraction of the baryons associated to their dark matter halos to form stars. This so-called low "star formation efficiency" $f_\star\equiv M_\star/f_{\rm b}…
Galaxy surveys have shown that luminous galaxies are mainly distributed in large filaments and galaxy clusters. The remaining large volumes are virtually devoid of luminous galaxies. This is in concordance with the formation of the…
Our recently completed one billion particle Via Lactea II simulation of a Milky Way-sized dark matter halo resolves over 50,000 gravitationally bound clumps orbiting today within the virialized region of the main host. About 2,300 of these…
We use a robust analytical model together with a high-resolution hydrodynamical cosmological simulation to demonstrate that in a $\Lambda$ cold dark matter ($\Lambda$CDM) universe, a small fraction of dwarf galaxies inhabiting dark matter…
Extended, old, and round stellar halos appear to be ubiquitous around high-mass dwarf galaxies ($10^{8.5}<M_\star/M_\odot<10^{9.6}$) in the observed universe. However, it is unlikely that these dwarfs have undergone a sufficient number of…
The empirical model of Lu et al. 2014 is updated with recent data and used to study galaxy star formation and assembly histories. At $z > 2$, the predicted galaxy stellar mass functions are steep, and a significant amount of star formation…
In our modern understanding of galaxy formation, every galaxy forms within a dark matter halo. The formation and growth of galaxies over time is connected to the growth of the halos in which they form. The advent of large galaxy surveys as…
We use N-body cosmological simulations and empirical galaxy models to study the merger history of dwarf-mass galaxies (with M_halo~10^10 M_Sun). Our input galaxy models describe the stellar mass-halo mass relation, and the galaxy occupation…
We propose a simple model for the formation of dwarf spheroidal galaxies, in which stars are assumed to have formed from isothermal gas in hydrostatic equilibrium inside extended dark matter halos. After expelling the leftover gas, the…
The Local Group hosts a number of star-forming dwarf galaxies that show evidence of periods of little to no star formation. We use a suite of cosmological simulations to study how star formation is reignited in such galaxies. We focus on…
Star-forming galaxies constitute the majority of galaxies with stellar masses >10^10 M_Sun/h^2 at z~2 and dominate the star-formation rate density of the Universe at this early epoch. It is thus critical to understand their origins,…
In hierarchical galaxy formation the stellar halos of galaxies are formed by the accretion of minor satellites and therefore contain valuable information about the (early) assembly process of galaxies. Our GHOSTS survey measures the stellar…
The observed luminosity function (LF) of satellite galaxies shows several interesting features that require a better understanding of gas-thermodynamic processes and feedback effects related to reionization and galaxy formation. In galaxy…
Gravitational lensing studies suggest that the Universe may contain a population of dark galaxies; we investigate this intriguing possibility and propose a mechanism to explain their nature. In this mechanism a dark galaxy is formed with a…
The stellar halos of large galaxies represent a vital probe of the processes of galaxy evolution. They are the remnants of the initial bouts of star formation during the collapse of the proto-galactic cloud, coupled with imprint of ancient…
We use numerical simulations to examine the substructure within galactic and cluster mass halos that form within a hierarchical universe. Clusters are easily reproduced with a steep mass spectrum of thousands of substructure clumps that…
We study structure formation in cosmological void regions using high-resolution hydrodynamical simulations. Despite being significantly underdense, voids are populated abundantly with small dark matter halos which should appear as dwarf…
According to the current cosmological cold dark matter paradigm, the Galactic halo could have been the result of the assemblage of smaller structures. Here we explore the hypothesis that the classical and ultra-faint dwarf spheroidal…
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)…