Related papers: Astro2020: Empirically Constraining Galaxy Evoluti…
Modern observational and analytic techniques now enable the direct measurement of star formation histories and the inference of galaxy assembly histories. However, current theoretical predictions of assembly are not ideally suited for…
In this series of lectures I review recent observational progress in constraining models of galaxy formation and evolution highlighting the importance advances in addressing questions of the assembly history and origin of the Hubble…
The properties of galaxies are intricately linked to the characteristics of their host dark-matter haloes. We use a suite of controlled simulations of isolated galaxies to quantify how halo spin, concentration, inner density profile, and…
We use the Illustris Simulations to gain insight into the build-up of the outer, low-surface brightness regions which surround galaxies. We characterize the stellar haloes by means of the logarithmic slope of the spherically-averaged…
We investigate the non-linear evolution of spherical density and velocity perturbations of dark matter and dark energy in the expanding Universe. For that we have used the conservation and Einstein equations to describe the evolution of…
The stellar populations of galaxies contain a wealth of detailed information. From the youngest, most massive stars, to almost invisible remnants, the history of star formation is encoded in the stars that make up a galaxy. Extracting some,…
Utilizing ALFALFA HI data, we investigate the relationship between specific star formation rate (sSFR) and halo spin across various star-forming galaxies. Our analysis reveals weak yet statistically significant positive correlation between…
We use percent-level precision photometric redshifts in the UltraVISTA-DR1 near-infrared survey to investigate the changing relationship be- tween galaxy stellar mass and the dark matter haloes hosting them to $z\sim2$. We achieve this by…
At the turn of the decade we arguably move from the era of precision cosmology to the era of galaxy formation. One approach to this problem will be via the construction of comprehensive galaxy samples. In this review I take the opportunity…
The cosmic web plays a major role in the formation and evolution of galaxies and defines, to a large extent, their properties. However, the relation between galaxies and environment is still not well understood. Here we present a machine…
We employ a semi-analytical methodology to estimate the dark matter halo spin of HI-rich galaxies in the Arecibo Legacy Fast Alfa Survey and investigate the relationship between halo spin and the proximity of galaxies to cosmic filaments.…
Galaxy-galaxy lensing is a powerful probe of the relation between galaxies and dark matter halos, but its theoretical interpretation requires a careful modeling of various contributions, such as the contribution from central and satellite…
We study the chemical evolution and formation of the Galactic halo through the analysis of its stellar metallicity distribution function and some key elemental abundance patterns. Starting from the two-infall model for the Galaxy, which…
Cosmological models with different types of Dark Energy are becoming viable alternatives for standard models with the cosmological constant. Yet, such models are more difficult to analyze and to simulate. We present analytical…
The concentration parameter is a key characteristic of a dark matter halo that conveniently connects the halo's present-day structure with its assembly history. Using 'Dark Sky', a suite of cosmological $N$-body simulations, we investigate…
Cosmological galaxy formation simulations are still limited by their spatial/mass resolution and cannot model from first principles some of the processes, like star formation, that are key in driving galaxy evolution. As a consequence they…
In this talk I focus on how the modelling of the mass-observable relation and the halo mass function can impact the accuracy and precision of cosmological constraints inferred from galaxy clusters. I present a new analysis of clusters…
We consider some aspects of the evolution of massive stars which can only be elucidated by means of "indirect" observations, i.e. measurements of the effects of massive stars on their environments. We discuss in detail the early evolution…
We present a detailed investigation of the changing relationship between galaxies and the dark matter haloes they inhabit from z~1.2 to the present day. We do this by comparing precise galaxy clustering measurements over 133 deg2 of the…
In the standard cosmological model a mysterious cold dark matter (CDM) component dominates the formation of structures. Numerical studies of the formation of CDM halos have produced several robust results that allow unique tests of the…