Related papers: Disk Growth and Quenching
The stellar mass, size and rotational velocity of galactic disks all grow from redshift ~2 to the present by amounts that are estimated from observationally derived scaling relations. The product of these three quantities, the angular…
The cosmic star formation rate density first increases with time towards a pronounced peak 10 Gyrs ago (or z=1-2) and then slows down, dropping by more than a factor 10 since z=1. The processes at the origin of the star formation quenching…
Star formation in half of massive galaxies was quenched by the time the Universe was three billion years old. Very low amounts of molecular gas appear responsible for this, at least in some cases, though morphological gas stabilization,…
One of the present concepts for the onset of massive star formation is the Kennicutt criterion. This relates the onset of massive star formation to a general gravitational instability of the gas disks of spiral galaxies. It is often…
The quenching of star formation activity represents a critical phase for a non-negligible fraction of the observed galaxy population at all cosmic epochs, marking a transition from an epoch of intense mass growth to an extended period of…
Throughout the Hubble time, gas makes its way from the intergalactic medium into galaxies fuelling their star formation and promoting their growth. One of the key properties of the accreting gas is its angular momentum, which has profound…
We point out a natural mechanism for quenching of star formation in early-type galaxies. It automatically links the color of a galaxy with its morphology and does not require gas consumption, removal or termination of gas supply. Given that…
The phenomenological study of evolving galaxy populations has shown that star forming galaxies can be quenched by two distinct processes: mass quenching and environment quenching (Peng et al. 2010). To explore the mass quenching process in…
Galactic disk formation requires knowledge about the initial conditions under which disk galaxies form, the boundary conditions that affect their secular evolution and the micro-physical processes that drive the multi-phase interstellar…
We present "radially-resolved-equilibrium-models" for the growth of stellar and gaseous disks in cosmologically accreting massive halos. Our focus is on objects that evolve to redshifts $z\sim 2$. We solve the time-dependent equations that…
Gas accretion is necessary to maintain star formation, spiral and bar structure, and secular evolution in galaxies. This can occur through tidal interaction, or mass accretion from cosmic filaments. Different processes will be reviewed to…
The analysis of disk formation is based on the White & Rees (1978) picture, in which disk galaxies form by continuous cooling and accretion of gas within a merging hierarchy of dark matter halos. A simple Kennicutt law of star formation for…
Galaxy-wide star formation can be quenched by a number of physical processes such as environmental effects (e.g., ram pressure stripping) and supernova feedback. Using numerical simulations, we here demonstrate that star formation can be…
Star formation in most galaxies requires cosmic gas accretion because the gas consumption time is short compared to the Hubble time. This accretion presumably comes from a combination of infalling satellite debris, cold flows, and…
We study the correlation between galaxy structure and the quenching of star formation using a sample of SDSS central galaxies with stellar masses 9.75< log M_*/M_sun<11.25 and redshifts z<0.075. GALEX UV data are used to cleanly divide the…
Star formation is thought to be triggered by gravitational collapse of the dense cores of molecular clouds. Angular momentum conservation during the collapse results in the progressive increase of the centrifugal force, which eventually…
We propose that supermassive stars may form in quasar accretion disks, and we discuss possible observational consequences. The structure and stability of very massive stars are reviewed. Because of high accretion rates, quasar disks are…
Young galaxies are clumpy, gas-rich, and highly turbulent. Star formation appears to occur by gravitational instabilities in galactic disks. The high dispersion makes the clumps massive and the disks thick. The star formation rate should be…
The decline of star formation in massive low-redshift galaxies, often referred to as quenching, has been attributed to a variety of factors. Some proposals suggest that erupting active galactic nuclei may strip galaxies of their…
The importance of angular momentum in regulating the sizes of galactic disks and by this their star formation history is highlighted. Tidal torques and accretion of satellites in principle provide enough angular momentum to form disks with…