Related papers: Inferring Globular Cluster Initial Mass Function f…
The Cold Dark Matter paradigm predicts vast numbers of dark matter sub-halos to be orbiting in galactic halos. The sub-halos are detectable through the gaps they create gaps in stellar streams. The gap-rate is an integral over the density…
Outer-halo globular clusters show large half-light radii and flat stellar mass functions, depleted in low-mass stars. Using N-body simulations of globular clusters on eccentric orbits within a Milky Way-like potential, we show how a…
We present an atlas and follow-up spectroscopic observations of 87 thin stream-like structures detected with the STREAMFINDER algorithm in Gaia DR3, of which 29 are new discoveries. Here we focus on using these streams to refine mass models…
We study the effect of dynamical friction on globular clusters and on the stars evaporated from the globular clusters (stellar streams) moving in a galactic halo. Due to dynamical friction, the position of a globular cluster (GC) as a…
Stellar streams are a promising way to probe the gravitational effects of low-mass dark matter (DM) subhalos. In recent years, there has been a remarkable explosion in the number of stellar streams detected in the Milky Way, and hundreds…
Mergers and tidal interactions between massive galaxies and their dwarf satellites are a fundamental prediction of the Lambda-Cold Dark Matter cosmology. These events are thought to provide important observational diagnostics of nonlinear…
There is increasing evidence that a substantial fraction of Milky Way satellite galaxies align in a rotationally-supported plane of satellites, a rare configuration in cosmological simulations of galaxy formation. It has been suggested that…
In this contribution we discuss the expected properties of our halo if our Galaxy had been built from mergers of smaller systems. Using both analytic arguments and high-resolution simulations, we find that the Galactic halo in the Solar…
Because direct measurements require resolved stellar populations including low-mass stars, determining the stellar initial mass function (IMF) has been a historically difficult problem even within our own Galaxy and impossible everywhere…
In this paper, the first in a series on galaxy formation before reionization, we focus on understanding what determines the size and morphology of stellar objects in the first low mass galaxies, using parsec- scale cosmological simulations…
We use N-body simulations to model the tidal disruption of a star cluster in a Milky-Way-sized dark matter halo, which results in a narrow stream comparable to (but slightly wider than) Pal-5 or GD-1. The mean Galactic dark matter halo is…
We review observational evidence bearing on the formation of a prototypical large spiral galaxy, the Milky Way. New ground- and space-based studies of globular star clusters and dwarf spheroidal galaxies provide a wealth of information to…
The Fermi satellite has recently detected gamma ray emission from the central regions of our Galaxy. This may be evidence for dark matter particles, a major component of the standard cosmological model, annihilating to produce high-energy…
We introduce a multi-component chemo-dynamical method for splitting the Galactic population of Globular Clusters (GCs) into three distinct constituents: bulge, disc, and stellar halo. The latter is further decomposed into the individual…
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…
In the cold dark matter paradigm, our Galaxy is predicted to contain >10000 dark matter subhaloes in the $10^5-10^8M_\odot$ range which should be completely devoid of stars. Stellar streams are sensitive to the presence of these subhaloes,…
The Gaia mission has led to the discovery of over 100 stellar streams in the Milky Way, most of which likely originated from globular clusters (GCs). As the upcoming wide-field surveys can potentially continue to increase the number of…
The stellar initial mass function (IMF) is a fundamental property of star formation, offering key insight into the physics driving the process as well as informing our understanding of stellar populations, their by-products, and their…
We use cosmological hydrodynamical simulations of Milky-Way-mass galaxies from the FIRE project to evaluate various strategies for estimating the mass of a galaxy's stellar halo from deep, integrated-light images. We find good agreement…
Many observational studies have revealed the presence of multiple stellar generations in Galactic globular clusters. These studies suggest that second-generation stars make up a significant fraction of the current mass of globular clusters,…