Related papers: Dwarf galaxy formation induced by galaxy interacti…
According to the $\Lambda$ cold dark matter model of galaxy formation, the hierarchical assembly process is scale-free and interactions between galaxies in all mass ranges are expected. The effects of interactions between dwarf galaxies on…
It is widely accepted that shell galaxies form as a result of a merger between an elliptical and a small disk galaxy. Simulations of the stellar component have shown that the shells are created either by ``phase-wrapping'' of debris on…
Dwarf galaxies located in extremely under-dense cosmic voids are excellent test-beds for disentangling the effects of large-scale environment on galaxy formation and evolution. We present integral field spectroscopy for low-mass galaxies…
Dwarf spheroidal galaxies are the most dark matter dominated systems in the nearby Universe and their origin is one of the outstanding puzzles of how galaxies form. Dwarf spheroidals are poor in gas and stars, making them unusually faint,…
Galaxy interactions expel a significant amount of stars and gas into the surrounding environment. I review the formation and evolution of the tidal debris spawned during these collisions, and describe how this evolution depends on the large…
Evolutionary synthesis models for Tidal Dwarf Galaxies (TDGs) are presented that allow to have varying proportions of young stars formed in the merger-induced starburst and of stars from the merging spirals' disks. The specific…
We have investigated the role that different galaxy types have in galaxy-galaxy interactions in compact groups. N-body simulations of 6 galaxies consisting of a differing mixture of galaxy types were run to compare the relative importance…
We discuss how knowledge of the whole evolutionary history of dwarf galaxies, including details on the early star formation events, can provide insight on the origin of the different dwarf galaxy types. We suggest that these types may be…
The mass-metallicity relation shows that the galaxies with the lowest mass have the lowest metallicities. As most dwarf galaxies are in group environments, interaction effects such as tides could contribute to this trend. We perform a…
Mergers between gas--rich disks and less--massive dwarf galaxies are studied using numerical simulation. As the orbit of a satellite decays through dynamical friction, the primary disk develops large-amplitude spirals in response to its…
We present the results of a morphological study based on NIR images of 25 galaxies, with different levels of nuclear activity, in 8 Compact Groups of Galaxies (CGs). We perform independently two different analysis: a isophotal study and a…
Dwarf ellipticals have the lowest stellar densities of any galaxies, but paradoxically are most common in the densest regions of the universe, and are especially frequent in rich clusters of galaxies. Simple estimates suggest that low…
This review focuses on how galaxies and their globular cluster systems form. I first discuss the now fairly convincing evidence that some globular clusters form in galaxy starbursts/mergers. One way these observations are valuable is they…
We present the largest publicly available catalog of interacting dwarf galaxies. It includes 177 nearby merging dwarf galaxies of stellar mass M$_{*}$ $<$ 10$^{10}$M$_{\sun}$ and redshifts z $<$ 0.02. These galaxies are selected by visual…
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…
The star formation histories of Local Group galaxies are summarized. The three large spirals are discussed individually, whereas the discussion of the Local Group dwarfs concentrates on differences and commonalities. While Local Group…
Cosmological models have granted dwarf galaxies a key role: their properties constrain the distribution of dark matter and the physical evolution of their hosts. There is increasing evidence that objects with masses of dwarf galaxies form…
Using a high resolution N-body simulation of a two-component dwarf galaxy orbiting in the potential of the Milky Way, we study two effects that lead to significant biases in mass estimates of dwarf spheroidal galaxies. Both are due to the…
Tidal interactions of galaxies in galaxy clusters have been proposed as one potential explanation of the morphology-density relation at low masses. The efficiency of tidal transformation is expected to depend strongly on the orbit of a…
We use a complete, unbiased sample of 257 dwarf (10^8 MSun < Mstar < 10^9.5 MSun) galaxies at z < 0.08, in the COSMOS field, to study the morphological mix of the dwarf population in low-density environments. Visual inspection of extremely…