Related papers: Why Are There Dwarf Spheroidal Galaxies?
It is now generally believed that galaxies were built up through gravitational amplification of primordial fluctuations and the subsequent merging of smaller precursor structures. The stars of the structures that assembled to form the Milky…
We examine scaling relations of dispersion-supported galaxies over more than eight orders of magnitude in luminosity by transforming standard fundamental plane parameters into a space of mass (M1/2), radius (r1/2), and luminosity (L1/2). We…
We study the stellar discs and spheroids in eight simulations of galaxy formation within Milky Way-mass haloes in a Lambda Cold Dark Matter cosmology. A first paper in this series concentrated on disc properties. Here, we extend this…
Most of dwarf spheroidal galaxies in the Local Group were probably formed via environmental processes like the tidal interaction with the Milky Way. We study this process via N-body simulations of dwarf galaxies evolving on seven different…
If dwarf galaxies are primeval objects in the Universe, as hierarchical galaxy formation scenarios predict, they should show traces of their old stellar populations, perhaps distributed in extended, differentiated structures. The working…
We review Galactic halo formation theories and supporting evidence, in particular kinematics and detailed chemical abundances of stars in some relevant globular clusters as well as Local Group dwarf galaxies. Outer halo red HB clusters tend…
The Milky Way satellite dwarf spheroidal (dSph) galaxies are the smallest dark matter dominated systems in the universe. We have underway dynamical studies of the dSph to quantify the shortest scale lengths on which Dark Matter is…
Current explanation of the overabundance of dark matter subhalos in the Local Group (LG) indicates that there maybe a limit on mass of a halo, which can host a galaxy. This idea can be tested using voids in the distribution of galaxies: at…
The standard cold dark matter (CDM) model has recently been challenged by the claim that dwarf galaxies have dark matter halos with constant density cores. Consequently, numerous alternative dark matter candidates have recently been…
There are two main tidal effects which can act on the Local Group dwarf spheroidals (dSphs): tidal stripping and tidal shocking. Using N-body simulations, we show that tidal stripping always leads to flat or rising projected velocity…
This paper presents an alternative scenario to explain the observed properties of the Milky Way dwarf Spheroidals (MW dSphs). We show that instead of resulting from large amounts of dark matter (DM), the large velocity dispersions observed…
The formation of tidal dwarf galaxies (TDGs) is triggered by the encounters of already existing galaxies. Their existence is predicted from numerical calculations of encountering galaxies and is also well documented with observations. The…
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…
We combine 10 high resolution resimulations of cluster--sized dark haloes with semi--analytic galaxy formation modelling in order to compare the number density and velocity dispersion profiles of cluster galaxies with those of dark matter…
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…
We study how supersonic streaming velocities of baryons relative to dark matter -- a large-scale effect imprinted at recombination and coherent over $\sim 3$ Mpc scales -- affects the formation of dwarf galaxies at $z \gtrsim 5$. We perform…
We speculate that the dark halos of dwarf galaxies and low surface brightness galaxies soften their central cusps by the decay of a fraction of cold dark matter (CDM) particles to a stable particle with a recoiling velocity of a few tens km…
Recent observations from the ESA Gaia satellite and with the ESO VLT, have identified the presence of a population of young, 0.5 to 2 Gyr old, stars in the halo and in dwarf spheroidal galaxies surrounding the Milky Way. It suggests that MW…
The origin of dwarf spheroidal galaxies (dSphs) is investigated in a global cosmological context by simultaneously following the evolution of the Milky Way Galaxy and its dwarf satellites. This approach enable to study the formation of…
We discuss the quality of kinematic data in dwarf spheroidal galaxies, the current interpretations of those data, and prospects for actually deriving the mass profile in these galaxies. We then discuss stellar populations constraints on…