Related papers: A self-regulated model of galactic spiral structur…
In this and in a previous paper (Romero-Gomez et al. 2006) we propose a theory to explain the formation of both spirals and rings in barred galaxies using a common dynamical framework. It is based on the orbital motion driven by the…
The density-wave theory of spiral structure proposes that star formation occurs in or near a spiral-shaped region of higher density that rotates rigidly within the galactic disk at a fixed pattern speed. In most interpretations of this…
We study global star formation thresholds in the outer parts of galaxies by investigating the stability of disk galaxies embedded in dark halos. The disks are self-gravitating, contain metals and dust, and are exposed to UV radiation. We…
Detailed models of galactic disk formation and evolution require 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…
In this paper, we propose an extension of the Smolin-model of a galactic disc in isolated, flocculent SC-type galaxies. This model supplies the necessary mechanism to suppress spatial inhomogeneities on short distance scales not present in…
The majority of astrophysics involves the study of spiral galaxies, and stars and planets within them, but how spiral arms in galaxies form and evolve is still a fundamental problem. Major progress in this field was made primarily in the…
We discuss the main ingredients necessary to build models of chemical evolution of spiral galaxies and in particular the Milky Way galaxy. These ingredients include: the star formation rate, the initial mass function, the stellar yields and…
The phase spiral is a perturbation to the vertical phase-space distribution of stars in the Milky Way disk. We study the phase spiral's properties and how they vary with spatial position, in order to constrain its origin and evolution, as…
A new idea is proposed for the origin of bulges in spiral galaxies. Numerical simulations for the protogalactic collapse suggest strongly that galactic bulges have been assembled from massive clumps formed in the galactic disks in their…
We study gravitational instability and consequent star formation in a wide range of isolated disk galaxies, using three-dimensional, smoothed particle hydrodynamics simulations at resolution sufficient to fully resolve gravitational…
Inspired by recent work on feedback in disk galaxies (Efstathiou 2000, Silk 2003) and on the angular momentum distribution in simulated gas halos (Sharma and Steinmetz 2005), a fully dynamic model of disk galaxy formation and evolution has…
We use numerical simulations to examine the structure of merger remnants resulting from collisions of gas-rich spiral galaxies. When the gas fraction of the progenitors is small, the remnants structurally and kinematically resemble…
Observations reveal that mature spiral galaxies consist of stars, gases and plasma approximately distributed in a thin disk of circular shape, usually with a central bulge. The rotation velocities quickly increase from the galactic center…
After a short review of the principal theories of spiral structure in galaxies, I describe two new developments. First, it now seems clear that linear theory cannot yield a full description for the development of spiral patterns because…
The pattern speeds of spiral galaxies are closely related to the flow of material in their disks. Flows that follow the `precessing ellipses' paradigm (see e.g., Kalnajs 1973) are likely associated with slowly rotating spirals, which have…
In this review I concentrate on three areas related to structure of disks in spiral galaxies. First I will review the work on structure, kinematics and dynamics of stellar disks. Next I will review the progress in the area of flaring of HI…
Counterrotating stars in disk galaxies are a puzzling dynamical feature whose origin has been ascribed to either satellite accretion events or to disk instabilities triggered by deviations from axisymmetry. We use a cosmological simulation…
We summarize current models of the formation of spheroidal stellar systems. Whereas globular clusters form in an efficient mode of star formation inside turbulent molecular clouds, the origin of galactic spheroids, that is bulges, dwarf…
Recent observational literature suggests that only a small number of colliding galaxies show substantial star formation enhancements before merging. Most have SFRs comparable to those of late-type field galaxies. Preliminary Spitzer studies…
We investigate the formation of disk-bulge-halo systems by including bulges in the Fall & Efstathiou theory of disk formation. This allows an investigation of bulge dominated disk galaxies, such as S0s and disky ellipticals. The aim of this…