Related papers: A self-regulated model of galactic spiral structur…
Using observational data on the kinematical properties and density distributions of the subsystems of the Milky Way galaxy, we construct a set of multi-component equilibrium models of its disk. The dynamics of the disk is studied…
The stellar disc kinematics in a sample of fifteen intermediate- to late-type edge-on spiral galaxies are studied using a dynamical modeling technique. The sample covers a substantial range in maximum rotation velocity and deprojected…
We have performed a high mass and force resolution simulation of an idealized galaxy forming from dissipational collapse of gas embedded in a spherical dark matter halo. The simulation includes star formation and effects of stellar…
Galaxies, in particular disc galaxies, contain a number of structures and substructures with well defined morphological, photometric and kinematic properties. Considerable theoretical effort has been put into explaining their formation and…
I review the various mechanisms for creating bars in rotating stellar disks, and conclude that the swing-amplified feed-back loop, which produces rapidly tumbling bars, remains the most probable. The bar continues to evolve after its…
Galaxies are not distributed randomly throughout space but are instead arranged in an intricate "cosmic web" of filaments and walls surrounding bubble-like voids. There is still no compelling observational evidence of a link between the…
Self-regulation of star formation in disks is controlled by two dimensionless parameters: the Toomre parameter for gravitational instability and the porosity of the interstellar medium to supernova remnant-heated gas. An interplay between…
Spiral structure is the most distinctive feature of disk galaxies and yet debate persists about which theory of spiral structure is the correct one. Many versions of the density wave theory demand that the pitch angle is uniquely determined…
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 unstable equilibrium points of the rotating bar potential. Thus,…
Recent high-resolution observations indicate that nuclear spirals are often present in the innermost few hundred parsecs of disc galaxies. My models show that nuclear spirals form naturally as a gas response to non-axisymmetry in the…
The rate of internally-driven evolution of galaxy discs is strongly affected by the lifetimes of the spiral patterns they support. Evolution is much faster if the spiral patterns are recurrent short-lived transients rather than long-lived,…
We describe how a simple class of out of equilibrium, rotating and asymmetrical mass distributions evolve under their self-gravity to produce a quasi-planar spiral structure surrounding a virialized core, qualitatively resembling a spiral…
This paper continues a series reporting different aspects of the behaviour of disc galaxy simulations that support spiral instabilities. The focus in this paper is to demonstrate how linear spiral instabilities saturate and decay, and how…
Spiral structure in disk galaxies is modeled with nine collisionless N-body simulations including live disks, halos, and bulges with a range of masses. Two of these simulations make long-lasting and strong two-arm spiral wave modes that…
A dynamical model for star formation on a galactic scale is proposed in which the interstellar medium is constantly condensing to star-forming clouds on the dynamical time of the average midplane density, and the clouds are constantly being…
Spiral density waves can arise in galactic disks as linear instabilities of the underlying stellar distribution function. Such an instability grows exponentially in amplitude at some fixed growth rate $\beta$ before saturating nonlinearly.…
Lenticular galaxies are generally thought to have descended from spirals via morphological transformation, although recent numerical simulations have shown that minor or even major merger can also lead to an S0-like remnant. These…
Using an equation of motion for a self-gravitating filament, we show how galactic spiral arms might be created and sustained. We find that the combination of differential rotation of the galactic disk and the self-gravity of the arm (as…
Disk galaxies evolve over time through processes that may rearrange both the radial mass profile and the metallicity distribution within the disk. This review of such slow changes is largely, though not entirely, restricted to…
High resolution gravity plus smoothed particle hydrodynamics simulations are used to study the formation of galaxies within the context of hierarchical structure formation. The simulations have sufficient dynamic range to resolve from ten…