Related papers: Physical processes behind the morphological Hubble…
For almost two decades the properties of "dwarf" galaxies have challenged the Cold Dark Matter (CDM) paradigm of galaxy formation. Most observed dwarf galaxies consists of a rotating stellar disc embedded in a massive DM halo with a near…
We review internal secular evolution in galaxy disks -- the fundamental process by which isolated disks evolve. We concentrate on the buildup of dense central features that look like classical, merger-built bulges but that were made slowly…
Hierarchical models of galaxy formation now provide a much closer match to observations than they did a few years ago. The progress has been achieved by adjusting the description of baryonic processes such as star formation and…
How elliptical galaxy dynamics relate to galaxy structure, stellar populations, spiral galaxies and environment are reviewed. The evidence assembled shows that most, if not all, galaxies originally classified as gE contain disks within…
We develop a detailed model of the Milky Way (a ``prototypical'' disk galaxy) and extend it to other disks with the help of some simple scaling relations, obtained in the framework of Cold Dark Matter models. This phenomenological…
We discuss constraints on the assembly history of supermassive black holes from the observed remnant black holes in nearby galaxies and from the emission caused by accretion onto these black holes. We also summarize the results of a…
The history of galaxy formation via star formation and stellar mass assembly rates is now known with some certainty, yet the connection between high redshift and low redshift galaxy populations is not yet clear. By identifying and studying…
We use large N-body simulations of dissipationless gravitational clustering in cold dark matter (CDM) cosmologies to study whether the properties of dark matter halos are affected by their environment. We look for correlations between the…
We describe the first results from two observational projects aimed at measuring the amount and spatial distribution of dark matter in distant early-type galaxies (E/S0s) and clusters of galaxies. At the galaxy scale, the Lenses Structure…
Galaxy evolution is in transition from an early universe dominated by hierarchical clustering to a future dominated by secular processes. These result from interactions involving collective phenomena such as bars, oval disks, spiral…
In the generic CDM cosmogony, dark-matter halos emerge too lumpy and centrally concentrated to host observed galactic disks. Moreover, disks are predicted to be smaller than those observed. We argue that the resolution of these problems may…
Observations in the Hubble Deep Fields have been used to study the evolution of galaxy morphology over time. The majority of galaxies with z < 1 are seen to be disk like, whereas most objects with z > 2 appear to be either chaotic or…
We review progress in understanding the formation of galactic disks in the standard cosmogonic scenario involving gravitational clustering of baryons and dark matter and dissipative collapse of the baryons. This scenario accounts remarkably…
Correlations between stellar kinematics and chemical abundances are fossil evidence for evolutionary connections between Galactic structural components. Extensive stellar surveys show that the only tolerably clear distinction between…
Any realistic theory of galaxy formation must be set in the context of a model for the formation of structure in the universe. We describe a powerful approach -- semi-analytic modelling -- that combines a set of simple rules describing the…
We investigate the coupled formation and evolution of galaxies and their embedded supermassive black holes using state-of-the-art hydrodynamic simulations of cosmological structure formation. For the first time, we self-consistently follow…
Recent observations have revealed the structural properties of the dark and luminous mass distribution in spirals. These results led to the vision of a new and amazing scenario. The investigation of single and coadded objects has shown that…
The structure and dynamics of dark matter halos, as predicted by the hierarchical clustering scenario, are at odds with the properties inferred from the observations at galactic scales. My Thesis addresses this problem by taking an…
We present a comprehensive series of $N$-body as well as $N$-body + SPH simulations to study the secular evolution of the structure of disk galaxies. Our simulations are organized in a hierarchy of increasing complexity, ranging from…
Cosmological simulations indicate that cold dark matter (CDM) halos should be triaxial. Verifying observationally this theoretical prediction is, however, less than straightforward because the assembly of galaxies is expected to modify the…