Related papers: Early-type Galaxy Halo Dynamics inferred using the…
We present the results of a Hubble Space Telescope and ground-based optical and near-infrared study to identify progenitors of spirals and ellipticals at z > 1. We identify these systems through photometric and spectroscopic redshifts, deep…
Intrinsic galaxy alignments constitute the major astrophysical systematic of forthcoming weak gravitational lensing surveys but also yield unique insights into galaxy formation and evolution. We build analytic models for the distribution of…
Aims. The predictions of the ellipticity of the dark matter halos from models of structure formation are notoriously difficult to test with observations. A direct measurement would give important constraints on the formation of galaxies,…
We report here the successful commissioning of the PN.Spectrograph, the first special-purpose instrument for the measurement of galaxy kinematics through the PN population
The LIGO discoveries have rekindled suggestions that primordial black holes (BHs) may constitute part to all of the dark matter (DM) in the Universe. Such suggestions came from 1) the observed merger rate of the BHs, 2) their unusual…
Old, metal-poor globular clusters trace the formation and evolution of early-type galaxies. Their are the best probes, at low redshift, of the building-up of galaxy halos at high redshift. Their properties constrain the characteristics of…
Knowledge of the shape of dark matter halos is critical to our understanding of galaxy formation, dynamics, and of the nature of dark matter itself. Polar ring galaxies (PRGs) --- early-type galaxies defined by their outer rings of gas,…
Stellar-mass primordial black holes (PBHs) from the early Universe can directly contribute to the gravitational wave (GW) events observed by LIGO, but can only comprise a subdominant component of the dark matter (DM). The primary DM…
Galaxies can be described by features of their optical spectra such as oxygen emission lines, or morphological features such as spiral arms. Although spectroscopy provides a rich description of the physical processes that govern galaxy…
Wide or fragile pairs are sensitive probes of the galactic potential, and they have been used to provide information about the galactic tidal field, the density of GMC and the masses of dark matter perturbers present in both the disk and…
We present preliminary results on galactic Dark Matter (DM), halo structure, and galaxy evolution. We show how during the first Gyr of the evolution of a $10^{10} M_{\odot}$ dwarf elliptica feed-back from stars (SN\ae~ and stellar winds)…
Recent work on the construction of spherical, Axisymmetric and triaxial dynamical models for elliptical galaxies is reviewed briefly, including their role in providing evidence for dark halos and central black holes. The different orbital…
The evolution of linear initial conditions present in the early universe into extended halos of dark matter at late times can be computed using cosmological simulations. However, a theoretical understanding of this complex process remains…
We use the Mitchell Spectrograph (formerly VIRUS-P) on the McDonald Observatory 2.7m Harlan J. Smith Telescope to search for the chemical signatures of massive elliptical galaxy assembly. The Mitchell Spectrograph is an integral-field…
Cosmological simulations of galaxy formation predict a universal form for the mass profile of dark matter (DM) halos from cluster to galaxy scales. Remarkably few interesting constraints exist, however, on DM halos in early-type galaxies.…
Star-forming galaxies which are too faint to be detected individually produce intensity fluctuations in the cosmic background light. This contribution needs to be taken into account as a foreground when using the primordial signal to…
Motivated by recent progress in the study of early-type galaxies owing to technological advances, the launch of new space telescopes and large ground-based surveys, we attempt a short review of our current understanding of the recent…
I discuss how spectroscopy of extragalactic globular clusters provides a powerful probe of the formation history and mass distribution of galaxies. One critical area is spectroscopy of objects which have been identified as candidate young…
The scale radius of dark matter halos is a critical parameter for specifying the density distribution of dark matter, and is therefore a fundamental parameter for modeling galaxies. We develop here a novel, observationally motivated probe…
Neutral hydrogen is an important component of the interstellar medium in elliptical galaxies as well as a potentially valuable mass tracer. Until recently, HI surveys of early-type galaxies have been sparse and inhomogeneous but this has…