Related papers: A Merger-Driven Scenario for Cosmological Disk Gal…
Disk galaxies are in hydrostatic equilibrium along their vertical axis. The pressure allowing for this configuration consists of thermal, turbulent, magnetic and cosmic ray components. For the Milky Way(MW) the thermal pressure contributes…
(ABRIDGED) We examine the fundamental scaling relations of elliptical galaxies formed through mergers. Using hundreds of simulations to judge the impact of progenitor galaxy properties on merger remnants, we find that gas dissipation…
Massive early-type galaxies commonly have gas discs which are kinematically misaligned with the stellar component. These discs feel a torque from the stars and the angular momentum vectors are expected to align quickly. We present results…
There is accumulating observational evidence suggesting that damped Ly$\alpha$ absorption systems systems are the progenitors of present-day spiral galaxies. We use the observed properties of these systems to place constraints on the…
We present a scenario for the formation and evolution of disk galaxies within the framework of an inflationary CDM universe, and we compare the results with observations ranking from the present-day up to z~1. Galactic disks are built-up…
Using a high-resolution cosmological numerical simulation, we have analyzed the evolution of galaxies at z~10 in a highly overdense region of the universe. These objects could represent the high redshift galaxies recently observed by the…
We employ numerical simulations of galaxy mergers to explore the effect of galaxy mass ratio on merger--driven starbursts. Our numerical simulations include radiative cooling of gas, star formation, and stellar feedback to follow the…
We investigated the evolution of interacting disk galaxies using high-resolution $N$-body/SPH simulations, taking into account the multiphase nature of the interstellar medium (ISM). In our high-resolution simulations, a large-scale…
In hierarchical structure formation, merging of galaxies is frequent and known to dramatically affect their properties. To comprehend these interactions high-resolution simulations are indispensable because of the nonlinear coupling between…
We have performed TreeSPH simulations of galaxy formation in a standard LCDM cosmology, including effects of star formation, energetic stellar feedback processes and a meta-galactic UV field, and obtain a mix of disk, lenticular and…
Most giant spiral galaxies have pseudo or disk-like bulges that are considered to be the result of purely secular processes. This may challenge the hierarchical scenario predicting about one major merger per massive galaxy ($>$$3\times…
Observations now probe the star formation history of the Universe back to a redshift of $z\sim5$. We investigate whether the predictions of semi-analytic models of galaxy formation based on hierarchical Cold Dark Matter (CDM) type models…
In the cold dark matter (CDM) paradigm, bulges easily form through galaxy mergers, either major or minor, or through clumpy disks in the early universe, where clumps are driven to the center by dynamical friction. Also pseudo-bulges, with a…
We use zoom simulations to show how merger-driven disruption of the gas disc in a galaxy provides its central active galactic nucleus (AGN) with fuel to drive outflows that entrain and expel a significant fraction of the circumgalactic…
Mergers of gas-rich galaxies are key events in the hierarchical built-up of cosmic structures, and can lead to the formation of massive black hole binaries. By means of high-resolution hydrodynamical simulations we consider the late stages…
I review the subject of the cosmological evolution of galaxies, including different aspects of growth in disk galaxies, by focussing on the angular momentum problem, mergers, and their by-products. I discuss the alternative to merger-driven…
The deep connection between galaxies and their supermassive black holes is central to modern astrophysics and cosmology. The observed correlation between galaxy and black hole mass is usually attributed to the contribution of major mergers…
The formation of protostars and their disks has been understood as the result of the gravitational collapse phase of an accumulation of dense gas that determines the mass reservoir of the star-disk system. Against this background, the…
It is generally believed that major galaxy mergers with mass ratios in the range 1:1-3:1 result in remnants that have properties similar to elliptical galaxies, and minor mergers below 10:1 result in disturbed spiral galaxies. The…
The gas from which stars form is magnetized, and strong magnetic fields can efficiently transport angular momentum. Most theoretical models of this phenomenon find that it should prevent formation of large (>100 AU), rotationally-supported…