Related papers: Disk Galaxy Evolution Along the Hubble Sequence
Invited Review at IAU Symp 164 on Stellar Populations. The Milky Way Galaxy offers a unique opportunity for testing theories of galaxy formation and evolution. The study of the spatial distribution, kinematics and chemical abundances of…
We present "radially-resolved-equilibrium-models" for the growth of stellar and gaseous disks in cosmologically accreting massive halos. Our focus is on objects that evolve to redshifts $z\sim 2$. We solve the time-dependent equations that…
We investigate the formation and evolution of giant molecular clouds (GMCs) in a Milky-Way-like disk galaxy with a flat rotation curve. We perform a series of 3D adaptive mesh refinement (AMR) numerical simulations that follow both the…
Protoplanetary disks around young stars are the birth sights of planetary systems like our own. Disks represent the gaseous dusty matter left after the formation of their central stars. The mass and luminosity of the star, initial disk mass…
We reexamine the systematic properties of local galaxy populations, using published surveys of star formation, structure, and gas content. After recalibrating star formation measures, we are able to reliably measure specific star formation…
We discuss recent observations of stars located close to the symmetry plane of the Milky Way, and examine them in the context of theories of Galaxy formation and evolution. The kinematics, ages, and compositions of thin disk stars in the…
In this paper we present a new chemical evolution model for the Galaxy which assumes two main infall episodes for the formation of halo-thick disk and thin disk, respectively. We do not try to take into account explicitly the evolution of…
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…
The cosmic star formation rate density first increases with time towards a pronounced peak 10 Gyrs ago (or z=1-2) and then slows down, dropping by more than a factor 10 since z=1. The processes at the origin of the star formation quenching…
In a cosmological setting, the disc of a galaxy is expected to continuously experience gravitational torques and perturbations from a variety of sources, which can cause the disc to wobble, flare and warp. Specifically, the study of…
Observations of high redshift galaxies have revealed a multitude of large clumpy rapidly star-forming galaxies. Their formation scenario and their link to present day spirals is still unknown. In this Letter we perform adaptive mesh…
Although the basic physics of star formation is classical, numerical simulations have yielded essential insights into how stars form. They show that star formation is a highly nonuniform runaway process characterized by the emergence of…
We review the observational evidences and the possible theoretical explanations for the abundance gradients in the Galactic disk. In particular, we discuss the implications of abundance gradients and gradients of abundance ratios on the…
We present a review of recent studies of the formation and evolution of the Milky Way galaxy, in particular based on large samples of non-kinematically selected stars with available proper motions. The Milky Way is argued to be a reasonable…
The present day chemical and dynamical properties of the Milky Way bear the imprint of the Galaxy's formation and evolutionary history. One of the most enduring and critical debates surrounding Galactic evolution is that regarding the…
The composition of a protoplanetary disk is set by a combination of interstellar inheritance and gas and grain surface chemical reactions within the disk. The survival of inherited molecules, as well as the disk in situ chemistry depends on…
Properties of normal galactic star formation, including the density dependence, threshold density, turbulent scaling relations, and clustering properties, are applied to the formation of galactic bulges. One important difference is that the…
Interstellar dust is a significant component of matter in the galaxies. The dust owns its origin and reprocessing in a wide range of astrophysical environments. In order to understand the origin and evolution of the distinct types of…
I discuss various proposed formation scenarios for the metal-poor components of the Milky Way Galaxy, emphasising the stellar halo and the thick disk. Interactions and accretion played a significant role in Galactic evolution, in particular…
Evidence for gas accretion onto galaxies can be found throughout the universe. In this chapter, I summarize the direct and indirect signatures of this process and discuss the primary sources. The evidence for gas accretion includes the star…