Related papers: The first halos
While there is convincing evidence that the central regions (r<<Re) of early-type galaxies are dominated by stars and that the outer regions (r>>Re) are dominated by dark matter, the structure of early-type galaxies in the transition region…
In a series of two papers, we test the primordial scenario of globular cluster formation using results of high-resolutions N-body simulations. In this first paper we study the initial relaxation of a stellar core inside a live dark matter…
Recent, very accurate simulations of galaxy formation have revealed that the standard cold dark matter model has great difficulty in explaining the detailed structure of galaxies. One of the major problems is that galactic halos are too…
N-body simulations of Cold Dark Matter (CDM) have shown that, in this hierarchical structure formation model, dark matter halo properties, such as the density profile, the phase-space density profile, the distribution of axial ratio, the…
Techniques for inferring the radial and geometric form of dark matter halos and the results they have produced to date are reviewed. Dark halos appear to extend to at least ~50 kpc with total enclosed masses that rise linearly with radius…
Advances in high angular resolution astronomy make it conceivable that black hole dark matter could be detected via angular deviation effects. Assuming the dark matter in the galaxy is made of solar mass black holes, there is a non-trivial…
According to the current understanding of cosmic structure formation, the precursors of the most massive structures in the Universe began to form shortly after the Big Bang, in regions corresponding to the largest fluctuations in the cosmic…
It is generally thought that galaxies are embedded in dark matter halos extending well beyond their luminous matter. The existence of these galactic halos is mainly derived from the larger than expected velocities of stars and gas in the…
Timescales in astronomy comprise the largest range of any scientific discipline. In the construction of physical models, this circumstance may both be a blessing and a curse. For example, galaxy evolution occurs on typical timescales of…
The standard framework within which cosmological measurements are confronted and interpreted nowadays, called Lambda Cold Dark Matter, presents a Universe dominated by unknown forms of energy and matter. My Thesis is devoted to investigate…
The $\Lambda$-CDM model of cosmology has done much to clarify our picture of the early universe. However, there are still some questions that $\Lambda$-CDM does not necessarily answer; questions such as what is the fundamental nature of…
Adaptive SPH and N-body simulations were carried out to study the collapse and evolution of dark matter halos that result from the gravitational instability and fragmentation of cosmological pancakes. Such halos resemble those formed by…
The astrophysical processes that led to the formation of the first seed black holes and to their growth into the supermassive variety that powers bright quasars at redshift 6 are poorly understood. In standard LCDM hierarchical cosmologies,…
In the past years a wealth of observations has unraveled the structural properties of dark and luminous mass distribution in galaxies, a benchmark for understanding dark matter and the process of galaxy formation. The study of the…
We discuss the universal relation between density and size of observed Dark Matter halos that was recently shown to hold on a wide range of scales, from dwarf galaxies to galaxy clusters. Predictions of LambdaCDM N-body simulations are…
We investigate the clumping of cold dark matter (CDM) at small scales. If the CDM particle is the neutralino, we find that collisional damping during its kinetic decoupling from the radiation fluid and free streaming introduce a small-scale…
At present, there are several feasible observational probes of the first stars in the universe. Here, we examine the constraints on early stellar activity from the metallicity of the high-redshift Ly-$\alpha$ clouds, from the effects of…
Primordial black holes (PBHs) may have formed in the early Universe and may account for all or part of the dark matter. In this review, we summarize the current observational constraints on PBHs across the full mass range, highlight…
The failure to find evidence for elementary particles that could serve as the constituents of dark matter brings to mind suggestions that dark matter might consist of massive compact objects (MACHOs). In particular, it has recently been…
Dark matter is an important ingredient of galaxies, as was recognised early on by Ken Freeman himself! Evidence for dark matter halos is still indirect, based on analysing motions of tracers such as gas and stars. In a sense the visible…