Related papers: Probing Star Formation Timescales in Elliptical Ga…
In hierarchical models of galaxy formation, ellipticals form from the merging of disk galaxies drawn together by gravity as their surrounding dark halos coalesce. Using semi-analytic techniques, we are able to follow the merging, star…
The tightness of the observed colour-magnitude and Mg$_{2}$- velocity dispersion relations for elliptical galaxies has often been cited as an argument against a picture in which ellipticals form by the merging of spiral disks. A common view…
The last decade of research on elliptical galaxies has produced a wealth of new information concerning both their detailed structure and their global scaling relations. We review the old and new results about isophote shapes and…
The structural properties of elliptical galaxies are consistent with their formation in a merging hierarchy. In this picture, the role of gaseous processes and dissipation decreased with increasing mass creating preferentially rotationally…
I discuss the formation of alpha-enhanced metal-rich stellar populations in the nuclei of luminous ellipticals. Based on hierarchical clustering, different galaxy formation scenarios, which imply different star formation histories, are…
Star formation in elliptical galaxies (Es) was and is mostly dominated by mergers and accretions with many suggestive examples seen among local galaxies. Present day star formation in Es is easily measurable in two thirds of Es and appears…
Massive galaxies, such as nearby ellipticals, have relatively low number densities, yet they host the majority of the stellar mass in the universe. Understanding their origin is a central problem of galaxy formation. Age dating of stellar…
We take advantage of the largest high-resolution simulation of cosmic structure growth ever carried out -- the Millennium Simulation of the concordance LambdaCDM cosmogony -- to study how the star formation histories, ages and metallicities…
In this paper we compute new multi-zone photo-chemical evolution models for elliptical galaxies, taking into account detailed nucleosynthetic yields, feedback from supernovae and an initial infall episode. By comparing model predictions…
We test the hypothesis that elliptical galaxies are formed by violent mergers in a universe with hierarchical structure formation. Within the framework of a semi-analytic scheme for galaxy formation, we predict the distribution of…
We compute new population synthesis models of Lick absorption line indices with variable alpha/Fe ratios and use them to derive average ages, metallicities, and alpha/Fe element enhancements for a sample of 126 field and cluster early-type…
To investigate star formation and assembly processes of massive galaxies, we present here a spatially-resolved stellar populations analysis of a sample of 45 elliptical galaxies (Es) selected from the CALIFA survey. We find rather flat age…
The physical mechanisms and timescales that determine the morphological signatures and the quenching of star formation of typical (~L*) elliptical galaxies are not well understood. To address this issue, we have simulated the formation of a…
We review some of the models of chemical evolution of ellipticals and bulges of spirals. In particular, we focuse on the star formationn histories of ellipticals and their influence on chemical properties such as the [alpha/Fe] versus…
This review focuses on how galaxies and their globular cluster systems form. I first discuss the now fairly convincing evidence that some globular clusters form in galaxy starbursts/mergers. One way these observations are valuable is they…
The processes governing both the formation and evolution of elliptical galaxies are discussed by means of a new multi-zone photo-chemical evolution model for elliptical galaxies, taking into account detailed nucleosynthetic yields, feedback…
We present a detailed stellar population analysis of 27 massive elliptical galaxies within 4 very rich clusters at redshift z~0.2. We obtained accurate estimates of the mean luminosity-weighted ages and relative abundances of CN, Mg and Fe…
A major goal of contemporary astrophysics is understanding the origin of the most massive galaxies in the universe, particularly nearby ellipticals and spirals. Theoretical models of galaxy formation have existed for many decades, although…
Spectroscopic studies of elliptical galaxies show that their stellar population ages, mean metallicity, and $\alpha$-enhancement traced by [Mg/Fe] all increase with galaxy stellar mass or velocity dispersion. We use one-zone galactic…
The age and chemical composition of the stars in present-day galaxies carry important clues about their star formation processes. The latest generation of population synthesis models have allowed to derive age and stellar metallicity…