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Although high-resolution N-body simulations make robust empirical predictions for the density distribution within cold dark matter halos, these studies have yielded little physical insight into the origins of the distribution. We…
Astrophysical observations spanning dwarf galaxies to galaxy clusters indicate that dark matter (DM) halos are less dense in their central regions compared to expectations from collisionless DM N-body simulations. Using detailed fits to DM…
Standard models of galaxy formation predict that matter distribution is statistically homogeneous and isotropic and characterized by (i) spatial homogeneity for r<10 Mpc/h, (ii) small-amplitude structures of relatively limited size (i.e.,…
The 5 independent correlations between the properties of galaxies observed outside big clusters must set such strong constraints on any theory of galaxy formation that it is hard to imagine any but the right one passing muster; certainly…
We consider the most commonly occurring circumstances which apply to galaxies, namely membership in galaxy groups of about $10^{13}h^{-1} M_\odot$ total mass, and estimate the accompanying physical conditions of intergalactic medium (IGM)…
Dwarf spheroidal (dSph) galaxies are considered the basic building blocks of the galaxy formation process in the LCDM (Lambda Cold Dark Matter) hierarchical cosmological model. These galaxies are believed to be the most dark matter (DM)…
We show that dark matter substructure in galaxy-scale halos perturbs the time delays between images in strong gravitational lens systems. The variance of the effect depends on the subhalo mass function, scaling as the product of the…
Supermassive black holes reside in cores of galaxies, where they are often surrounded by a nuclear cluster and a clumpy torus of gas and dust. Mutual interactions can set some stars on a plunging trajectory towards the black hole. We model…
Star-forming regions that are visible at 3.6 microns and Halpha but not in the u,g,r,i,z bands of the Sloan Digital Sky survey (SDSS), are measured in five nearby spiral galaxies to find extinctions averaging ~3.8 mag and stellar masses…
Strong gravitationally lensed arcs produced by galaxy clusters have been observationally detected for several decades now. These strong lensing constraints provided high-fidelity mass models for cluster lenses that include substructure down…
If the dark matter particle is a neutralino then the first structures to form are cuspy cold dark matter (CDM) haloes collapsing after redshifts z ~ 100 in the mass range 10^{-6} - 10^{-3} Msun. We carry out a detailed study of the survival…
The balance of evidence indicates that individual galaxies and groups or clusters of galaxies are embedded in enormous distributions of cold, weakly interacting dark matter. These dark matter 'halos' provide the scaffolding for all luminous…
Galaxies properties are known to be affected by their environment. One important question is how their angular momentum reflects the surrounding cosmic web. We use the SDSS to investigate the spin axes of spiral and elliptical galaxies…
We present an analysis of the distribution and strength of star formation in three nearby small galaxy systems, which are undergoing a weak interaction, a strong interaction, and a merging process, respectively. The galaxies in all systems…
We show that hard encounters in the central regions of globular clusters embedded in dark matter (DM) haloes necessarily lead to the formation of gravitationally-bound stellar envelopes that extend far beyond the nominal tidal radius of the…
We propose to use a simple observable, the fractional area of "hot spots" in weak gravitational lensing mass maps which are detected with high significance, to determine background cosmological parameters. Because these high-convergence…
Spergel & Steinhardt proposed the possibility that the dark matter particles are self-interacting, as a solution to two discrepancies between the predictions of cold dark matter models and the observations: first, the observed dark matter…
We present a new method of utilizing the color and asymmetry values for galaxies in the Hubble Deep Field to determine both their morphological features and physical parameters. By using a color-asymmetry diagram, we show that various types…
In the second paper of this series, we present results from cosmological simulations on the demographics of flyby interactions to gauge their potential impact on galaxy evolution. In a previous paper, we demonstrated that flybys -- an…
Most stars form as part of a stellar group. These young stars are mostly surrounded by a disk from which potentially a planetary system might form. Both, the disk and later on the planetary system, may be affected by the cluster environment…