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Published 1992 | public
Book Section - Chapter

Galaxy Manifolds and Galaxy Formation

Abstract

We are witnessing the emergence of a physical classification of galaxies. New methods of inquiry, including multivariate statistical analysis of galaxy manifolds, scaling laws and correlations provide important clues towards understanding the formative mechanisms and evolutionary histories of galaxies. Galaxies of different families form two-dimensional sequences in the parameter spaces of their many (but not all) global observable properties; this relative simplicity probably reflects the regularities and feedbacks in the processes of galaxy formation. A minimal three-dimensional parameter space, whose axes include measures of galaxy size, density, and kinetic temperature promises to become the equivalent of an H-R diagram for galaxies.

Additional Information

© 1992 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht. It is a pleasure to express appreciation and thanks to the organizers of this workshop, Drs. G. Longo, G. Busarello, and M. Capaccioli, whose efforts made it one of those memorable conferences everybody enjoyed, and to thank them in their editorial role for their great and abused patience. I also wish to thank Dr. A. Meiksin for useful comments on the manuscript. Much of the work and ideas described here were developed in collaboration with Dr. R. de Carvalho. I acknowledge a travel grant from the AAS, and partial support from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.

Additional details

Created:
August 22, 2023
Modified:
January 14, 2024