Galaxy formation theory
- Creators
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Benson, Andrew J.
Abstract
We review the current theory of how galaxies form within the cosmological framework provided by the cold dark matter paradigm for structure formation. Beginning with the pre-galactic evolution of baryonic material we describe the analytical and numerical understanding of how baryons condense into galaxies, what determines the structure of those galaxies and how internal and external processes (including star formation, merging, active galactic nuclei, etc.) determine their gross properties and evolution. Throughout, we highlight successes and failures of current galaxy formation theory. We include a review of computational implementations of galaxy formation theory and assess their ability to provide reliable modeling of this complex phenomenon. We finish with a discussion of several "hot topics" in contemporary galaxy formation theory and assess future directions for this field.
Additional Information
© 2010 Elsevier. Accepted 16 June 2010. editor: M.P. Kamionkowski. Available online 3 July 2010. The author acknowledges the support of the Gordon & Betty Moore Foundation. This work has benefited greatly from discussions with the Durham galaxy formation Group (Carlos Frenk, Shaun Cole, Richard Bower, Carlton Baugh, Cedric Lacey, Martin Stringer, Andreea Font and John Helly) and with Juna Kollmeier, Alyson Brooks, Annika Peter, Brant Robertson, TJ Cox, Dan Grin, Laura Book and Elisabeth Krause. The author would particularly like to thank Carlos Frenk for carefully reading through this manuscript and the anonymous referee for numerous valuable suggestions.Additional details
- Eprint ID
- 20754
- Resolver ID
- CaltechAUTHORS:20101111-090323470
- Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation
- Created
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2010-11-12Created from EPrint's datestamp field
- Updated
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2021-11-09Created from EPrint's last_modified field
- Caltech groups
- Moore Center for Theoretical Cosmology and Physics