Galaxy Formation and Evolution


Book Description

A coherent introduction for researchers in astronomy, particle physics, and cosmology on the formation and evolution of galaxies.




Star-Formation Rates of Galaxies


Book Description

Star-formation is one of the key processes that shape the current state and evolution of galaxies. This volume provides a comprehensive presentation of the different methods used to measure the intensity of recent or on-going star-forming activity in galaxies, discussing their advantages and complications in detail. It includes a thorough overview of the theoretical underpinnings of star-formation rate indicators, including topics such as stellar evolution and stellar spectra, the stellar initial mass function, and the physical conditions in the interstellar medium. The authors bring together in one place detailed and comparative discussions of traditional and new star-formation rate indicators, star-formation rate measurements in different spatial scales, and comparisons of star-formation rate indicators probing different stellar populations, along with the corresponding theoretical background. This is a useful reference for students and researchers working in the field of extragalactic astrophysics and studying star-formation in local and higher-redshift galaxies.




Cosmochemistry


Book Description

The chemical composition of the Universe has evolved over billions of years. A host of astrophysical processes and observations must be understood in order to explain why celestial objects have the chemical compositions observed. Originally published in 2004, this book contains the lectures delivered at the XIII Canary Islands Winter School of Astrophysics, which was dedicated to reviewing current knowledge about the origin and evolution of the chemical elements in the Universe. Written by seven prestigious astrophysics researchers, it covers cosmological and stellar nucleosynthesis, abundance determinations in stars and ionised nebulae, chemical composition of nearby and distant galaxies, and models of chemical evolution of galaxies and intracluster medium. This is a timely review of developments in cosmochemistry over the last decade.




Introduction to Galaxy Formation and Evolution


Book Description

A comprehensive examination of nearly fourteen billion years of galaxy formation and evolution, from primordial gas to present-day galaxies.




New Worlds, New Horizons in Astronomy and Astrophysics


Book Description

Driven by discoveries, and enabled by leaps in technology and imagination, our understanding of the universe has changed dramatically during the course of the last few decades. The fields of astronomy and astrophysics are making new connections to physics, chemistry, biology, and computer science. Based on a broad and comprehensive survey of scientific opportunities, infrastructure, and organization in a national and international context, New Worlds, New Horizons in Astronomy and Astrophysics outlines a plan for ground- and space- based astronomy and astrophysics for the decade of the 2010's. Realizing these scientific opportunities is contingent upon maintaining and strengthening the foundations of the research enterprise including technological development, theory, computation and data handling, laboratory experiments, and human resources. New Worlds, New Horizons in Astronomy and Astrophysics proposes enhancing innovative but moderate-cost programs in space and on the ground that will enable the community to respond rapidly and flexibly to new scientific discoveries. The book recommends beginning construction on survey telescopes in space and on the ground to investigate the nature of dark energy, as well as the next generation of large ground-based giant optical telescopes and a new class of space-based gravitational observatory to observe the merging of distant black holes and precisely test theories of gravity. New Worlds, New Horizons in Astronomy and Astrophysics recommends a balanced and executable program that will support research surrounding the most profound questions about the cosmos. The discoveries ahead will facilitate the search for habitable planets, shed light on dark energy and dark matter, and aid our understanding of the history of the universe and how the earliest stars and galaxies formed. The book is a useful resource for agencies supporting the field of astronomy and astrophysics, the Congressional committees with jurisdiction over those agencies, the scientific community, and the public.




Computational Star Formation (IAU S270)


Book Description

The rapid advance of computer capabilities over the last two decades has opened up a new field of numerical simulations in which detailed physical models can be made to represent the most complex processes. IAU Symposium 270 reviews a wide range of topics relevant to computer modeling in the fields of interstellar gas dynamics, star formation and galactic dynamics. It includes numerical techniques for modeling physical processes such as self-gravitating, radiative magnetohydrodynamics, as well as novel hardware options for acceleration and a view into the future of computation. Observations of interstellar gas and star formation are also reviewed. This book is ideal for graduate students and researchers in the field of numerical astrophysics.







The Environment and Evolution of Galaxies


Book Description

In July 1992, over 300 astronomers attended the Third Tetons Summer School on the subject of `The Environment and Evolution of Galaxies'. This book presents 28 papers based on invited review talks and a panel discussion on `The Nature of High Redshift Objects'. The major themes include: the Interstellar and Intergalactic Medium, Galaxy Formation and Evolution, Cooling Flows, Quasars and Radiation Backgrounds, and Interactions between Galaxies/AGNs and their Environment. Recent advances with the ROSAT, COBE and Hubble Space Telescope are discussed, together with current theoretical developments. The tutorial nature of the papers make this book a valuable supplement for professional astonomers, graduate students, and senior undergraduates. As with previous Tetons conferences, this book provides both the current state of observational and theoretical research and material complementary to courses in extragalactic and interstellar astrophysics.




Chemical Evolution of Galaxies


Book Description

The term “chemical evolution of galaxies” refers to the evolution of abundances of chemical species in galaxies, which is due to nuclear processes occurring in stars and to gas flows into and out of galaxies. This book deals with the chemical evolution of galaxies of all morphological types (ellipticals, spirals and irregulars) and stresses the importance of the star formation histories in determining the properties of stellar populations in different galaxies. The topic is approached in a didactical and logical manner via galaxy evolution models which are compared with observational results obtained in the last two decades: The reader is given an introduction to the concept of chemical abundances and learns about the main stellar populations in our Galaxy as well as about the classification of galaxy types and their main observables. In the core of the book, the construction and solution of chemical evolution models are discussed in detail, followed by descriptions and interpretations of observations of the chemical evolution of the Milky Way, spheroidal galaxies, irregular galaxies and of cosmic chemical evolution. The aim of this book is to provide an introduction to students as well as to amend our present ideas in research; the book also summarizes the efforts made by authors in the past several years in order to further future research in the field.




Fundamentals of Galaxy Dynamics, Formation and Evolution


Book Description

Galaxies, along with their underlying dark matter halos, constitute the building blocks of structure in the Universe. Of all fundamental forces, gravity is the dominant one that drives the evolution of structures from small density seeds at early times to the galaxies we see today. The interactions among myriads of stars, or dark matter particles, in a gravitating structure produce a system with fascinating connotations to thermodynamics, with some analogies and some fundamental differences. Ignacio Ferreras presents a concise introduction to extragalactic astrophysics, with emphasis on stellar dynamics, and the growth of density fluctuations in an expanding Universe. Additional chapters are devoted to smaller systems (stellar clusters) and larger ones (galaxy clusters). Fundamentals of Galaxy Dynamics, Formation and Evolution is written for advanced undergraduates and beginning postgraduate students, providing a useful tool to get up to speed in a starting research career. Some of the derivations for the most important results are presented in detail to enable students appreciate the beauty of maths as a tool to understand the workings of galaxies. Each chapter includes a set of problems to help the student advance with the material.