9/19/13 Eric F. Bell SO/NOAO Joint Colloquium Series
Prof. Eric F. Bell, University of Michigan
"The effects and importance of galaxy merging in a cosmological context"
Abstract:
Mergers between dark matter halos --- and the galaxies in them --- are a central feature of Lambda CDM. In this talk, I explore the role of galaxy merging in setting the properties of galaxies, focusing on the effects of merging in two broad classes of galaxies: early-type galaxies, where merging is expected to play an important role, and Milky Way-like galaxies, where merging (with low mass dwarf galaxies) happens but produces much more subtle effects. In the first half of the talk, I discuss the effects of mergers on the quiescent or early-type galaxy population; bulge creation and correlations with star formation history, comparison between inferred merger rates and early-type galaxy creation rates, and the shapes of the early-type galaxy population. In the second half of the talk, I discuss the consequences of interactions that the Milky Way and its peers have with low mass subhalos (many hosting dwarf galaxies), both in building up the stellar halo of such galaxies and the effects that such interactions have on the disk of the host galaxies.
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