Traces of Galaxy Formation: Stellar populations, Dynamics and Morphology

    General
    Description

    Welcome to the Traces of Galaxy Formation research group website.

    We are a large, diverse, and very active research group aiming to provide a comprehensive picture for the formation of galaxies in the Universe. Rooted in detailed stellar population analysis, we are constantly exploring and developing new tools and ideas to understand how galaxies came to be what we now observe.

    A complex star formation history, as the one expected to describe galaxy evolution, needs a multidisciplinary approach to be fully understood. Our group at the IAC consists of experienced researchers in cosmological simulations, dynamical studies, stellar populations and morphological properties of galaxies up to high redshift. We combine different approaches (e.g. observations and theory, secular and cosmological evolution studies) to obtain a complete view of the dominant mechanisms driving the evolution of galaxies.

    Within this general framework, we are currently exploring three main areas of research:

    1. Stellar population synthesis models
      • Development of new stellar population synthesis models
      • Stellar population analysis tools
      • Universality of the stellar initial mass function (IMF)
       
    2. Cosmic evolution of galaxies
      • Massive galaxy evolution
      • Stellar populations in different environments
      • Low surface brightness science
      • Machine learning and cosmological simulations
       
    3. Evolutionary processes in nearby galaxies
      • The role of black holes in the evolution of galaxies
      • Surveys of nearby galaxies
      • Stellar kinematics and dynamical models

    If you want to get in contact or work with us, please send an email to the head of the group (Ignacio Martín-Navarro ignacio.martin [at] iac.es (ignacio[dot]martin[at]iac[dot]es)).

    Principal investigator

    Here you can find some of our most recent highlights:

    Related publications

    • The principle of maximum entropy explains the cores observed in the mass distribution of dwarf galaxies
      Cold dark matter (CDM) simulations predict a central cusp in the mass distribution of galaxies. This prediction is in stark contrast with observations of dwarf galaxies that show a central plateau or "core" in their density distribution. The proposed solutions to this core-cusp problem can be classified into two types. One invokes feedback
      Sánchez Almeida, Jorge et al.

      Advertised on:

      10
      2020
      Citations
      9
    • The Fornax Deep Survey with VST. X. The assembly history of the bright galaxies and intra-group light in the Fornax A subgroup
      Context. We present the study of the south-west group in the Fornax cluster centred on the brightest group galaxy (BGG) Fornax A, which was observed as part of the Fornax Deep Survey (FDS). This includes the analysis of the bright group members (m B < 16 mag) and the intra-group light (IGL). Aims: The main objective of this work is to investigate
      Raj, M. A. et al.

      Advertised on:

      8
      2020
      Citations
      30
    • Detection of young (≤20 Myr) stellar populations in apparently quenched low-mass galaxies using red spectral line indices
      We report on the detection of a small contribution (around and below 1 per cent in mass) from young stellar components with ages ≤20 Myr in low-mass galaxies purposely selected from the MaNGA survey to be already-quenched systems. Among the sample of 28 galaxies, 8 of them show signatures of having suffered a very recent burst of star formation
      de Lorenzo-Cáceres, A. et al.

      Advertised on:

      8
      2020
      Citations
      7
    • NIHAO XXIV: rotation- or pressure-supported systems? Simulated Ultra Diffuse Galaxies show a broad distribution in their stellar kinematics
      In recent years, a new window on galaxy evolution opened, thanks to the increasing discovery of galaxies with a low-surface brightness, such as Ultra Diffuse Galaxies (UDGs). The formation mechanism of these systems is still a much debated question and so are their kinematical properties. In this work, we address this topic by analysing the stellar
      Cardona-Barrero, Salvador et al.

      Advertised on:

      7
      2020
      Citations
      18
    • The SAMI-Fornax Dwarfs Survey I: sample, observations, and the specific stellar angular momentum of dwarf elliptical galaxies
      Dwarf ellipticals are the most common galaxy type in cluster environments; however, the challenges associated with their observation mean that their formation mechanisms are still poorly understood. To address this, we present deep integral field observations of a sample of 31 low-mass (10 7.5 < M ⋆ < 10 9.5 M ☉) early-type galaxies in the Fornax
      Scott, Nicholas et al.

      Advertised on:

      7
      2020
      Citations
      20
    • On the accretion of a new group of galaxies on to Virgo: I. Internal kinematics of nine in-falling dEs
      Galaxy environment has been shown to play an important role in transforming late-type, star-forming galaxies to quiescent spheroids. This transformation is expected to be more severe for low-mass galaxies ( $M \lt 10^{10}\, \mathrm{M}_\odot$ ) in dense galaxy groups and clusters, mostly due to the influence of their past host haloes (also known as
      Bidaran, Bahar et al.

      Advertised on:

      7
      2020
      Citations
      13
    • The Fornax Deep Survey with VST. IX. Catalog of sources in the FDS area with an example study for globular clusters and background galaxies
      Context. A possible pathway for understanding the events and the mechanisms involved in galaxy formation and evolution is an in-depth investigation of the galactic and inter-galactic fossil sub-structures with long dynamical timescales: stars in the field and in stellar clusters. Aims: This paper continues the Fornax Deep Survey (FDS) series
      Cantiello, Michele et al.

      Advertised on:

      7
      2020
      Citations
      35
    • Disentangling the formation history of galaxies via population-orbit superposition: method validation
      We present population-orbit superposition models for external galaxies based on Schwarzschild's orbit-superposition method, by tagging the orbits with age and metallicity. The models fit the density distributions, kinematic, and age and metallicity maps from integral field unit (IFU) spectroscopy observations. We validate the method and demonstrate
      Zhu, Ling et al.

      Advertised on:

      6
      2020
      Citations
      30
    • Larger λ<SUB>R</SUB> in the disc of isolated active spiral galaxies than in their non-active twins
      We present a comparison of the spin parameter λ R, measured in a region dominated by the galaxy disc, between 20 pairs of nearby (0.005 < z < 0.03) seemingly isolated twin galaxies differing in nuclear activity. We find that 80-82% of the active galaxies show higher values of λ R than their corresponding non-active twin(s), indicating larger
      del Moral-Castro, I. et al.

      Advertised on:

      7
      2020
      Citations
      10
    • Quenching as a Contest between Galaxy Halos and Their Central Black Holes
      Existing models of galaxy formation have not yet explained striking correlations between structure and star formation activity in galaxies, notably the sloped and moving boundaries that divide star-forming from quenched galaxies in key structural diagrams. This paper uses these and other relations to "reverse engineer" the quenching process for
      Chen, Zhu et al.

      Advertised on:

      7
      2020
      Citations
      88
    • The Fornax Deep Survey with VST. VIII. Connecting the accretion history with the cluster density
      Context. This work is based on deep multi-band (g, r, i) data from the Fornax Deep Survey with the VLT Survey Telescope (VST). We analyse the surface brightness profiles of the 19 bright early-type galaxies (ETGs; m B ≤ 15 mag) inside the virial radius of the Fornax cluster (R vir ∼ 0.7 Mpc), in the mass range 8 × 10 8 ≤ M * ≤ 1.2 × 10 11 M ☉. Aims
      Spavone, M. et al.

      Advertised on:

      7
      2020
      Citations
      56
    • The Fornax Deep Survey with the VST. IV. A size and magnitude limited catalog of dwarf galaxies in the area of the Fornax cluster (Corrigendum)
      Venhola, Aku et al.

      Advertised on:

      6
      2020
      Citations
      0
    • The SAMI Galaxy Survey: Stellar Population Gradients of Central Galaxies
      We examine the stellar population radial gradients (age, metallicity, and [α/Fe]) of 96 passive central galaxies up to ∼2 R e in the SAMI Galaxy Survey. The targeted groups have a halo mass range of $11\lt \mathrm{log}({M}_{200}/{M}_{\odot })\lt 15$ . The main goal of this work is to determine whether central galaxies have different stellar
      Santucci, Giulia et al.

      Advertised on:

      6
      2020
      Citations
      33
    • The bivariate gas-stellar mass distributions and the mass functions of early- and late-type galaxies at z {∼} 0
      We report the bivariate $HI$ - and $H 2$ -stellar mass distributions of local galaxies in addition of an inventory of galaxy mass functions, MFs, for $HI$ , $H 2$ , cold gas, and baryonic mass, separately into early- and late-type galaxies. The MFs are determined using the $HI$ and $H 2$ conditional distributions and the galaxy stellar mass
      Rodríguez-Puebla, Aldo et al.

      Advertised on:

      0
      2020
      Citations
      21
    • A detailed look at the stellar populations in green valley galaxies
      The green valley (GV) represents an important transitional state from actively star-forming galaxies to passively evolving systems. Its traditional definition, based on colour, rests on a number of assumptions that can be subjected to non-trivial systematics. In Angthopo, Ferreras & Silk (2019), we proposed a new definition of the GV based on the
      Angthopo, James et al.

      Advertised on:

      5
      2020
      Citations
      18
    • Fornax 3D project: Automated detection of planetary nebulae in the centres of early-type galaxies and first results
      Extragalactic planetary nebulae (PNe) are detectable through relatively strong nebulous [O III] emission and act as direct probes into the local stellar population. Because they have an apparently universal invariant magnitude cut-off, PNe are also considered to be a remarkable standard candle for distance estimation. Through detecting PNe within
      Spriggs, T. W. et al.

      Advertised on:

      5
      2020
      Citations
      19
    • Kinematic analysis of eagle simulations: evolution of λ<SUB>Re</SUB> and its connection with mergers and gas accretion
      We have developed a new tool to analyse galaxies in the eagle simulations as close as possible to observations. We investigated the evolution of their kinematic properties by means of the angular momentum proxy parameter, λ Re, for galaxies with M ⋆ ≥ 5 × 10 9 M ☉ in the RefL0100N1504 simulation up to redshift two (z = 2). Galaxies in the
      Walo-Martín, D. et al.

      Advertised on:

      5
      2020
      Citations
      21
    • Stellar populations across galaxy bars in the MUSE TIMER project
      Stellar populations in barred galaxies save an imprint of the influence of the bar on the host galaxy's evolution. We present a detailed analysis of star formation histories (SFHs) and chemical enrichment of stellar populations in nine nearby barred galaxies from the TIMER project. We used integral field observations with the MUSE instrument to
      Neumann, Justus et al.

      Advertised on:

      5
      2020
      Citations
      34
    • The Fornax 3D project: Non-linear colour-metallicity relation of globular clusters
      Globular cluster (GC) systems of massive galaxies often show a bimodal colour distribution. This has been interpreted as a metallicity bimodality, created by a two-stage galaxy formation where the red, metal-rich GCs were formed in the parent halo and the blue metal-poor GCs were accreted. This interpretation, however, crucially depends on the
      Fahrion, K. et al.

      Advertised on:

      5
      2020
      Citations
      40
    • The Fornax 3D project: Globular clusters tracing kinematics and metallicities
      Globular clusters (GCs) are found ubiquitously in massive galaxies and due to their old ages, they are regarded as fossil records of galaxy evolution. Spectroscopic studies of GC systems are often limited to the outskirts of galaxies, where GCs stand out against the galaxy background and serve as bright tracers of galaxy assembly. In this work, we
      Fahrion, K. et al.

      Advertised on:

      5
      2020
      Citations
      25

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