Galaxy formation and evolution

Information about the course:

PAP318 Galaxy formation and evolution (Galaksien synty ja kehitys)

Lecturer: Prof. Peter Johansson (Room D311)
Course assistants:  Dr. Bastián Reinoso (Room D325) & M.Sc. Max Mattero (D315)

Lectures: Tuesdays 16.15-18.00 in Room BK114, Exactum
Exceptions: No Lecture on Tuesday 5.11. Instead a lecture on Friday 8.11 at 12.15-14.00 in Room BK114, Exactum
Problem set sessions, where you can get help with solving the problems:
Wednesdays 16.15-18.00 every two weeks on the following dates in Room D105, Physicum:  11.9, 25.9, 9.10, 30.10, 13.11, 27.11, 11.12

Moodle can be accessed through the University course homepage:
https://studies.helsinki.fi/kurssit/toteutus/hy-opt-cur-2425-452f8694-a722-4ee3-832d-53a29f076eef/PAP318

The  problem sets will be appear on the course homepage and in Moodle the problem set answers are to be returned in Moodle.

• In total 14 lectures (the last lecture is on 10.12.)
• The problem sets will appear on the course homepage and in Moodle every two weeks. Each problem set will contain 5 questions totalling 6x5=30 questions.
• The minimum requirement for the problem sets is 1/3 of the points, surplus points will result in bonus points for the exam.
• Problem sets should be returned in Moodle.
• The problems consist of both regular exercises and problems based on journal articles.
   

Course material:    

• The primary course material will consist of the lecture notes provided by the lecturer.
• In addition parts of the two following books will be extensively used:

1. M. Longair: "Galaxy formation", 2nd ed. Springer, 2008
2. H. Mo, F. van den Bosch & S. White: "Galaxy formation and evolution", Cambridge Univ. Press, 2010

Final exam:

• The final exam will be held on Tuesday 17.12.2024 at 9.00-13.00 in Room Exactum D122

Course dates and syllabus:

Lecture 1: 03.09.2024: "Introduction to galaxy formation and overview"

• Basic elements of galaxy formation
• Galaxy formation timescales
• Historical review of galaxy formation theory

Lecture 2: 10.09.2024: "Observations of galaxies" – Problem set 1 help session

• The classification of galaxies
• Statistical properties of the galaxy population
• Galaxies at high redshifts

Lecture 3: 17.09.2024: "Cosmology and the evolution of small perturbations" 

• Robertson-Walker metric and the Friedmann equations
• The age of the Universe and cosmological distances
• The evolution of small perturbations    

Lecture 4: 24.09.2024: "Jeans' instabilities and horizons in an expanding Universe" – Problem set 2 help session

• The Jeans' instability in a static and expanding Medium
• Instabilities in the relativistic case
• Cosmological horizons and perturbations on superhorizon scales

Lecture 5: 01.10.2024: "Baryonic and dark matter models of galaxy formation"

• The sound speed and baryonic models of galaxy formation
• Adiabatic and isothermal perturbations
• Hot and cold dark matter in galaxy formation models

Lecture 6: 08.10.2024: "Correlation functions and the spectrum of the initial fluctuations" – Problem set 3 help session

• The two-point correlation function for galaxies
• The initial power spectrum
• Transfer functions        

Lecture 7: 15.10.2024: "Non-linear evolution of dark matter haloes"

• The non-linear collapse of density perturbations
• Top-hat collapse and the Zeldovich approximation
• The Press-Schechter mass function and dark matter density profiles

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Lecture 8: 29.10.2024: "Formation and evolution of gaseous haloes" – Problem set 4 help session

• The cooling and heating of gas in dark matter haloes
• Radiative cooling and photoionization heating
• The cooling function and galaxy formation

Lecture 9: Note Friday 08.11.2024 at 12.15-14.00: "Star formation and supernova feedback in galaxies"

• Molecular clouds and self-regulated star formation
• Empirical star formation laws
• Supernova feedback: The ejection and heating of gas

Lecture 10: 12.11.2024: "Formation of disk galaxies" – Problem set 5 help session

• Observations: Mass components, angular momentum and rotation curves
• Formation of disk galaxies
• The origin of disk scaling relations    

Lecture 11: 19.11.2024: "Galaxy interactions and transformations" 

• Galaxy interactions and encounters
• Tidal stripping and dynamical friction
• Orbital decay and galaxy merging

Lecture 12: 26.11.2024: "Formation of elliptical galaxies" – Problem set 6 help session

• Structure and dynamics of elliptical galaxies
• Formation of elliptical galaxies
• Observational constraints on formation scenarios

Lecture 13: 03.12.2024: "Formation of active galaxies"

• The physics of AGNs
• Formation and evolution of AGNs
• AGNs and galaxy formation    

Lecture 14: 10.12.2024: "Summary lecture" – Problem set / Exam revision session

• Summary of the main results.
• Putting it all together.
• How do galaxies form and evolve?

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Lectures:

• Lecture 1: galform_lecture1.pdf
• Lecture 2: galform_lecture2.pdf
• Lecture 3: galform_lecture3.pdf   galform_lecture3_additional_notes.pdf
• Lecture 4: galform_lecture4.pdf   galform_lecture4_additional_notes.pdf
• Lecture 5: galform_lecture5.pdf   galform_lecture5_additional_notes.pdf
• Lecture 6: galform_lecture6.pdf   galform_lecture6_additional_notes.pdf
• Lecture 7: galform_lecture7.pdf   galform_lecture7_additional_notes.pdf
• Lecture 8: galform_lecture8.pdf   galform_lecture8_additional_notes.pdf
• Lecture 9: galform_lecture9.pdf   galform_lecture9_additional_notes.pdf 
• Lecture 10: galform_lecture10.pdf  galform_lecture10_additional_notes.pdf
• Lecture 11: galform_lecture11.pdf  galform_lecture11_additional_notes.pdf
• Lecture 12: galform_lecture12.pdf  galform_lecture_12_additional_notes.pdf
• Lecture 13: galform_lecture13.pdf  galform_lecture_13_additional_notes.pdf
• Lecture 14: galform_lecture14.pdf

Videos showing the formation of disk galaxies also by the FIRE collaboration: http://www.tapir.caltech.edu/~phopkins/Site/animations/Movies_cosmo.html

Problem sets:

• Problem set 1: galform_prob1.pdf 
• Link to article used in problem set 1: Baggen, J.FW. et al., 2023, ApJL, 955, 12: "Sizes and Mass Profiles of Candidate Massive Galaxies Discovered by JWST
  at 7 < z < 9: Evidence for Very Early Formation of the Central 100 pc of Present-day Ellipticals"
   
• Problem set 2: galform_prob2.pdf
• Link to article used in problem set 2: Naidu, R.P. et al., 2022, ApJL, 940, 14: "Two Remarkably Luminous Galaxy Candidates at z≈11-13 Revealed by JWST" 
   
• Problem set 3: galform_prob3.pdf
• Link to article used in problem set 3: Wang, J. et al., 2020, Nature, 585, 39: "Universal structure of dark matter haloes over a mass range of 20 orders of magnitude"
   
• Problem set 4: galform_prob4.pdf
• Link to article used in problem set 4: Sun, J. et al., 2023, ApJL, 945, 19: "Star Formation Laws and Efficiencies across 80 Nearby Galaxies"
   
• Problem set 5: galform_prob5.pdf
• Link to article used in problem set 5: Agertz, O. et al, 2021, MNRAS, 503, 5826: "VINTERGATAN - I. The origins of chemically, kinematically, and structurally distinct discs in a simulated Milky Way-mass galaxy"
   
• Problem set 6: galform_prob6.pdf
• Link to article used in problem set 6: Bogdán, Á. et al., 2024, Nature Astronomy, 8, 126: "Evidence for heavy-seed origin of early supermassive black holes
  from a z ≈ 10 X-ray quasar"
   

Final results and course grading:

• Results from the problems sets: galform_problems_points_2024_public.pdf
• Final grades: Galform_results_2024_public.pdf 

Set of equations that will be distributed in the exam:

• equations_galform.pdf