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
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:
- M. Longair: "Galaxy formation", 2nd ed. Springer, 2008
- H. Mo, F. van den Bosch & S. White: "Galaxy formation and evolution", Cambridge Univ. Press, 2010
Final exam:
- The final exam will be held preliminary on Tuesday 17.12.2024 at 9.00-13.00 in Room
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"
- 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" – Problem session 1
- 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"
- 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" – Problem session 2
- 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"
- 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" – Problem session 3
- 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"
- The cooling and heating of gas in dark matter haloes
- Radiative cooling and photoionization heating
- The cooling function and galaxy formation
Lecture 9: 05.11.2024: "Star formation and supernova feedback in galaxies" – Problem session 4
- 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"
- 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" – Problem session 5
- Galaxy interactions and encounters
- Tidal stripping and dynamical friction
- Orbital decay and galaxy merging
Lecture 12: 26.11.2024: "Formation of elliptical galaxies"
- Structure and dynamics of elliptical galaxies
- Formation of elliptical galaxies
- Observational constraints on formation scenarios
Lecture 13: 03.12.2024: "Formation of active galaxies" – Problem session 6
- The physics of AGNs
- Formation and evolution of AGNs
- AGNs and galaxy formation
Lecture 14: 10.12.2024: "Summary lecture"
- Summary of the main results.
- Putting it all together.
- How do galaxies form and evolve?
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Lectures:
- Lecture 1:
- Lecture 2:
- Lecture 3:
- Lecture 4:
- Lecture 5:
- Lecture 6:
- Lecture 7:
- Lecture 8:
- Lecture 9:
- Lecture 10:
- Lecture 11:
- Lecture 12:
- Lecture 13:
- Lecture 14:
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:
- 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:
- 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:
- 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:
- 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:
- 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:
- 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:
- Final grades:
Set of equations that will be distributed in the exam: