Lines of research: Formation & Evolution of Galaxies (FYEG)

Formation & Evolution of Galaxies (FYEG)

Galaxies are formed progressively through a complex combination of gas accretion, star formation and merger processes with other galaxies. The aim of the Galaxy Formation & Evolution research line is to unveil the physical mechanisms responsible for the most significant transformations in these objects. The research team that makes up the research line is strongly involved in the development of forefront instrumentation (EMIR, FRIDA, GTCAO, HARMONI, OSIRIS, WEAVE) and has an important role in the scientific exploitation and  development of international projects (SDSS, EUCLID, LSST) for the study of the formation and evolution of galaxies.

 
The line stands out for studies on the three-dimensional structure of the Milky Way (including its system of globular clusters and satellite galaxies), the characterisation of stellar populations and dynamics of nearby galaxies, the cycle of activity of supermassive black holes at the centres of  galaxies, the conditions of the interstellar medium in the first galaxies, and the role of dark matter in their evolution. Besides, thanks to the recently created simulations group, we also aim to relate observations with theory by means of numerical models over cosmological volumes and thus obtain predictions for future observations.
  • Publication
    MEGARA, the R=6000-20000 IFU and MOS of GTC
    MEGARA is the new generation IFU and MOS optical spectrograph built for the 10.4m Gran Telescopio CANARIAS (GTC). The project was developed by a consortium led...
  • Publication
    Merger induced clump formation in distant infrared luminous starburst galaxies
    While the formation of stellar clumps in distant galaxies is usually attributed to gravitational violent disk instabilities, we show here that major mergers...
  • Publication
    Merger-driven star formation activity in Cl J1449+0856 at z = 1.99 as seen by ALMA and JVLA
    We use Atacama Large Millimetre Array and Jansky Very Large Array observations of the galaxy cluster Cl J1449+0856 at z = 1.99, in order to study how dust...
  • Publication
    Mesh-free hydrodynamics in PKDGRAV3 for galaxy formation simulations
    We extend the state-of-the-art N-body code PKDGRAV3 with the inclusion of mesh-free gas hydrodynamics for cosmological simulations. Two new hydrodynamic solvers...
  • Publication
    Metallicity Inhomogeneities in Local Star-forming Galaxies as a Sign of Recent Metal-poor Gas Accretion
    We measure the oxygen metallicity of the ionized gas along the major axis of seven dwarf star-forming galaxies. Two of them, SDSSJ1647+21 and SDSSJ2238+14, show...
  • Publication
    Metallicity profiles of ultradiffuse galaxies in NIHAO simulations
    Supernovae feedback driven expansion has proven to be a viable mechanism to explain the average properties, such as size, colour, mass, and internal kinematics...
  • Publication
    Microwave spectro-polarimetry of matter and radiation across space and time
    This paper discusses the science case for a sensitive spectro-polarimetric survey of the microwave sky. Such a survey would provide a tomographic and dynamic...
  • Publication
    Mid-infrared Galaxy Morphology from the Spitzer Survey of Stellar Structure in Galaxies (S4G): The Imprint of the De Vaucouleurs Revised Hubble-Sandage Classification System at 3.6 μm
    Spitzer Space Telescope Infrared Array Camera imaging provides an opportunity to study all known morphological types of galaxies in the mid-IR at a depth...
  • Publication
    Mid-infrared spectroscopy of infrared-luminous galaxies at z ~ 0.5-3
    We present results on low-resolution mid-infrared (MIR) spectra of 70 IR-luminous galaxies obtained with the infrared spectrograph (IRS) onboard Spitzer. We...