Galaxy Formation and Evolution

The rapidly expanding field of galaxy formation lies at the interface between astronomy, particle physics, and cosmology. Covering diverse topics from these disciplines, all of which are needed to understand how galaxies form and evolve, this book is ideal for researchers entering the field. Individual chapters explore the evolution of the Universe as a whole and its particle and radiation content; linear and nonlinear growth of cosmic structure; processes affecting the gaseous and dark matter components of galaxies and their stellar populations; the formation of spiral and elliptical galaxies; central supermassive black holes and the activity associated with them; galaxy interactions; and the intergalactic medium. Emphasizing both observational and theoretical aspects, this book provides a coherent introduction for astronomers, cosmologists, and astroparticle physicists to the broad range of science underlying the formation and evolution of galaxies.

1. Introduction; 2. Observational facts; 3. Cosmological background; 4. Cosmological perturbations; 5. Gravitational collapse and collisionless dynamics; 6. Probing the cosmic density field; 7. Formation and structure of dark matter halos; 8. Formation and evolution of gaseous halos; 9. Star formation in galaxies; 10. Stellar populations and chemical evolution; 11. Disk galaxies; 12. Galaxy interactions and transformations; 13. Elliptical galaxies; 14. Active galaxies; 15. Statistical properties of the galaxy population; 16. The intergalactic medium; Appendices; References; Index.

Covering diverse topics from astronomy, particle physics, and cosmology, this book is ideal for researchers entering the field. Emphasizing both observational and theoretical aspects, the book provides a coherent introduction to the broad range of science underlying the formation and evolution of galaxies.

Houjun Mo is Professor of Astrophysics at the University of Massachusetts. He is known for his work on the formation and clustering of galaxies and their dark matter halos.
Frank van den Bosch is Associate Professor at the University of Utah, and is known for his studies of the formation, dynamics, and clustering of galaxies.
Simon White is Director at the Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics in Garching. He is one of the originators of the modern theory of galaxy formation and has received numerous international prizes and honors.