Challenges in Evolutionary Mechanisms in Nearby Galaxies: Resolving Problems from Dwarfs to BCGs
A special issue of Universe (ISSN 2218-1997). This special issue belongs to the section "Galaxies and Clusters".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 December 2026 | Viewed by 6
Special Issue Editor
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Despite decades of research, the key mechanisms driving galaxy evolution remain unresolved. Nearby galaxies (z ≲ 0.3)—from dwarfs to the most massive brightest cluster galaxies (BCGs)—offer unmatched spatial resolution to dissect the physical processes behind stellar mass growth, gas dynamics, star formation, morphological change, and baryon–dark matter interplay.
This Special Issue invites contributions that confront these challenges using next-generation tools—resolved multi-wavelength data, cutting-edge simulations, and novel analysis methods. We especially welcome work that goes beyond incremental progress, offering fresh insights, testable predictions, and diagnostics that bridge real and simulated galaxies across scales.
We invite original research articles, simulation-based investigations, and a limited number of comprehensive reviews addressing one or more of the below interconnected challenges.
Key Themes and Unsolved Challenges
- What Regulates Star Formation Efficiency Across Cosmic Environments?
Investigation of how cold gas and dust drive star formation across galaxy types and environments. We encourage spatially resolved studies of the multi-phase ISM, gas depletion timescales, and the role of local versus global drivers. - How Do Gas Flows and Metal Enrichment Govern Galaxy Evolution?
Trace gas accretion, recycling, and feedback through spatial patterns of metallicity, kinematic misalignments, radial migration, and structural features (e.g., bars and spirals). - How Does Feedback Reshape Galaxies?
Clarification of how radiative, kinetic, preventive, or ejective feedback affects gas reservoirs, ISM conditions, and star formation. We encourage spatially and temporally resolved comparisons between simulations and observations. - What Causes Galaxies to Quench—and When?
Constraining the timing, sequence, and mechanisms of star formation shutdown—emphasis is placed on modeling spatially resolved star formation histories and connecting quenching to AGN activity, gas dynamics, or environment. - How Do Bars, Disks, and Mergers Drive Structural Evolution?
Examination of the roles of internal secular processes (e.g., bars and disk instabilities) and external influences (e.g., mergers and tidal interactions) in shaping morphological substructures and modulating star formation. - How Do Environments from Groups to Clusters Transform Galaxies?
Disentangling how environmental mechanisms—ram pressure stripping, starvation, tidal interactions, preprocessing, or halo quenching—affect gas content, morphology, and star formation. We encourage studies tying resolved galaxy properties to quantitative environmental metrics. - How Do Baryons and Dark Matter Co-Evolve?
Exploration of the interplay between baryonic physics and dark matter halo structure and assembly. We welcome studies connecting resolved kinematics to halo properties using simulations, group catalogs, or weak lensing. - What Drives Starbursts and Post-Starburst Transitions?
Uncovering how brief, intense star formation episodes lead to rapid quenching. Resolved studies of burst timing and characteristics, gas depletion, and feedback signatures are key to constraining these transitions, and provide insights for distant galaxies.
- What Are the Diverse Pathways Across the Green Valley?
Characterization of transition galaxies through resolved star formation histories, gas and dust content, structural features, and environmental context—illuminating timescales and evolutionary diversity.
- How Can We Bridge the Gap Between Observation and Simulation?
Use forward modeling, mock IFU analyses, or machine learning diagnostics to rigorously test and refine simulation prescriptions against spatially resolved observations. Submissions should generate predictions for future surveys and/or highlight where current models fall short.
Submit your research and join the conversation at the forefront of spatially resolved galaxy evolution—advancing our understanding of how galaxies grow and transform from dwarfs to BCGs.
Dr. Hassen Yesuf
Guest Editor
Manuscript Submission Information
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Keywords
- spatially resolved analysis
- star formation
- feedback
- baryon cycle
- nuclear activity
- galaxy environment
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