Probing Structure, Morphology and Dynamics of Galaxies

Dear Colleagues,

This volume will focus on the formation and evolution of disk galaxies from Local Group galaxies and nearby galaxies to the most distant galaxies in the Universe. The nearest galaxies are critical objects for our understanding of the galaxy picture. Properties of Local Group galaxies such as the Milky Way, M31, M33, and their satellites, their correlations with the bulge and halo components, and the effects of interactions with galaxy satellites are critical in understanding the formation of galaxies.

Star formation in galaxies is a subject in which we can expect dramatic new results from multiwavelength observations from space-based and ground-based observatories (particularly from ALMA). By 2020, we should have constraints on galaxy growth timescales and radial dependence from measured star formation rates.

Studying the structure of galaxy disks is the starting point to address the formation of disk galaxies. Most nearby galaxies are radially truncated in their outskirts. These outer edges could either trace the maximum angular momentum during the galaxy formation epoch or be associated with global star formation thresholds. New insights are expected from the analysis of structural properties of disks at high redshift from ongoing surveys which will unveil how disks evolve over time.

Accretion and merging events are key in the formation of galaxies. Many authors have emphasized that accretion dominates the evolution of small galaxies, but events such as major mergers are more significant for large galaxies. This has been emphasized repeatedly by state-of-the-art galaxy formation simulations, and much progress has been made as simulation resolution is improved and more realistic physics is included.

Secular evolution is a subject that is making progress in observational and theoretical extragalactic astronomy. On the observational side, new results concerning the systematic properties of pseudobulges, such as stellar populations and star formation timescales, are expected in a few years. On the theoretical side, we plan to cover different topics of this active research area, such as the pseudobulge formation out of bars, evolution of bars, and mechanisms responsible for the disk heating process.

Prof. Dr. Marc S. Seigar
Guest Editor

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