# Traces of Galaxy Formation: Stellar populations, Dynamics and Morphology

Start year
2006
Organizational Unit
Organizing institutions

### Grants related:

General
Description

#### Welcome to the Traces of Galaxy Formation research group website.

We are a large, diverse, and very active research group aiming to provide a comprehensive picture for the formation of galaxies in the Universe. Rooted in detailed stellar population analysis, we are constantly exploring and developing new tools and ideas to understand how galaxies came to be what we now observe.

A complex star formation history, as the one expected to describe galaxy evolution, needs a multidisciplinary approach to be fully understood. Our group at the IAC consists of experienced researchers in cosmological simulations, dynamical studies, stellar populations and morphological properties of galaxies up to high redshift. We combine different approaches (e.g. observations and theory, secular and cosmological evolution studies) to obtain a complete view of the dominant mechanisms driving the evolution of galaxies.

Within this general framework, we are currently exploring three main areas of research:

1. Stellar population synthesis models
• Development of new stellar population synthesis models
• Stellar population analysis tools
• Universality of the stellar initial mass function (IMF)

2. Cosmic evolution of galaxies
• Massive galaxy evolution
• Stellar populations in different environments
• Low surface brightness science
• Machine learning and cosmological simulations

3. Evolutionary processes in nearby galaxies
• The role of black holes in the evolution of galaxies
• Surveys of nearby galaxies
• Stellar kinematics and dynamical models

If you want to get in contact or work with us, please send an email to the head of the group (Ignacio Martín-Navarro ignacio.martin [at] iac.es).

Here you can find some of our most recent highlights:

### Related publications

• Kinematic signatures of nuclear discs and bar-driven secular evolution in nearby galaxies of the MUSE TIMER project

The central regions of disc galaxies hold clues to the processes that dominate their formation and evolution. To exploit this, the TIMER project has obtained high signal-to-noise and spatial resolution integral-field spectroscopy data of the inner few kpc of 21 nearby massive barred galaxies, which allows studies of the stellar kinematics in their

11
2020
• The principle of maximum entropy explains the cores observed in the mass distribution of dwarf galaxies

Cold dark matter (CDM) simulations predict a central cusp in the mass distribution of galaxies. This prediction is in stark contrast with observations of dwarf galaxies that show a central plateau or "core" in their density distribution. The proposed solutions to this core-cusp problem can be classified into two types. One invokes feedback

Sánchez Almeida, Jorge et al.

10
2020
• The Fornax Deep Survey with VST. X. The assembly history of the bright galaxies and intra-group light in the Fornax A subgroup

Context. We present the study of the south-west group in the Fornax cluster centred on the brightest group galaxy (BGG) Fornax A, which was observed as part of the Fornax Deep Survey (FDS). This includes the analysis of the bright group members (mB < 16 mag) and the intra-group light (IGL). Aims: The main objective of this work is to investigate

Raj, M. A. et al.

8
2020
• Detection of young (≤20 Myr) stellar populations in apparently quenched low-mass galaxies using red spectral line indices

We report on the detection of a small contribution (around and below 1 per cent in mass) from young stellar components with ages ≤20 Myr in low-mass galaxies purposely selected from the MaNGA survey to be already-quenched systems. Among the sample of 28 galaxies, 8 of them show signatures of having suffered a very recent burst of star formation

de Lorenzo-Cáceres, A. et al.

8
2020
• NIHAO XXIV: rotation- or pressure-supported systems? Simulated Ultra Diffuse Galaxies show a broad distribution in their stellar kinematics

In recent years, a new window on galaxy evolution opened, thanks to the increasing discovery of galaxies with a low-surface brightness, such as Ultra Diffuse Galaxies (UDGs). The formation mechanism of these systems is still a much debated question and so are their kinematical properties. In this work, we address this topic by analysing the stellar

7
2020
• The SAMI-Fornax Dwarfs Survey I: sample, observations, and the specific stellar angular momentum of dwarf elliptical galaxies

Dwarf ellipticals are the most common galaxy type in cluster environments; however, the challenges associated with their observation mean that their formation mechanisms are still poorly understood. To address this, we present deep integral field observations of a sample of 31 low-mass (107.5 < M⋆ < 109.5 M☉) early-type galaxies in the Fornax

Scott, Nicholas et al.

7
2020
• On the accretion of a new group of galaxies on to Virgo: I. Internal kinematics of nine in-falling dEs

Galaxy environment has been shown to play an important role in transforming late-type, star-forming galaxies to quiescent spheroids. This transformation is expected to be more severe for low-mass galaxies ( $M \lt 10^{10}\, \mathrm{M}_\odot$ ) in dense galaxy groups and clusters, mostly due to the influence of their past host haloes (also known as

Bidaran, Bahar et al.

7
2020
• The Fornax Deep Survey with VST. IX. Catalog of sources in the FDS area with an example study for globular clusters and background galaxies

Context. A possible pathway for understanding the events and the mechanisms involved in galaxy formation and evolution is an in-depth investigation of the galactic and inter-galactic fossil sub-structures with long dynamical timescales: stars in the field and in stellar clusters. Aims: This paper continues the Fornax Deep Survey (FDS) series

Cantiello, Michele et al.

7
2020
• Disentangling the formation history of galaxies via population-orbit superposition: method validation

We present population-orbit superposition models for external galaxies based on Schwarzschild's orbit-superposition method, by tagging the orbits with age and metallicity. The models fit the density distributions, kinematic, and age and metallicity maps from integral field unit (IFU) spectroscopy observations. We validate the method and demonstrate

Zhu, Ling et al.

6
2020
• Larger λ<SUB>R</SUB> in the disc of isolated active spiral galaxies than in their non-active twins

We present a comparison of the spin parameter λR, measured in a region dominated by the galaxy disc, between 20 pairs of nearby (0.005 < z < 0.03) seemingly isolated twin galaxies differing in nuclear activity. We find that 80-82% of the active galaxies show higher values of λR than their corresponding non-active twin(s), indicating larger

del Moral-Castro, I. et al.

7
2020
• Quenching as a Contest between Galaxy Halos and Their Central Black Holes

Existing models of galaxy formation have not yet explained striking correlations between structure and star formation activity in galaxies, notably the sloped and moving boundaries that divide star-forming from quenched galaxies in key structural diagrams. This paper uses these and other relations to "reverse engineer" the quenching process for

Chen, Zhu et al.

7
2020
• The Fornax Deep Survey with VST. VIII. Connecting the accretion history with the cluster density

Context. This work is based on deep multi-band (g, r, i) data from the Fornax Deep Survey with the VLT Survey Telescope (VST). We analyse the surface brightness profiles of the 19 bright early-type galaxies (ETGs; mB ≤ 15 mag) inside the virial radius of the Fornax cluster (Rvir ∼ 0.7 Mpc), in the mass range 8 × 108 ≤ M* ≤ 1.2 × 1011 M☉. Aims: The

Spavone, M. et al.

7
2020
• The Fornax Deep Survey with the VST. IV. A size and magnitude limited catalog of dwarf galaxies in the area of the Fornax cluster (Corrigendum)
Venhola, Aku et al.

6
2020
• The SAMI Galaxy Survey: Stellar Population Gradients of Central Galaxies

We examine the stellar population radial gradients (age, metallicity, and [α/Fe]) of 96 passive central galaxies up to ∼2 Re in the SAMI Galaxy Survey. The targeted groups have a halo mass range of $11\lt \mathrm{log}({M}_{200}/{M}_{\odot })\lt 15$ . The main goal of this work is to determine whether central galaxies have different stellar

Santucci, Giulia et al.

6
2020
• The bivariate gas-stellar mass distributions and the mass functions of early- and late-type galaxies at z {∼} 0

We report the bivariate $HI$ - and $H2$ -stellar mass distributions of local galaxies in addition of an inventory of galaxy mass functions, MFs, for $HI$ , $H2$ , cold gas, and baryonic mass, separately into early- and late-type galaxies. The MFs are determined using the $HI$ and $H2$ conditional distributions and the galaxy stellar mass function

Rodríguez-Puebla, Aldo et al.

0
2020
• A detailed look at the stellar populations in green valley galaxies

The green valley (GV) represents an important transitional state from actively star-forming galaxies to passively evolving systems. Its traditional definition, based on colour, rests on a number of assumptions that can be subjected to non-trivial systematics. In Angthopo, Ferreras & Silk (2019), we proposed a new definition of the GV based on the

Angthopo, James et al.

5
2020
• Fornax 3D project: Automated detection of planetary nebulae in the centres of early-type galaxies and first results

Extragalactic planetary nebulae (PNe) are detectable through relatively strong nebulous [O III] emission and act as direct probes into the local stellar population. Because they have an apparently universal invariant magnitude cut-off, PNe are also considered to be a remarkable standard candle for distance estimation. Through detecting PNe within

Spriggs, T. W. et al.

5
2020
• Kinematic analysis of eagle simulations: evolution of λ<SUB>Re</SUB> and its connection with mergers and gas accretion

We have developed a new tool to analyse galaxies in the eagle simulations as close as possible to observations. We investigated the evolution of their kinematic properties by means of the angular momentum proxy parameter, λRe, for galaxies with M⋆ ≥ 5 × 109 M☉ in the RefL0100N1504 simulation up to redshift two (z = 2). Galaxies in the simulation

Walo-Martín, D. et al.

5
2020
• Stellar populations across galaxy bars in the MUSE TIMER project

Stellar populations in barred galaxies save an imprint of the influence of the bar on the host galaxy's evolution. We present a detailed analysis of star formation histories (SFHs) and chemical enrichment of stellar populations in nine nearby barred galaxies from the TIMER project. We used integral field observations with the MUSE instrument to

Neumann, Justus et al.

5
2020
• The Fornax 3D project: Non-linear colour-metallicity relation of globular clusters

Globular cluster (GC) systems of massive galaxies often show a bimodal colour distribution. This has been interpreted as a metallicity bimodality, created by a two-stage galaxy formation where the red, metal-rich GCs were formed in the parent halo and the blue metal-poor GCs were accreted. This interpretation, however, crucially depends on the

Fahrion, K. et al.