Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astrophysics
Scientific paper
1996-08-02
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astrophysics
9 pages, LaTeX with lamuphys.sty, 3 postscript figures included; to be published in the proceedings of the the ESO Workshop ``
Scientific paper
An overview over the current status of modeling galaxies by means of numerical simulations is given. After a short description of how galaxies form in hierarchically clustering scenarios, success and failures of current simulations are demonstrated using three different applications: the morphology of present day galaxies; the appearance of high redshift galaxies; and the nature of the Ly-alpha forest and metal absorption lines. It is shown that current simulations can qualitatively account for many observed features of galaxies. However, the objects which form in these simulations suffer from a strong overcooling problem. Star formation and feedback processes are likely to be indispensable ingredients for a realistic description even of the most basic parameters of a galaxy. The progenitors of todays galaxies are expected to be highly irregular and concentrated, as supported by recent observations. Though they exhibit a velocity dispersion similar to present day L > L^* galaxies, they may be much less massive. The filamentary distribution of the gas provides a natural explanation for Ly-alpha and metal absorption systems. Furthermore, numerical simulations can be used to avoid misinterpretations of observed data and are able to alleviate some apparent contradictions in the size estimates of Ly-alpha absorption systems.
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