Formation of Galactic Bulges

Abstract

We use cosmological hydrodynamic simulations to investigate formation of galactic bulges within the framework of hierarchical clustering in a representative CDM cosmological model. We show that largest objects forming at cosmological redshifts z~4 resemble observed bulges of spiral galaxies or moderate size ellipticals in their general properties like sizes, shapes, and density profiles. This is consistent with observational data indicating the existence of ``old'' bulges and ellipticals at more moderate redshifts. These bulges are gas dominated at redshift z=3, with high rates of star formation and would appear to be good candidates for small blue galaxies seen in the Hubble Deep Field.

Revised version accepted for publication in ApJ

References in corpus (2)

• Dark Matter Substructure in Galactic Halos
• Observational evidence for self-interacting cold dark matter

Cited by in corpus (6)

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• The Expected Mass Function for Low Mass Galaxies in a CDM Cosmology: Is There a Problem?
• Constraining the Collisional Nature of the Dark Matter Through Observations of Gravitational Wakes