The formation and evolution of tidal dwarf galaxies

Disciplines

Physics, Astronomy (100%)

Keywords

Cosmology, Galaxies:formation, Galaxies: evolution, Galaxies: dwarfs, Tidal interaction

Abstract

As a result of angular momentum and energy conservation gas-rich tidal arms are formed when two large galaxies merge or closely interact. These tidal arms can fragment into a series of self-gravitating dwarf galaxies. It is expected that the production of tidal-dwarf galaxies (TDGs) is more efficient in the cores of galaxy clusters, due to the larger number of galaxy interactions. This project aims at investigating the chemical and dynamical evolution of TDGs in different environments and compare the results with well-studied dwarf galaxies, in order to investigate the nature of these object and, more in general, to study the role played by the environment in the evolution of galaxies.