Astronomy Lunch Series
James
Taylor
Associate
Professor
Department
of Physics
and
Astronomy,
University
of
Waterloo
The mean density interior to the visible edge of a galaxy has been suggested as an indicator of formation redshift since before the current cosmological model existed. I will discuss how this density is expected to scale with mass and redshift in LCDM, and demonstrate how in practice, it seems to trace the assembly history of the Virgo cluster, the nearest large cluster and one with a complex multi-component structure. If there's time I may also review several recent results on the mass distribution in the inner parts of galaxies. Together these results suggest a complex picture of how galaxies assemble and evolve dynamically.