ARlogo Annu. Rev. Astron. Astrophys. 1991. 29: 239-274
Copyright © 1991 by Annual Reviews. All rights reserved

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5. FUTURE WORK

The formation of galaxies is an integral part of the problem of formation of structure in the Universe. As such, we should not expect to find a solution to the problem of galaxy formation by looking at just galaxies. Nevertheless, galaxies as building blocks and tracers are so important that we have to understand their properties well before we can fully model the larger scale structures. The main conclusion from recent work on elliptical galaxies is that they are complex systems. Their population may have undergone significant evolution over an extended period in the lifetime of the Universe. We are still far from a complete understanding of their structure and formation. There is an immediate need for good theoretical simulations of formation processes which will help with interpreting the observations. Below we list specific areas of research where significant progress can be made.