Lectures given at the IV Mexican School of Astrophysics,
July 18-25, 2005
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astro-ph/0605212
The old dream of integrating into one the study of micro and macrocosmos
is now a reality. Cosmology, astrophysics, and particle physics
intersect in a scenario (but still not a theory) of cosmic structure
formation and evolution called
Cold Dark Matter
(
CDM)
model. This scenario emerged mainly to explain the origin of
galaxies. In these lecture notes, I first present a review of the main
galaxy properties, highlighting the questions that any theory of galaxy
formation should explain. Then, the cosmological framework and the
main aspects of primordial perturbation generation and evolution are
pedagogically detached. Next, I focus on the "dark side" of galaxy
formation, presenting a review on
CDM halo
assembling and properties,
and on the main candidates for non-baryonic dark matter. It is shown
how the nature of elemental particles can influence on the features
of galaxies and their systems.
Finally, the complex processes of baryon dissipation inside the
non-linearly evolving CDM halos, formation of disks and spheroids, and
transformation of gas
into stars are briefly described, remarking on the possibility of a few
driving factors and parameters able to explain the main body of galaxy
properties. A summary and a discussion of some of the issues and open
problems of the
CDM
paradigm are given in the final part of these notes.
Table of Contents