2007/12/03 by Marie Martig, F. Bournaud, Frederic Bournaud
Physics and Astronomy · #Astronomy #Astronomy and Astrophysical Research #Astrophysics #Galaxies: Formation, Evolution, Phenomena #Galaxy #Galaxy cluster #Galaxy formation and evolution #Galaxy merger #Gamma-ray bursts and supernovae #Physics #Protogalaxy #Redshift #Star formation #astro-ph
paper · pdf · doi:10.1111/j.1745-3933.2008.00429.x
MNRAS Letters, in press
arxiv created 2007/12/03 · openalex publication_date 2008/02/07 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
Abstract Star formation in galaxies is for a part driven by galaxy mergers. At low redshift, star formation activity is low in high-density environments like groups and clusters, and the star formation activity of galaxies increases with their isolation. This star formation–density relation is observed to be reversed at z∼ 1, which is not explained by theoretical models so far. We study the influence of the tidal field of a galaxy group or cluster on the star formation activity of merging galaxies, using N-body simulations including gas dynamics and star formation. We find that the merger-driven star formation is significantly more active in the vicinity of such cosmological structures compared to mergers in the field. The large-scale tidal field can thus enhance the activity of galaxies in dense cosmic structures, and should be particularly efficient at high redshift before quenching processes take effect in the densest regions.