click for larger view DARK MATTER HALO pictured above “The paper presents a detailed analysis of the properties of dark matter substructures using a large set of high resolution N-body simulations.”

The paper presents a detailed analysis of the properties of dark matter substructures using a large set of high resolution N-body simulations. These quantities are of fundamental interest for galaxy formation, because dark matter haloes and substructures are thought to represent the birth place of luminous galaxies. The citations reflect this interest as well as the fact that various groups are currently working on related topics.

Most studies to date have been carried out considering only a few individual haloes and halo-to-halo variations are expected to be large. The paper is the first that addresses the problem by collecting a sufficiently large sample of haloes in order to draw statistically robust conclusions. There have been many other papers afterwards adopting the same approach.

Dark matter substructures mark the site where luminous galaxies are expected to be found. A detailed analysis of their properties should therefore help us to better understand the properties of the observed galaxy population in the context of the current favored cosmological model. This is what we have pursued in our study using, as noted above, a statistical approach.

The paper represents part of the work I have done for my Ph.D. thesis at the Max-Planck Institute for Astrophysics (MPA) in Garching, Germany. MPA has a group that is very active in galaxy formation. Interaction with other members of the group and first reading suggestions from my supervisors (Simon White and Guinevere Kauffmann) stimulated my interest in this field.