The role of angular momentum distribution in classifying galaxy morphology
Project level: PhD, Honours, Summer/Winter
A galaxy's morphology is quantified by the ratio of light in its central bulge compared with total luminosity. This 'bulge-to-total ratio' works reasonably well for nearby, well-resolved and regular galaxies, but not as well for distant galaxies which are more difficult to observe and are more often clumpy and irregular. The distribution of angular momentum within a galaxy fundamentally encodes information about that galaxy's evolution and morphology and consequently is a new physically-grounded method for classifying galaxies.
This project involves developing this classification method for galaxies of all morphological types and at all redshifts.