It is inferred from the symmetrical and luminous X-ray emission of fossil groups that they are mature, relaxed galaxy systems. Cosmological simulations and observations focusing on their dark halo and inter-galactic medium properties confirm their early formation. Recent photometric observations suggest that, unlike the majority of non-fossil brightest group galaxies (BGGs), the central early-t...

The VIMOS-VLT Deep Survey (VVDS) currently offers a unique combination of depth, angular size and number of measured galaxies among surveys of the distant Universe: ∼ 11, 000 spectra over 0.5 deg to IAB = 24 (VVDS-Deep), 35, 000 spectra over ∼ 7 deg 2 to IAB = 22.5 (VVDS-Wide). The current “First Epoch” data from VVDS-Deep already allow investigations of galaxy clustering and its dependence on ...

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Angular momentum redistribution within barred galaxies drives their dynamical evolution. Angular momentum is emitted mainly by near-resonant material in the bar region and absorbed by resonant material mainly in the outer disc and in the halo. This exchange determines the strength of the bar, the decrease of its pattern speed, as well as its morphology. If the galaxy has also a gaseous componen...

Galaxy clusters at high redshift present a superb opportunity to study galaxy evolution, with large galaxy samples at fixed distances. Several lines of evidence point towards large formation redshifts and passive evolution for cluster ellipticals. At redshifts larger than z ∼ 0.8, this picture rests on data from only a handful of rich clusters. We have observed four potential clusters to sample...

Deep redshift surveys of the universe provide the basic ingredients to compute the probability distribution function (PDF) of galaxy fluctuations and to constrain its evolution with cosmic time. When this statistic is combined with analytical CDM predictions for the PDF of mass, useful insights into the biasing function relating mass and galaxy distributions can be obtained. In this paper, we f...

Early-type dwarfs are the most common galaxy in the local universe, yet their origin and evolution remain a mystery. Various cosmological scenarios predict that dwarf-like galaxies in dense areas are the first to form and hence should be the oldest stellar systems in clusters. By using radial velocities of early-type dwarfs in the Virgo cluster we demonstrate that these galaxies are not an old ...

We explore the growth of super-massive black holes and host galaxy bulges in the galaxy population using the Millennium Run ΛCDM simulation coupled with a model of galaxy formation. We find that, if galaxy mergers are the primary drivers for both bulge and black hole growth, then in the simplest picture one should expect the mBH – mbulge relation to evolve with redshift, with a larger black hol...

Deep redshift surveys of the universe provide the basic ingredients to compute the probability distribution function (PDF) of galaxy fluctuations and to constrain its evolution with cosmic time. When this statistic is combined with analytical CDM predictions for the PDF of mass, useful insights into the biasing function relating mass and galaxy distributions can be obtained. In this paper, we f...