Dissipative processes in galaxy formation.

Abstract

A galaxy commences its life in a diffuse gas cloud that evolves into a predominantly stellar aggregation. Considerable dissipation of gravitational binding energy occurs during this transition. I review here the dissipative processes that determine the critical scales of luminous galaxies and the generation of their morphology. The universal scaling relations for spirals and ellipticals are shown to be sensitive to the history of star formation. Semiphenomenological expressions are given for star-formation rates in protogalaxies and in starbursts. Implications are described for elliptical galaxy formation and for the evolution of disk galaxies.