Annagrazia Puglisi

The observed rotation velocities of spiral galaxies at large scales exceed those predicted by their baryonic components, motivating the need for dark matter (DM) or Modified Newtonian Dynamics (MOND). We fit the rotation curves of 147 late-type galaxies from the SPARC database, using a suite of models including Cold Dark Matter (CDM) models with and without baryonic feedback, Warm DM, Fuzzy DM, and MOND. We also combine SPARC kinematics with weak-lensing data to extend the mean rotation curves to ~1 Mpc. On a galaxy-by-galaxy basis, the inner SPARC rotation curves marginally favour CDM models with baryonic feedback, although accounting for the uncertainties in distances and inclinations increases the degeneracy among DM-based models and MOND. All DM models predict host halo masses larger than abundance-matching expectations, with only the CDM model with baryonic feedback reducing the scatter around the mean luminosity-halo mass relation. MOND is able to reproduce the flatness of the mean galactic rotation curves on scales up to 1 Mpc, providing stellar mass-to-light ratios within observational uncertainties. In contrast, all DM models, without the contribution of mass external to the bound halo, struggle to explain the flat rotation curves. The inclusion of the current weak-lensing data tends to favour MOND over DM models, at least at the largest scales. Future observations from BIG-SPARC, the Square Kilometre Array, and most importantly, upcoming weak-lensing surveys such as EUCLID and Rubin will provide more stringent and independent tests of these competing frameworks.

In this work, we explore the nature of z > 1 galactic bars. Once thought to be highly transient, our results demonstrate otherwise. Our sample consists of nine massive (>10 ^10.5 M _⊙ ) star-forming barred-spiral galaxies at z _spec ∼ 1.5. Using rest-frame near-IR (F444W) JWST/NIRCam imaging, we apply ellipse fitting along with 1D and 2D morphological modeling to directly measure bar properties. We find that five galaxies host flat surface brightness profiles (bar Sérsic index < 0.4), indicative of highly evolved, “mature” bars. By contrast, only two galaxies show exponential profiles, characteristic of young bars, and these are also shorter in absolute length than the flat bars. We therefore conclude that a large fraction of bars at this epoch have already matured, thereby indicating the presence of well-settled disks required to facilitate bar formation and sustained evolution well before z ∼ 1.5. To assess the gravitational impact of the bars, we calculate the maximum transverse-to-radial force ratio ( Q _b ). We find that the Q _b values are comparable to, or weaker than, those of bars in the local Universe; seven of the nine bars show only a marginal increase in strength with maturity (from exponential to flat bars). Contrarily however, the remaining two bars are flat, but have the lowest Q _b values in our sample. We hence propose that the mature bars at z ∼ 1.5 may experience phases of weakening due to rapid gas inflows and/or minor mergers. In conclusion, our work sheds light on the rapidly evolving nature of high- z bars and paves the way for larger statistical studies.

We present the first comprehensive study of the structural evolution of brightest group galaxies (BGGs) from redshift z ≃ 0.08 to z = 3.7 using the James Webb Space Telescope ’s 255-hour COSMOS-Web program. This survey provides deep NIRCam imaging in four filters (F115W, F150W, F277W, and F444W) in ∼ 0.54 deg ² , allowing robust size and morphological measurements for ∼ 1700 BGGs spanning ∼ 12 Gyr of cosmic history. High-resolution imaging enables consistent measurement of galaxy sizes in the rest-frame optical (red to near-infrared; ∼6000–8000 Å) across cosmic time through redshift-dependent filter selection. We classified BGGs as star-forming and quiescent using both rest-frame NUV– r – J colors and redshift-dependent specific star formation rate (sSFR) thresholds. Our structural analysis reveals that quiescent BGGs are systematically more compact than their star-forming counterparts across all redshifts, exhibiting steeper size–mass slopes ( α _QG ∼ 0.6–1.2 vs. α _SF ∼ 0.0–0.3). The effective radius evolves as R _e ∝ (1+ z ) ^{− α} , with α = 0.96 ± 0.07 for star-forming BGGs and α = 1.24 ± 0.09 for quiescent BGGs, indicating stronger size growth in quenched systems. The corresponding growth factor at fixed stellar mass (log M _∗ = 10.7) from z = 3.7 to z = 0.08 is ∼ 4.4 for star-forming and ∼ 6.6 for quiescent BGGs. The intrinsic scatter in the size–mass relation increases toward higher redshift for both populations, reaching ∼ 0.3–0.4 dex at z > 2, reflecting greater structural diversity in the early universe. Compared to field galaxies, BGGs show systematically smaller sizes at fixed stellar mass, particularly among quiescent systems, highlighting environmental effects on galaxy structure. We further compare the evolution of the quiescent fraction, the Sérsic index, and ellipticity with those of field galaxies, finding consistent trends that reinforce our main conclusions. These results establish the foundation for understanding how group-scale environments shape the structural evolution of central galaxies and provide crucial constraints for models of galaxy formation in intermediate-mass dark matter halos.

Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) are believed to play a central role in quenching star formation by removing or destroying molecular gas from host galaxies via radiation-pressure driven outflows and/or radio jets. Some studies of cold molecular gas in galaxies at Cosmic Noon (z ∼ 2) show that AGN have less cold gas (10 kpc in MIRI/MRS and ALMA data, respectively and ancillary NIRCam imaging that reveals two satellite galaxies at distances of ∼0.4 arcsec (3.3 kpc) and ∼0.9 arcsec (7.4 kpc) from the AGN. Our results tentatively indicate that while the CO(3-2)-based cold gas phase dominates the molecular gas mass at Cosmic Noon, H2 ro-vibrational transitions are effective in tracing hot molecular gas locally in regions that may lack CO emission.