Galaxies have changed drastically over the past 10 billion years. This thesis deals with these changes, focusing on evolution in the structure of very massive galaxies with a range of stellar... Show moreGalaxies have changed drastically over the past 10 billion years. This thesis deals with these changes, focusing on evolution in the structure of very massive galaxies with a range of stellar population properties. The main subjects addressed are the rapid changes in the sizes of old galaxies, the gradients in stellar population content within galaxies, and the predictions from theoretical models regarding these properties. Show less
In this PhD thesis, I describe work done in the CosmoGrid and AMUSE projects. CosmoGrid is a _CDM N-body simulation containing 8.5 billion dark matter particles within a volume of only (30 Mpc)^3,... Show moreIn this PhD thesis, I describe work done in the CosmoGrid and AMUSE projects. CosmoGrid is a _CDM N-body simulation containing 8.5 billion dark matter particles within a volume of only (30 Mpc)^3, resulting in very high mass resolution. In order to run such a large simulation, we investigate a method of combining multiple supercomputers via a fast network; combining them into one large machine for the final calculation. We compare the results of CosmoGrid to previous _CDM simulations, and use the finalised CosmoGrid data to investigate how an aligned group of galaxies in a void region might have formed. Combining CosmoGrid with the Astrophysical Multipurpose Software Environment (AMUSE), we investigate a method to embed simulated star clusters in a large-scale environment such as a dark matter halo. Finally, we use this method to run self-consistent simulations of open star clusters embedded in a forming Milky Way-like galaxy. Show less
