Lighting Up Dark Matter Haloes

Abstract

Previous chapters of this issue have focused on the formation and evolution of cosmic structures under the influence of gravity alone. In order to make a close link between theoretical models of structure formation and observational data, it is necessary to consider the gas-dynamical and radiative processes that drive the evolution of the baryonic components of dark matter halos. These processes cover many orders of magnitude in physical sizes and time-scales and are entangled in a complex network of actions, back-reactions, and self-regulations. In addition, our understanding of them is far from being complete, even when viewed in isolation. This chapter provides a brief review of the techniques that are commonly used to link the physical properties of galaxies with the dark matter halos in which they reside. I discuss the main features of these methods, as well as their aims, limits, and complementarities.