The Formation of Galactic Disks

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Abstract
We study the population of galactic disks expected in current hierarchical clustering models for structure formation. A rotationally supported disk with exponential surface density profile is assumed to form with a mass and angular momentum which are fixed fractions of those of its surrounding dark halo. We assume that haloes respond adiabatically to disk formation, and that only stable disks can correspond to real systems. With these assumptions the predicted population can match both present-day disks and the damped Lyman alpha absorbers in QSO spectra. Good agreement is found provided: (i) the masses of disks are a few percent of those of their haloes; (ii) the specific angular momenta of disks are similar to those of their haloes; (iii) present-day disks were assembled recently (at z3kpc/h and about 10% at r>10kpc/h. The cross-section for absorption is strongly weighted towards disks with large angular momentum and so large size for their mass. The galaxy population associated with damped absorbers should thus be biased towards low surface brightness systems.

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