The Dynamical Evolution of Galaxies in Clusters

The evolution of galaxies is driven strongly by dynamical processes including internal instabilities, tidal interactions and mergers. The cluster environment is a useful laboratory for studying these effects. I present recent results on simulations of interacting populations of spiral and elliptical galaxies in the cosmological collapse of a cluster, showing the formation of the central, brightest cluster galaxies through merging, the effect of tidal interactions and merging on galaxy morphology over cosmic history, and the distribution and kinematics of the tidal debris field. (See http://www.cita.utoronto.ca/~dubinski/rutgers98 for extensive figures and animations.)