Evolution of the Interstellar Gas in Elliptical Galaxies

We present SPH simulations of the evolution of the interstellar gas during the formation of an elliptical galaxy. The gas dynamics is governed initially by the collapsing phase of the primordial fluctuation, and later by the star formation processes. The final configuration is critically related to the total mass of the system. For more massive galaxies the hot gas is confined in a galactic corona and radiates at X-ray frequencies, while in the central region the interstellar medium has a much lower temperature and forms a cooling flow. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.