基本面最早是在早型星系中发现的一种经验标度律,它是一个关于星系的有效半径、中心速度弥散度和有效半径内的平均面亮度之间的紧密相关关系.基本面对早型星系的形成机制、动力学演化理论等提出了很强的观测约束;不仅如此,它还可作为独立的星系距离测定方法,用于哈勃常数的定标和星系本动速度场的测量.对早型星系基本面的研究进展做了简要评述,包括在不同观测波段、不同密度环境、不同红移处测定的基本面,以及观测基本面偏离简单位力定理的理论解释.除此之外,还对旋涡星系的基本面问题进行了专题评论.%The Fundamental Plane (FP) is an empirical scaling relation first found for the early-type galaxies, which is a tight correlation among the effective radius Re, the central velocity dispersion σ0, and the mean surface brightness within the effective radius Ⅰe. Since the measurements of σ0 and Ⅰe are independent of distance, the FP can be used as a distance indicator for early-type galaxies. Moreover, the FP provides a strong constraint on the models of the formation and evolution of the early-type galaxies, especially their stellar population and dynamical evolution.This paper gives an overview of the FP study on early-type galaxies, including the observed FPs in different bands, the FPs of galaxies at different environments and redshifts.Although there is controversy over the changes of FP with observation band, the slope a of FP is believed to be changed, even if it is unnoticeable, and the slop b is a constant. Whether the FPs at different environments are different is also controversial. For the FP evolutionary,it is generally acknowledged that only the zero point c of the FP at mid-redshift is different from that of nearby galaxies.We then review the theoretical explanations of the ‘tilt' of FP relative to the prediction from the virial theorem. There may be three main reasons: the velocity dispersion of early-type galaxy can not be used to represent its total energy; the mass-luminosity ratios of galaxies with different masses are different; the early-type galaxies do not have unified structure and dynamics.Finally, as a comparison, we also review the FP study of spiral galaxies, including both the observational and theoretical aspects. Although there is controversy over the exitance of the FP of spiral galaxies on observation, its study is important on constraining the models of the formation and evolution of spirals.
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