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Galaxy formation and evolution

Lead Research Organisation: University of Cambridge
Department Name: Institute of Astronomy

Abstract

This programmatic five-year rolling grant application addresses one of the most important problems in extragalactic astronomy, the formation and evolution of galaxies, one of the ``big questions'' in the current PPARC Road Map, and is a defining objective of virtually every national decadal survey of astronomy. A full understanding of galaxy formation and evolution requires multiple lines of attack. Observations of the resolved stellar populations in the Milky Way and its Local Group companions provide a detailed fossil record of the dynamical assemblies of the galaxies, the formation of stars, and the buildup of heavy elements over a wide range of mass scales and initial conditions. At the other end of the scale, observations of distant galaxies spanning lookback times of up to 12 Gyr provide direct measurements of the evolution of galaxy populations and the buildup of stars and metals with cosmic time. Finally, measurements of the large-scale star formation and abundance properties of nearby galaxies form a vital astrophysical bridge between the studies of nearby resolved stellar populations and the distant high-redshift investigations, by allowing us to characterise the evolutionary properties of the Hubble sequence and the complex ``gastrophysical'' processes that regulate the accretion of gas and the formation of stars in galaxies. In this rolling grant application we propose a series of investigations that will advance our understanding of galaxy formation and evolution on all three fronts.

Publications

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Koposov S (2010) CONSTRAINING THE MILKY WAY POTENTIAL WITH A SIX-DIMENSIONAL PHASE-SPACE MAP OF THE GD-1 STELLAR STREAM in The Astrophysical Journal

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Belokurov V (2010) BIG FISH, LITTLE FISH: TWO NEW ULTRA-FAINT SATELLITES OF THE MILKY WAY in The Astrophysical Journal

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Adén D (2009) A NEW LOW MASS FOR THE HERCULES dSph: THE END OF A COMMON MASS SCALE FOR THE DWARFS? in The Astrophysical Journal

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Altavilla G (2009) TYPE Ia SNe ALONG REDSHIFT: THE $\mathcal {R}$(Si II) RATIO AND THE EXPANSION VELOCITIES IN INTERMEDIATE- z SUPERNOVAE in The Astrophysical Journal

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Trujillo I (2009) UNVEILING THE NATURE OF M94's (NGC4736) OUTER REGION: A PANCHROMATIC PERSPECTIVE in The Astrophysical Journal

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Weiß A (2009) THE LARGE APEX BOLOMETER CAMERA SURVEY OF THE EXTENDED CHANDRA DEEP FIELD SOUTH in The Astrophysical Journal

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Chapman S (2008) Interferometric CO Observations of Submillimeter-faint, Radio-selected Starburst Galaxies at z ~ 2 in The Astrophysical Journal

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Peter A (2007) Morphologies of Galaxies in and around a Protocluster at z = 2.300 in The Astrophysical Journal

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Jorgenson R (2009) DIRECT EVIDENCE OF COLD GAS IN DLA 0812+32B in The Astrophysical Journal

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Chapman S (2009) DO SUBMILLIMETER GALAXIES REALLY TRACE THE MOST MASSIVE DARK-MATTER HALOS? DISCOVERY OF A HIGH- z CLUSTER IN A HIGHLY ACTIVE PHASE OF EVOLUTION in The Astrophysical Journal