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.
Organisations
Publications
Fellhauer M
(2009)
Merging time-scales of stellar subclumps in young star-forming regions
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Lehmer B
(2009)
The Chandra Deep Protocluster Survey: point-source catalogues for a 400-ks observation of the z = 3.09 protocluster in SSA22
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Cao C
(2008)
Mid-Infrared spectroscopic properties of ultra-luminous infrared quasars
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Pontzen A
(2010)
The nature of H i absorbers in gamma-ray burst afterglows: clues from hydrodynamic simulations
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Nestor D
(2008)
The quasar-frame velocity distribution of narrow C iv absorbers
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Seabroke G
(2007)
Revisiting the relations: Galactic thin disc age-velocity dispersion relation
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Werner M
(2008)
On multiple Einstein rings
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Watkins L
(2009)
Substructure revealed by RR Lyraes in SDSS Stripe 82
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Bramich D
(2008)
Light and motion in SDSS Stripe 82: the catalogues
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Smith M
(2009)
Kinematics of SDSS subdwarfs: structure and substructure of the Milky Way halo
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Burningham B
(2008)
Exploring the substellar temperature regime down to ~550 K
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Dye S
(2008)
Models of the Cosmic Horseshoe gravitational lens J10044112
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Seabroke G
(2008)
Is the sky falling? Searching for stellar streams in the local Milky Way disc in the CORAVEL and RAVE surveys
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Maschietto F
(2008)
[O iii] emitters in the field of the MRC 0316-257 protocluster
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Kniazev A
(2008)
Spectroscopy of two PN candidates in IC 10 ?
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Austermann J
(2010)
AzTEC half square degree survey of the SHADES fields â?? I. Maps, catalogues and source counts
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
PeƱarrubia J
(2009)
Tidal disruption of globular clusters in dwarf galaxies with triaxial dark matter haloes
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Becker A
(2008)
Two-Micron All-Sky Survey J01542930+0053266: a new eclipsing M dwarf binary system
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Ryan-Weber E
(2009)
A downturn in intergalactic C iv as redshift 6 is approached
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Serjeant S
(2008)
The SCUBA Half Degree Extragalactic Survey (SHADES) - IX. The environment, mass and redshift dependence of star formation
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Verrier P
(2009)
High-inclination planets and asteroids in multistellar systems
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Parmentier G
(2007)
The origin of the Gaussian initial mass function of old globular cluster systems
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Donato F
(2009)
A constant dark matter halo surface density in galaxies
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Richardson J
(2009)
An HST /ACS view of the inhomogeneous outer halo of M31
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Collins M
(2009)
A spectroscopic survey of EC4, an extended cluster in Andromeda's halo
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society