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
Rix S
(2007)
The Sightline to Q2343-BX415: Clues to Galaxy Formation in a Quasar Environment
in The Astrophysical Journal
Takagi T
(2007)
The SCUBA HAlf Degree Extragalactic Survey (SHADES) - V. Submillimetre properties of near-infrared-selected galaxies in the Subaru/XMM-Newton deep field Submm properties of NIR-selected galaxies
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Smith M
(2007)
The RAVE survey: constraining the local Galactic escape speed
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Nissen P
(2007)
Sulphur and zinc abundances in Galactic halo stars revisited
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Lodieu N
(2007)
Eight new T4.5-T7.5 dwarfs discovered in the UKIDSS Large Area Survey Data Release 1
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Martin N
(2007)
A Keck/DEIMOS spectroscopic survey of faint Galactic satellites: searching for the least massive dwarf galaxies? A spectroscopic survey of faint Galactic satellites
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
York B
(2007)
Discovery of 21-cm absorption in a z abs = 2.289 damped Lyman a system towards TXS 0311+430: the first low spin temperature absorber at z > 1
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society: Letters
Parmentier G
(2007)
The origin of the Gaussian initial mass function of old globular cluster systems
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Peroux C
(2007)
A homogeneous sample of sub-damped Lyman systems - IV. Global metallicity evolution
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Belokurov V
(2007)
The Cosmic Horseshoe: Discovery of an Einstein Ring around a Giant Luminous Red Galaxy
in The Astrophysical Journal