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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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Kniazev A (2008) Spectroscopy of two PN candidates in IC 10 ? in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

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Gray M (2009) STAGES: the Space Telescope A901/2 Galaxy Evolution Survey in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

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Dobke B (2007) Steepened inner density profiles of group galaxies via interactions: an N-body analysis in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

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Koch A (2007) Stellar Kinematics in the Remote Leo II Dwarf Spheroidal Galaxy--Another Brick in the Wall in The Astronomical Journal

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De Jong R (2007) Stellar Populations across the NGC 4244 Truncated Galactic Disk in The Astrophysical Journal

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Walker M (2009) STELLAR VELOCITIES IN THE CARINA, FORNAX, SCULPTOR, AND SEXTANS dSph GALAXIES: DATA FROM THE MAGELLAN/MMFS SURVEY in The Astronomical Journal

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Chapman S (2007) Strangers in the Night: Discovery of a Dwarf Spheroidal Galaxy on Its First Local Group Infall in The Astrophysical Journal

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Sen B (2009) Streaming motion in Leo I in The Annals of Applied Statistics

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Tacconi L (2008) Submillimeter Galaxies at z ~ 2: Evidence for Major Mergers and Constraints on Lifetimes, IMF, and CO-H 2 Conversion Factor in The Astrophysical Journal

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Chapman S (2009) Submillimetre detection of the z = 2.83 Lyman-break galaxy, Westphal-MM8, and implications for SCUBA2 in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society