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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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O'Dowd M (2009) POLYCYCLIC AROMATIC HYDROCARBONS IN GALAXIES AT z ~ 0.1: THE EFFECT OF STAR FORMATION AND ACTIVE GALACTIC NUCLEI in The Astrophysical Journal

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Dale D (2009) THE SPITZER LOCAL VOLUME LEGACY: SURVEY DESCRIPTION AND INFRARED PHOTOMETRY in The Astrophysical Journal

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Law D (2009) THE KILOPARSEC-SCALE KINEMATICS OF HIGH-REDSHIFT STAR-FORMING GALAXIES in The Astrophysical Journal

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Walker M (2009) LEO V: SPECTROSCOPY OF A DISTANT AND DISTURBED SATELLITE in The Astrophysical Journal

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Meurer G (2009) EVIDENCE FOR A NONUNIFORM INITIAL MASS FUNCTION IN THE LOCAL UNIVERSE in The Astrophysical Journal

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PeƱarrubia J (2009) Tidal disruption of globular clusters in dwarf galaxies with triaxial dark matter haloes in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

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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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Kniazev A (2009) The faint outer regions of the Pegasus dwarf irregular galaxy: a much larger and undisturbed galaxy The faint outer regions of the PegDIG 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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Dutta P (2009) A study of interstellar medium of dwarf galaxies using H i power spectrum analysis in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society