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
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
(2009)
The discovery of Segue 2: a prototype of the population of satellites of satellites
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Pontzen A
(2008)
Damped Lyman a systems in galaxy formation simulations
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Brinchmann J
(2008)
New insights into the stellar content and physical conditions of star-forming galaxies at z = 2-3 from spectral modelling
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Lawrence A
(2007)
The UKIRT Infrared Deep Sky Survey (UKIDSS)
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Coppin K
(2008)
The SCUBA HAlf Degree Extragalactic Survey - VI. 350-µm mapping of submillimetre galaxies
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
Casey C
(2009)
Constraining star formation and AGN in z ~ 2 massive galaxies using high-resolution MERLIN radio observations
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Ellison S
(2008)
A search for damped Lyman systems towards radio-loud quasars I: the optical survey
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