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
Chapman S
(2008)
Interferometric CO Observations of Submillimeter-faint, Radio-selected Starburst Galaxies at z ~ 2
in The Astrophysical Journal
Chapman S
(2009)
DO SUBMILLIMETER GALAXIES REALLY TRACE THE MOST MASSIVE DARK-MATTER HALOS? DISCOVERY OF A HIGH- z CLUSTER IN A HIGHLY ACTIVE PHASE OF EVOLUTION
in The Astrophysical Journal
Chapman S
(2007)
Strangers in the Night: Discovery of a Dwarf Spheroidal Galaxy on Its First Local Group Infall
in The Astrophysical Journal
Chen H
(2009)
HIGH-REDSHIFT STARBURSTING DWARF GALAXIES REVEALED BY ?-RAY BURST AFTERGLOWS
in The Astrophysical Journal
Chen X
(2008)
Gaseous versus Stellar Velocity Dispersion in Emission-Line Galaxies
in Chinese Journal of Astronomy and Astrophysics
Collins M
(2009)
A spectroscopic survey of EC4, an extended cluster in Andromeda's halo
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Coppin K
(2009)
A submillimetre galaxy at z = 4.76 in the LABOCA survey of the Extended Chandra Deep Field -South
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
Dale D
(2009)
THE SPITZER LOCAL VOLUME LEGACY: SURVEY DESCRIPTION AND INFRARED PHOTOMETRY
in The Astrophysical Journal
De Jong J
(2008)
NUMERICAL COLOR-MAGNITUDE DIAGRAM ANALYSIS OF SLOAN DIGITAL SKY SURVEY DATA AND APPLICATION TO THE NEW MILKY WAY SATELLITES
in The Astronomical Journal