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
Pinfield D
(2008)
Fifteen new T dwarfs discovered in the UKIDSS Large Area Survey
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Pontzen A
(2009)
Dust biasing of damped Lyman alpha systems: a Bayesian analysis
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
Pontzen A
(2008)
Damped Lyman a systems in galaxy formation simulations
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Pontzen A
(2007)
Direct observational test rules out small Mg ii absorbers
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society: Letters
Quider A
(2010)
A study of interstellar gas and stars in the gravitationally lensed galaxy 'the Cosmic Eye' from rest-frame ultraviolet spectroscopy
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Quider A
(2009)
The ultraviolet spectrum of the gravitationally lensed galaxy 'the Cosmic Horseshoe': a close-up of a star-forming galaxy at z ~ 2
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Quinn D
(2009)
A strip search for new very wide halo binaries A strip search for new very wide halo binaries
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Reddy Naveen A.
(2008)
Multiwavelength constraints on the cosmic star formation history from spectroscopy:: The rest-frame ultraviolet, H
a, and infrared luminosity functions at redshifts 1.9 ? z ? 3.4
in ASTROPHYSICAL JOURNAL SUPPLEMENT SERIES
Richardson J
(2008)
THE NATURE AND ORIGIN OF SUBSTRUCTURE IN THE OUTSKIRTS OF M31. I. SURVEYING THE STELLAR CONTENT WITH THE HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE ADVANCED CAMERA FOR SURVEYS
in The Astronomical Journal
Richardson J
(2009)
An HST /ACS view of the inhomogeneous outer halo of M31
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Rix S
(2007)
The Sightline to Q2343-BX415: Clues to Galaxy Formation in a Quasar Environment
in The Astrophysical Journal
Ryan-Weber E
(2008)
The Local Group dwarf Leo T: H i on the brink of star formation H i in Leo T
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Ryan-Weber E
(2009)
A downturn in intergalactic C iv as redshift 6 is approached
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Seabroke G
(2007)
Revisiting the relations: Galactic thin disc age-velocity dispersion relation
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Seabroke G
(2008)
Is the sky falling? Searching for stellar streams in the local Milky Way disc in the CORAVEL and RAVE surveys
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Sen B
(2009)
Streaming motion in Leo I
in The Annals of Applied Statistics
Serjeant S
(2008)
The SCUBA Half Degree Extragalactic Survey (SHADES) - IX. The environment, mass and redshift dependence of star formation
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Shin E
(2008)
Lensing by binary galaxies modelled as isothermal spheres
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Shin E
(2008)
The effect of satellite galaxies on gravitational lensing flux ratios
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Siebert A
(2008)
Estimation of the tilt of the stellar velocity ellipsoid from RAVE and implications for mass models
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Smith M
(2007)
Blending in gravitational microlensing experiments: source confusion and related systematics
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Smith M
(2009)
Kinematics of SDSS subdwarfs: structure and substructure of the Milky Way halo
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Smith M
(2009)
THE TILT OF THE HALO VELOCITY ELLIPSOID AND THE SHAPE OF THE MILKY WAY HALO
in The Astrophysical Journal
Smith M
(2007)
The RAVE survey: constraining the local Galactic escape speed
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society