Events in Physics
Diego Capozzi (University of Portsmouth)
Probing galaxy formation and evolution at different cosmic epochs and in different environments
Despite our understanding of how galaxy form witnessed significant progress in the past years, whether galaxy formation follows different paths in dense regions compared to the global field and whether more massive galaxies were the first ones to form or vice versa, remain unsolved questions. In fact, while the hierarchical galaxy formation scenario (assumed as the premise of the majority of simulation-based studies) points at more massive galaxies forming later then less massive ones and at a strong environmental role, the more observationally-supported downsizing galaxy-formation scenario sees more massive galaxies forming earlier than less massive ones and gives relative importance to environment. The possible distinction between galaxy mass assembly and star formation epochs, the mutual roles of mass (AGN) and environment driven star-formation quenching and the complicated interplay between dark and baryonic matter over cosmic time, render our understanding of galaxy formation even more difficult. As a result, the way galaxies (i.e., galaxy formation and evolution) influence the structures they dwell in and how structures (i.e., gravity) affect the galaxies they host, have yet to be disentangled and fully understood. I will explore these topics by presenting studies on the global galaxy luminosity and mass functions (including very preliminary results from the Dark Energy Survey and the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope Legacy Survey), the Halo occupation Distribution in clusters and the detection of extremely red z>3 galaxies from the SERVS survey.