Scientific Seminars
High redshift massive galaxies: the SWIRE view
Stefano Berta
MPE
2008-12-04 14:00 IASF - Sala riunioni
Despite the recent extraordinary progress in observational cosmology and the
successful convergence on a single cosmological model, galaxy formation and
evolution largely remain an open issue. One critical aspect is how and
when the
present-day most massive galaxies (i.e. M>=10^11 Msun) were built up and what
type of evolution characterized their growth over cosmic time.
According to the most successful theoretical models, the formation of galaxies
and large scale structure occurs in the frame of some variant of "biased"
hierarchical buildup within a Lambda-CDM cosmology. In these scenarios the most
massive objects (e.g. M > several 10^11 Msun) are predicted to assemble earlier,
more quickly and in richer environments than less massive ones.
A direct observational mapping of galaxy evolution through cosmic time is thus
particularly important and rewarding, especially if a significant number of
massive galaxies at 1 |