Related papers: Galaxy Evolution: Internally or Externally Driven?
Star formation history shows a gradual decline since the last 8-9 Gyr (z=1). The bulk of present-day stellar mass and metal content was formed at redshifts lower than 2-3, which is consistent with a hierarchical scenario of galaxy…
The cosmic star formation rate density first increases with time towards a pronounced peak 10 Gyrs ago (or z=1-2) and then slows down, dropping by more than a factor 10 since z=1. The processes at the origin of the star formation quenching…
Young galaxies are clumpy, gas-rich, and highly turbulent. Star formation appears to occur by gravitational instabilities in galactic disks. The high dispersion makes the clumps massive and the disks thick. The star formation rate should be…
The evolution in the comoving space density of the global average galaxy star formation rate (SFR) out to a redshift around unity is well established. Beyond z~1 there is growing evidence that this evolution is flat or even increasing,…
We outline a method to infer the global history of star formation in galaxies with input only from absorption-line observations of quasars. The application of the method to existing data leads to the conclusion that most stars formed at…
A large deep and nearly complete B<24.5 redshift sample is used to measure the change in distribution function of the stellar mass production rate in individual galaxies with redshift. The evolution of the star formation rate distribution…
The deepest multi-wavelength surveys now provide measurements of star formation in galaxies out to z>1, and allow to reconstruct its history for large parts of the galaxy population. I review recent studies, which have consistently revealed…
Galaxy evolution during the last 9 Gyr is discussed. It can be traced back from well known present-day galaxies or directly observed for galaxies at different look back times. This requires clear and consistently matched selection criteria…
We analyze the star formation history (SFH) of galaxies as a function of present-day environment, galaxy stellar mass and morphology. The SFH is derived by means of a non-parametric spectrophotometric model applied to individual galaxies at…
We have investigated how the incidence of star-forming galaxies varies with the environment using a volume-limited sample of nearby galaxy spectra extracted from the 2dF Galaxy Redshift Survey. The environment is characterized by the local…
Knowledge of both the global star formation history of the universe and the nature of individual star-forming galaxies at different look-back times is essential to our understanding of galaxy formation and evolution. Deep redshift surveys…
The dependence of star formation rate on galaxian environment is a key issue in the understanding of galaxy formation and evolution. However, the study of this subject is complex and observationally challenging. This paper reviews some of…
Determination of the star formation rate can be done using mid-IR photometry or Balmer line luminosity after a proper correction for extinction effects. Both methods show convergent results while those based on UV or on [OII]3727…
Cosmological simulations predict that during the evolution of galaxies, the specific star formation rate continuously decreases. In a previous study we showed that generally this is not caused by the galaxies running out of cold gas but…
There exists a gradual, but persistent, evolutionary effect in the galaxy population such that galaxy structure and morphology change with redshift. This galaxy structure-redshift relationship is such that an increasingly large fraction of…
In this contribution, I present a simplified overview of the evolution of the disk galaxy population since z=1, and a brief discussion of a few open questions. Galaxy evolution surveys have found that the disk galaxy population forms stars…
We combine Spitzer 24micron observations with data from the COMBO-17 survey for ~15,000 0.2<z<1 galaxies to determine how the average star formation rates (SFR) have evolved for galaxy sub-populations of different stellar masses. In the…
Star formation rate and accummulated stellar mass are two fundamental physical quantities that describe the evolutionary state of a forming galaxy. Two recent attempts to determine the relationship between these quantities, by interpreting…
There has been remarkable progress recently in both observational and theoretical studies of galaxy formation and evolution. Largely due to a combination of deep Hubble Space Telescope imaging, Keck spectroscopy, and COBE far-IR background…
We study how the proportion of star-forming galaxies evolves between z=0.8 and z=0 as a function of galaxy environment, using the [OII] line in emission as a signature of ongoing star formation. Our high-z dataset comprises 16 clusters, 10…