Related papers: Element Abundances through the Cosmic Ages
Abundance observations indicate the presence of often surprisingly large amounts of neutron capture (i.e., s- and r-process) elements in old Galactic halo and globular cluster stars. These observations provide insight into the nature of the…
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…
The dust abundance of the interstellar medium plays an important role in galaxy physics, the chemical evolution of matter and the absorption and re-emission of stellar light. The last years have seen a surge in observational and theoretical…
The main achievements, current developments and prospects of molecular studies in external galaxies are reviewed. They are put in the context of the results of several decades of studies of molecules in local interstellar medium, their…
We discuss the chemical properties of a sample of UV-selected intermediate-redshift (0 < z < 0.4) galaxies in the context of their physical nature and star formation history. This work represents an extension of our previous studies (Treyer…
Metals are found in all baryonic phases and environments, and our knowledge of their distribution `in and around galaxies' has significantly improved over the past few years. Theoretical work has shown that the fraction of metals in…
I review some recent progress made in our understanding of galaxy evolution and the cosmic history of star formation. Like bookends, the results obtained from deep ground-based spectroscopy and from the Hubble Deep Field imaging survey put…
Studies of galaxy clusters have proved crucial in helping to establish the standard model of cosmology, with a universe dominated by dark matter and dark energy. A theoretical basis that describes clusters as massive, multi-component,…
The chemical composition of the most metal-deficient stars reflects the composition of the gas from which they formed. These old stars provide crucial clues to the star formation history and the synthesis of chemical elements in the early…
The measurement of stellar properties such as chemical compositions, masses and ages, through stellar spectra, is a fundamental problem in astrophysics. Progress in the understanding, calculation and measurement of atomic properties and…
A brief overview on the current status of the census of the early universe population is given. Observational surveys of high redshift galaxies provide direct opportunities to witness the cosmic dawn and to have better understanding of how…
Submillimetre molecular lines (e.g., CO, HCN, SiO) provide a uniquely powerful view of the physical and chemical processes that govern star formation (SF) and galaxy evolution. Yet, our current picture of the molecular universe beyond the…
In the past decade, our understanding of galaxy evolution has been revolutionized by the discovery that luminous, dusty, starburst galaxies were 1,000 times more abundant in the early Universe than at present. It has, however, been…
Our current knowledge of cosmic star-formation history during the first two billion years (corresponding to redshift z >3) is mainly based on galaxies identified in rest-frame ultraviolet light. However, this population of galaxies is known…
The study of planetary nebulae in the inner-disk and bulge gives important information on the chemical abundances of elements such as He, N, O, Ar, Ne, and on the evolution of these abundances, which is associated with the evolution of…
Contrary to popular belief, the interstellar medium (ISM) is not empty; it is filled with atoms, dust particles, and molecules. Some of these molecules may have been the very building blocks of life that, delivered to Earth via comets and…
A number of large spectroscopic surveys of stars in the Milky Way are under way or are being planned. In this context it is important to discuss the extent to which elemental abundances can be used as discriminators between different (known…
We use our unified chemical and spectrophotometric evolutionary synthesis code to describe galaxies of various Hubble types. With stellar evolutionary tracks and element yields for 5 different metallicities we follow the spectrophotometric…
I briefly review what has been recently learned from determinations of mean stellar ages and abundances from integrated light studies of early-type galaxies, and discuss some new questions posed by recent data. A short discussion of…
The question of what is the total entropy of the universe, how it compares to the maximal entropy of de Sitter space, and how it is distributed across the universe's components, bears considerable importance for a number of reasons. Here,…