Related papers: Quasar Elemental Abundances and Host Galaxy Evolut…
How and when did the first generation of stars form at the end of the cosmic dark ages? Quite generically, within variants of the cold dark matter model of cosmological structure formation, the first sources of light are expected to form in…
During the first half of the universe's age, a heyday of star-formation must have occurred because many massive galaxies are in place after that epoch in cosmic history. Our observations with the revolutionary Herschel Space Observatory…
The detection of two $z\sim 13$ galaxy candidates has opened a new window on galaxy formation at an era only $330$ Myr after the Big Bang. Here, we investigate the physical nature of these sources: are we witnessing star forming galaxies or…
The link between massive red galaxies in the local Universe and star-forming galaxies at high redshift is investigated with a semi-analytic model that has proven successful in many ways, e.g. explaining the galaxy colour-magnitude…
Recent studies of galaxies ~2-3 Gyr after the Big Bang have revealed large, turbulent rotating systems. The existence of well-ordered rotation in galaxies during this peak epoch of cosmic star formation may suggest that gas accretion…
This paper presents a compilation of clustering results taken from the literature for galaxies with highly enhanced (SFR [30-10^3] Msun/yr) star formation activity observed in the redshift range z=[0-3]. We show that, irrespective of the…
High redshift radio galaxies are among the largest, most luminous, most massive, and most beautiful objects in the Universe. They are generally identified from their radio emission, thought to be powered by accretion of matter onto…
This paper presents a review of the topic of galaxy formation and evolution, focusing on basic features of galaxies, and how these observables reveal how galaxies and their stars assemble over cosmic time. I give an overview of the observed…
Although the universe at redshifts greater than six represents only the first one billion years (<10%) of cosmic time, the dense nature of the early universe led to vigorous galaxy formation and evolution activity which we are only now…
The complex problem of when and how galaxies formed has not until recently been susceptible of direct attack. It has been known for some time that the excessive number of blue galaxies counted at faint magnitudes implies that a considerable…
The majority of bright distant quasars $(z {}^{>}_{\sim} 1)$ may form in massive mergers appearing in compact galaxy groups in/and young clusters. The expected tests are (i) large correlation signal for medium-$z$ QSOs $(1 < z < 2)$ and…
We link the evolution of the galaxies in the hierarchical clustering scenario with the changing accretion rates of cold gas onto the central massive black holes that power the quasars. We base on galaxy interactions as main triggers of…
Deep galaxy counts are among the best constraints on the cosmic star formation history (SFH) of galaxies. The evolution of the star formation activity is followed on a wide range of redshifts (0< z < 4) covering most of the history of the…
We describe an equilibrium model that links the metallicity of low-redshift galaxies to stellar evolution models. It enables the testing of different stellar initial mass functions and metal yields against observed galaxy metallicities. We…
The first galaxies formed at high redshifts, and were likely substantially less massive than typical galaxies in the local universe. We argue that (1) the reionization of a clumpy intergalactic medium by redshift z=6, (2) its enrichment by…
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…
The star formation and the subsequent metallic enrichment of spiral galaxies, occurring at the early phases of their evolution, produce emission lines whose contribution may change the colors of these objects. We have computed this…
Clusters of galaxies allow a direct estimate of the metallicity and metal production yield on the largest scale so far. It is argued that cluster metallicity ($\sim 1/3$ solar) should be taken as representative of the low-$z$ universe as a…
The extreme outer regions of disk galaxies, lying at or beyond the classical optical radius defined by R25, present an opportunity to study star formation and chemical evolution under unique physical conditions, possibly reminscent of those…
Black-hole masses of distant quasars cannot be measured directly, but can be estimated to within a factor 3 to 5 using scaling relationships involving the quasar luminosity and broad-line width. Why such relationships are reasonable is…