Related papers: A search for the first massive galaxy clusters
Observations of the most luminous quasars at redshift z>6 reveal the existence of numerous supermasssive black holes (>10^9 Msun) already in place about twelve billion years ago. In addition, the interstellar medium of the galaxies hosting…
The advent of 8m-class telescopes has made galaxies at 1 < z < 4 relatively easy to detect and study. This is a brief and incomplete review of some of the recent results to emerge from surveys at these redshifts. After describing different…
We present the first high redshift (0.3 < z < 1.1) galaxy clusters found by systematically identifying optical low surface brightness fluctuations in the background sky. Using spectra obtained with the Keck telescope and I-band images from…
We investigate the hypothesis that quasars formed together with the stellar populations of early-type galaxies. This hypothesis, in conjunction with the stellar ages of early-type galaxies from population synthesis models, the relation of…
Numerous methods for finding clusters at moderate to high redshifts have been proposed in recent years, at wavelengths ranging from radio to X-rays. In this paper we describe a new method for detecting clusters in two-band optical/near-IR…
We constrain the total accreted mass density in supermassive black holes at z>6, inferred via the upper limit derived from the integrated X-ray emission from a sample of photometrically selected galaxy candidates. Studying galaxies obtained…
We calculate the statistical clustering of Lyman-break galaxies predicted in a selection of currently-fashionable structure formation scenarios. These models are all based on the cold dark matter model, but vary in the amount of dark…
We show that the rapid formation of super-massive black holes in quasars can indeed be understood in terms of major galaxy mergers followed by disk accretion. The necessary short disk evolution time can be achieved provided the disk…
We explore the clustering properties of high redshift dark matter halos, focusing on halos massive enough to host early generations of stars or galaxies at redshift 10 and greater. Halos are extracted from an array of dark matter…
A significant population of quasars have been found to exist within the first Gyr of cosmic time. Most of them have high black hole (BH) masses ($M_{\rm BH} \sim 10^{8-10} M_{\odot}$) with an elevated BH-to-stellar mass ratio compared to…
Theoretical considerations and observational data support the idea that mergers were more frequent in the past. At high redshifts, violent interactions and mergers may be implicated in the origin of Lyman-break galaxies, sub-mm starbursts,…
We use a semi-analytic model of galaxy formation in hierarchical clustering theories to interpret recent data on galaxy formation and evolution, focussing primarily on the recently discovered population of Lyman-break galaxies at $z\simeq…
The large-scale overdensities of galaxies at z~2-7 known as protoclusters are believed to be the sites of cluster formation, and deep, wide survey projects such as the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST) and the Wide Field Infrared…
How and when do galaxies form? Studies of the microwave background radiation reveal that the Universe is spectacularly homogenous at redshift z~1000. Observations of the local Universe reveal that by z=0 much of the luminous matter has…
The high redshifts of the most distant known quasars, and the best estimates of their black hole masses, require that supermassive black holes (SMBHs) must have formed very early in history. Several mechanisms for creating and growing these…
We have shown previously that galaxy counts from the UV to the near-IR are well-fitted by simple evolutionary models where the space density of galaxies remains constant with look-back time while the star-formation rate rises exponentially.…
Supernova theory suggests that black holes of a stellar origin cannot attain masses in the range of 50-135 solar masses in isolation. We argue here that this mass gap is filled in by black holes that grow by gas accretion in dense stellar…
High redshift quasars mark the locations where massive galaxies are rapidly being assembled and forming stars. There is growing evidence that quasar environments are metal-rich out to redshifts of at least five. The gas-phase metallicities…
We consider the physical conditions under which supermassive black holes could have formed inside the first galaxies. Our SPH simulations indicate that metal-free galaxies with a virial temperature ~10^4 K and with suppressed H2 formation…
Blazars are Active Galactic Nuclei characterized by relativistic jets launched in the vicinity of the central engine (i.e. a supermassive black hole), that are oriented close to our line of sight. Their peculiar orientation makes them very…