TSI Seminar

The Rise and Fall of Star Formation in Galaxies

Alison Man

University of British Columbia

Cosmic star formation and supermassive black hole growth peaked at the so-called cosmic noon when the Universe was only a few billion years old. Massive galaxies experience accelerated growth at early cosmic times, and eventually quench their star formation and become more bulge-dominated. Exactly why these transformations take place is unclear. Mergers and active galactic nuclei feedback are often invoked as explanations, as well as environmental effects, though a clear consensus is yet to be reached. I will discuss how multiwavelength observations of stellar populations and the multiphase gas in galaxies near and far will shed new light on the complex problem of galaxy evolution.