Charting the evolution of massive galaxies through their stellar populations
by
Anna Gallazzi(DARK Cosmology Centre)
→
Europe/Stockholm
FC 61
FC 61
Description
Galaxy spectra encode important information about the physical properties of galaxy stellar populations, which are the result of their past star formation and assembly processes. I will discuss the Bayesian approach adopted to constrain galaxy stellar ages, metallicities and masses by comparing observed optical absorption-line features with those predicted by a Monte Carlo library of star formation histories.
I will review our understanding of the present-day galaxy populations gained from the application of this technique to a large sample of z=0.1 SDSS galaxies, in combination with their morphology and environment.
Despite the robust picture built at low redshift, understanding the relative importance of the various physical mechanisms potentially responsible for the observed growth of the massive galaxy population requires to directly trace the evolution of stellar populations in higher redshift galaxies (i.e. the progenitors).
In an attempt to do so we have undertaken a deep multi-object spectroscopy program with IMACS aimed at measuring spectral features and estimating physical parameters on individual sources for a representative,
mass-selected sample of z=0.7 galaxies. I will present the first results on the mass-stellar metallicity and mass-age relations at z=0.7 and their evolution to z=0.
Such study will pave the way for a more ambitious stellar population characterization of quiescent galaxies at z=2 with Xshooter.