Universe Colloquium: The SF2 project: linking the Structure Formation process to the evolution of the galaxy Star Formation activity

by Paola Popesso (TUM)

Wednesday 11 Dec 2013, 11:00 → 12:00 Europe/Berlin

Seminar room, basement (Excellence Cluster Universe)

Achieving an observational determination and a theoretical understanding of the Cosmic Star Formation History (CSFH) is one of the biggest challenges in the study of galaxy formation and evolution. The most striking feature of the CSFH is that it shows a dramatic drop of an order of magnitude in the last 8 Gyrs to the present day after a rather constant phase of high activity. What caused this dramatic change, is still one of the biggest astrophysical questions. As a matter of fact, the progressive decline of the star formation activity of the Universe in the last 8 Gyrs anti-correlates with the late-time growth in the number density of massive dark matter halos. Thus, it is mandatory to ask if the very same process of assembly and growth of structures may be the main cause or one of the major drivers of the 1 order of magnitude decline in the CSFH. The goal of SF2 project is to measure the contribution of dark matter halos of different masses to the CSFH of the Universe. The final aim is to definitively probe whether the environment is one of the key drivers of the galaxy evolution. In this talk, Paola will present the preliminary results of the project and the future developments. Note the special time (start 11:00) for this Universe Colloquium! There will be no wine and cheese event this time.