ACP Seminar (Astronomy - Cosmology - Particle Physics)

Speaker: Jean Coupon (Tohoku U.)
Title: New insights on galaxy evolution since z ~ 1.2 from the CFHT Legacy Survey
Date (JST): Thu, Jul 28, 2011, 13:30 - 15:00
Place: Seminar Room A
Related File: 494.pdf
Abstract: In the last few years, it is has become increasingly apparent that the mass of dark matter haloes in which galaxies reside
is a key factor in regulating their formation and evolution. It is now evident that galaxies in low- and high-mass haloes experience very distinct fate. In this presentation, I will first explain why studying the relationship between stellar mass and halo mass brings valuable clues about physical processes involved in galaxy evolution. In the context of the halo model, the simple - but powerful - assumption that the number of galaxies only depends on halo mass, the halo occupation distribution (HOD) model, leads to an accurate analytic prediction of the galaxy distribution. Reciprocally, interpreting galaxy clustering using the HOD model allows to make a direct comparison between galaxy properties and halo mass. By using accurate galaxy clustering measurements over 133 deg2 of the “Wide” component of the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope Legacy Survey (CFHTLS), we performed a detailed investigation of the changing relationship between galaxies and the dark matter haloes they inhabit from z ~ 1.2. I will then pursue my talk with a presentation of this unique data set combining depth, large area and high image quality, and I will finally present our results and their implications for galaxy evolution.