The Evolution of Stars and Metals in Galaxies: An Optical/Infrared Study of Quasar Absorption Lines

University South Carolina Research Foundation, Columbia SC

Investigators

Abstract

AST 0206197 Kulkarni, V P The origin and evolution of galaxies and the production of chemical elements in the Uni- verse are fundamental issues in astrophysics. Abundance measurements for Galactic stars and interstellar gas are used to reconstruct the chemical and dynamical history of the Milky Way. Advances in ground-based and space-based technologies now enable astronomers to extend such studies to distant galaxies, to sample the epochs when only a few percent of the stars in galaxies had formed. The damped Lyman-alpha absorbers (DLAs) in the spectra of quasars allow us to study the stars and gas in galaxies for redshifts 0 < z < 5, i.e. back to 80-90% of the age of the Universe. The DLAs thus offer an excellent probe of the chemical history of galaxies. The investigator will conduct a study of the chemical and morphological evolution of DLAs, and their implications for galaxy evolution in general.