Astro2020: Empirically Constraining Galaxy Evolution

Peter Behroozi; Matthew R. Becker; Frank C. van den Bosch; Jarle Brinchmann; Charlie Conroy; Mark Dickinson; Christopher M. Hirata; Andrew Hearin; Alexie Leauthaud; Chun Ly; Yao-Yuan Mao; Benjamin P. Moster; Christine O'Donnell; Casey Papovich; Aldo Rodríguez-Puebla; Rachel Somerville; Erik Tollerud; Jeremy Tinker; Yun Wang; Risa H. Wechsler; Charity Woodrum; Ann Zabludoff; Dennis Zaritsky; Andrew R. Zentner; Huanian Zhang

arXiv · 1903.04509

Astro2020: Empirically Constraining Galaxy Evolution

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Abstract

Over the past decade, empirical constraints on the galaxy-dark matter halo connection have significantly advanced our understanding of galaxy evolution. Past techniques have focused on connections between halo properties and galaxy stellar mass and/or star formation rates. Empirical techniques in the next decade will link halo assembly histories with galaxies' circumgalactic media, supermassive black holes, morphologies, kinematics, sizes, colors, metallicities, and transient rates. Uncovering these links will resolve many critical uncertainties in galaxy formation and will enable much higher-fidelity mock catalogs essential for interpreting observations. Achieving these results will require broader and deeper spectroscopic coverage of galaxies and their circumgalactic media; survey teams will also need to meet several criteria (cross-comparisons, public access, and covariance matrices) to facilitate combining data across different surveys. Acting on these recommendations will continue enabling dramatic progress in both empirical modeling and galaxy evolution for the next decade.

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Peter Behroozi, Matthew R. Becker, Frank C. van den Bosch, Jarle Brinchmann, Charlie Conroy, Mark Dickinson, Christopher M. Hirata, Andrew Hearin, Alexie Leauthaud, Chun Ly, Yao-Yuan Mao, Benjamin P. Moster, Christine O'Donnell, Casey Papovich, Aldo Rodríguez-Puebla, Rachel Somerville, Erik Tollerud, Jeremy Tinker, Yun Wang, Risa H. Wechsler, Charity Woodrum, Ann Zabludoff, Dennis Zaritsky, Andrew R. Zentner, Huanian Zhang. 2019-03-11. Astro2020: Empirically Constraining Galaxy Evolution. https://arxiv.org/abs/1903.04509

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