I review the outstanding problems in galaxy formation theory, and the role of feedback in resolving them. I address the efficiency of star formation, the galactic star formation rate, and the roles of supernovae and supermassive black holes.

The chronology of galactic bulge and disk formation is studied by analysing the relative contributions of these components to the B band rest–frame luminosity density (LD) at two different cosmological epochs. The luminosity function (LF) of the bulge and disk components at z ~ 0.8 is computed on a galaxy subsample of the final zCOSMOS “bright” catalogue of roughly 20,000 objects with spectroscopic redshift in the COSMOS field. The comparison is then performed on galaxies in the local universe. Our preliminary results show that the LD in the disk component strongly decreases from ~ 80% at z ~ 0.8 to ~ 50% at z = 0, the bulges having a specular behaviour. The observational constraints provided in this work are aimed to discriminate among competing scenarios of galaxy formation and evolution. An appropriate comparison with hydrodynamical semianalytical models will be considered in a future study to understand further the formation and evolution of galaxies.

Broadband spectral energy distribution (SED) fitting is used to study a deep sample of UV-selected sub-L* galaxies at z~2. They are found to be less dusty than L* galaxies, and to contribute more mass to the cosmic mass budget at this epoch than is inferred from shallower high-z surveys. Additionally, SFRs are found to be proportional to stellar masses over three orders of magnitude in mass; this phenomenon can be explained by assuming that new stars form out of gas that co-accretes along with dark matter onto the galaxies' dark matter halos, a scenario that naturally leads to SFRs that gradually increase with time.

Luminous compact blue galaxies (LCBGs) are a diverse class of galaxies characterized by high luminosity, blue color, and high surface brightness that sit at the critical juncture of galaxies evolving from the blue to the red sequence. As part of our multi-wavelength survey of local LCBGs, we have been studying the HI content of these galaxies using both single-dish telescopes and interferometers. Our goals are to determine if single-dish HI observations represent a true measure of the dynamical mass of LCBGs and to look for signatures of recent interactions that may be triggering star formation in LCBGs. Our data show that while some LCBGs are undergoing interactions, many appear isolated. While all LCBGs contain HI and show signatures of rotation, the population does not lie on the Tully-Fisher relation nor can it evolve onto it. Furthermore, the HI maps of many LCBGs show signatures of dynamically hot components, suggesting that we are seeing the formation of a thick disk or spheroid in at least some LCBGs. There is good agreement between the HI and Hα kinematics for LCBGs, and both are similar in appearance to the Hα kinematics of high redshift star-forming galaxies. Our combined data suggest that star formation in LCBGs is primarily quenched by virial heating, consistent with model predictions.

We are carrying out a multifrequency survey of late type galaxies in nearby clusters with the aim to investigate the effects exerted by both the very local and the global cluster environments. We report new VLA-HI images of galaxies in Abell 1367 and study the evolution of their gaseous component. In Abell 85 we perform a deep NIR imaging survey of the brightest spirals projected up to 1.0 Abell radius with the aim of unveiling possible gravitational effects on their stellar disks. Here we show preliminary results of these projects, mainly focused on infalling compact groups of galaxies moving towards their respective cluster centers.

The Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST) is an anticipated to undertake a 10–year, 3π steradian survey that promises to observe millions of new periodic variable stars. We report on a study to determine the efficiency of the LSST to recover the light curve properties of RR Lyrae stars. An LSST light curve simulation tool was used to sample input idealized light curves or RR Lyrae stars observed in SDSS Stripe 82 data, returning each as it would have been observed by LSST, including realistic photometric scatter, limiting magnitudes, and telescope downtime. Our results show that the LSST will be capable of mapping the spatial distributions and chemical compositions of halo stellar overdensities using RR Lyrae discovered across 3π steradians and out to nearly 1.5 Mpc. LSST will thus enable the mapping of halo merger streams, the discovery of new dwarf galaxies, and the mapping galactic halos throughout the Local Group galaxies.

We present a study on the clustering of a stellar mass selected sample of galaxies with stellar masses M* > 1010M⊙ at redshifts 0.4 < z < 2.0, taken from the Palomar Observatory Wide-field Infrared Survey. We examine the clustering properties of these stellar mass selected samples as a function of redshift and stellar mass, and find that galaxies with high stellar masses have a progressively higher clustering strength than galaxies with lower stellar masses. We also find that galaxies within a fixed stellar mass range have a higher clustering strength at higher redshifts. We further estimate the average total masses of the dark matter haloes hosting these stellar-mass selected galaxies. For all galaxies in our sample the stellar-mass-to-total-mass ratio is always lower than the universal baryonic mass fraction and the stellar-mass-to-total-mass ratio is strongly correlated with the halo masses for central galaxies, such that more massive haloes contain a lower fraction of their mass in the form of stars. The remaining baryonic mass is included partially in stars within satellite galaxies in these haloes, and as diffuse hot and warm gas. We also find that, at a fixed stellar mass, the stellar-to-total-mass ratio increases at lower redshifts. This suggests that galaxies at a fixed stellar mass form later in lower mass dark matter haloes, and earlier in massive haloes. We interpret this as a ‘halo downsizing’ effect.

Galaxies are found to inhabit a variety of environments. They are often found in pairs, groups, or clusters. Cosmological simulations predict that these clusters are connected on a larger scale by filaments, but because these large scale structures are so vast, and because they are of intermediate density, observational constraints on their properties are difficult to achieve. We find a large-scale filament in the Abell 1763-Abell 1770 superstructure, determine that the star-formation therein is enhanced, and uncover a bent double lobe radio source midway across the filament. From the bend of this AGN'a jets, we probe the density of the surrounding intra-filament medium (IFM), constrained to be between 1-20x10−29 gm/cm3. This density is consistent with direct probes of the IFM as well as theoretical models.

As part of the Herschel Multi-tiered Extragalactic Survey we have investigated the rest-frame far-infrared (FIR) properties of a sample of more than 4800 Lyman Break Galaxies (LBGs) in the Great Observatories Origins Deep Survey North field. Most LBGs are not detected individually, but we do detect a sub-sample of 12 objects at 0.7 < z < 1.6 and one object at z = 2.0. The LBGs have been selected using color-color diagrams; the ones detected by Herschel SPIRE have redder colors than the others, while the undetected ones have colors consistent with average LBGs at z > 2.5. The spectral energy distributions of the objects detected in the rest-frame FIR are investigated using the code cigale to estimate physical parameters. We include far-UV (FUV) data from GALEX. We find that LBGs detected by SPIRE are high mass, luminous infrared galaxies. It appears that LBGs are located in a triangle-shaped region in the AFUV vs. LogLFUV = 0 diagram limited by AFUV = 0 at the bottom and by a diagonal following the temporal evolution of the most massive galaxies from the bottom-right to the top-left of the diagram. This upper envelop can be used as upper limits for the UV dust attenuation as a function of LFUV. The limits of this region are well explained using a closed-box model, where the chemical evolution of galaxies produces metals, which in turn lead to higher dust attenuation when the galaxies age.

Disk scale length rd and central surface brightness μ0 for a sample of 29955 bright disk galaxies from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey have been analyzed. Cross correlation of the SDSS sample with the LEDA catalogue allowed us to investigate the variation of the scale lengths for different types of disk/spiral galaxies and present distributions and typical trends of scale lengths all the SDSS bands with linear relations that indicate the relation that connect scale lengths in one passband to another. We use the volume corrected results in the r-band and revisit the relation between these parameters and the galaxy morphology, and find the average values 〈rd〉 = 3.8 ± 2.1 kpc and 〈μ0〉 = 20.2 ± 0.7 mag arcsec−2. The derived scale lengths presented here are representative for a typical galaxy mass of 1010.8 M⊙, and the RMS dispersion is larger for more massive galaxies. We analyse the rd–μ0 plane and further investigate the Freeman Law and confirm that it indeed defines an upper limit for μ0 in bright disks (rmag < 17.0), and that disks in late type spirals (T ≥ 6) have fainter central surface brightness. Our results are based on a sample of galaxies in the local universe (z < 0.3) that is two orders of magnitudes larger than any sample previously studied, and deliver statistically significant results that provide a comprehensive test bed for future theoretical studies and numerical simulations of galaxy formation and evolution.

We investigate the age distributions of GC systems in 14 E/S0 galaxies by carrying out a differential comparison of the (g–z) vs. (g–K) two-colour diagrams for different GC systems. No significant distinction is detected in the mean ages of GCs among elliptical galaxies. S0 galaxies on the other hand, show evidence for younger GCs. Surprisingly, this appears to be driven by the more metal-poor clusters. This is suggestive of E type galaxies having assembled most of their GCs in a shorter and earlier period than lenticular galaxies. The latter galaxy type, seems to have a more extended period of GC formation/assembly.

The Galactic neutron star X-ray binary Her X-1 shows a 35-day photometric modulation. Detected across a broad energy range, the modulation is prevalent in X-rays, cycling between low and high states. Since the discovery of the 35-day cycle of Her X-1, the X-ray source has entered and returned from an extended anomalous low state on at least seven occasions. Employing Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer All-Sky Monitor observations, prior predictions that Her X-1 would return from the 2003 - 2004 anomalous low state with a new precession period and accretion luminosity are verified. However, the precession has not been as coherent over recent years as predicted. Potentially there have been more minor anomalous low states between 2004 and the present day.

Cool core clusters of galaxies require strong feedback from their central AGN to offset cooling. We present a study of strong cool core, highly-luminous (most with Lx ≥ 1045 erg s−1), clusters of galaxies in which the mean central AGN jet power must be very high yet no central point X-ray source is detected. Using the unique spatial resolution of Chandra, a sample of 13 clusters is analysed, including A1835, A2204, and one of the most massive cool core clusters, RXCJ1504.1-0248. All of the central galaxies host a radio source, indicating an active nucleus, and no obvious X-ray point source. For all clusters in the sample, the nucleus has an X-ray bolometric luminosity below 2 per cent of that of the entire cluster. We investigate how these clusters can have such strong X-ray luminosities, short radiative cooling-times of the inner intracluster gas requiring strong energy feedback to counterbalance that cooling, and yet have such radiatively-inefficient cores with, on average, Lkin/Lnuc exceeding 200. Explanations of this puzzle carry significant implications for the origin and operation of jets, as well as on establishing the importance of kinetic feedback for the evolution of galaxies and their surrounding medium.

We have studied the large scale distribution of matter in the Chandra Deep Field South on the basis of photometric redshifts and we have identified several over-densities between redshift 0.6 and 2.3. We analyse two of these structures using the deepest X-ray observations ever obtained: 4 Ms with the Chandra satellite and 2.5 Ms with XMM-Newton. We set a very faint upper limit on the X-ray luminosity of a structure at redshift 1.6, and we find an extended X-ray emission from a structure at redshift 0.96 of which we can estimate the gas temperature and make a comparison with the scaling relations between the X-ray luminosity and mass or temperature of high redshift galaxy clusters.

Multi-epoch JHKS photometry is used to identify large amplitude variables and to study the AGB population of NGC 6822. 50 Mira variables, ranging in period from 128 to 998 days, have been identified. The majority of these are around 1 to 4 Gyr old, but a significantly younger component is also identified.

This summary is from the perspective of a person who is interested in galaxy assembly and works from an observational low redshift perspective, using evidence from the components of our Galaxy: the thin and thick disks, the bulge and the halo.