Rutgers University Astrophysics Seminar

Understanding the physical processes responsible for shaping galaxies into their present forms is still one of the major unsolved problems in astrophysics. One of the most controversial questions regarding the formation and evolution of galaxies is when and how today’s most massive galaxies formed. I will present recent results from state-of-the-art extragalactic surveys showing the increasing role and importance of dust in the distant progenitors of today’s most massive galaxies, and in the general population of massive galaxies in the early universe. I will also show very recent results on the characterization of dusty massive galaxies in the first 5 billion years of cosmic history obtained through the modeling of their spectral energy distributions from the ultra-violet to the far-infrared. I will conclude by presenting exciting on-going projects to further our understanding of galaxy formation and evolution.