Thomson, Matthew Geoffrey (2011) The role of environment in infrared surveys: from supernovae to clusters. Doctoral thesis (DPhil), University of Sussex.

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Abstract

In this thesis we investigate several aspects of galaxy evolution. We begin by giving a brief
introduction to the subject of galaxy evolution in the context of the Universe as we know
it today. We discuss infrared surveys of galaxies as a tool for studying galaxy evolution.
Initially, we are interested in the large scale environment of galaxies and identify clusters of
galaxies at high redshift. We compare the mass and star-formation properties of galaxies
in the cluster and field environments. To take this further we look to the AKARI all-
sky survey and assess the potential of this survey for future studies. We calculate the
completeness and reliability of the survey. Such wide surveys also allow for the possibility
of studying rare and extreme phenomena. Such phenomena can push theories of galaxy
evolution to their extremes and constrain these theories. We present the discovery of
four such objects in the SWIRE survey. Finally, since environment plays a large role in
the evolution of galaxies we extend this investigation to smaller scales. We investigate
the progenitors of Type Ia Supernovae from a study of their host galaxies, which have
implications for their use as standardisable candles.

Item Type:	Thesis (Doctoral)
Schools and Departments:	School of Mathematical and Physical Sciences > Physics and Astronomy
Subjects:	Q Science > QB Astronomy Q Science > QB Astronomy > QB0349 Theoretical astronomy and celestial mechanics Q Science > QB Astronomy > QB0460 Astrophysics
Depositing User:	Library Cataloguing
Date Deposited:	18 Apr 2011 09:36
Last Modified:	14 Aug 2015 12:48
URI:	http://sro.sussex.ac.uk/id/eprint/6895

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