Supermassive black holes (SMBH) are now thought to exist at the center nearly all massive galaxies. Not only are they thought to be ubiquitous, but it was also discovered nearly two decades ago that the mass of these SMBHs correlate strongly with properties of their host galaxies including bulge stellar velocity dispersion (MBH-sigma) and bulge luminosity (MBH-Lbulge). This correlation was not expected due to the tiny size of the SMBH gravitational sphere of influence compared to the size of the host galaxy, and imply a connection between the two, but this connection is still not well-understood. One step toward understanding this connection is to accurately measure the masses of these black holes. Two of the most common direct SMBH mass measurement techniques are stellar dynamical modeling (SDM), which generally only applies to quiescent galaxies, and reverberation mapping (RM), which can only be applied to active galactic nuclei (AGN) that exhibit broadened emission lines. Due to the unknown geometry of the region that produces these broad lines, the whole RM sample of black hole masses generally needs to be multiplied by a constant called the f-factor to bring it into agreement with the SDM sample on the MBH-sigma relation. It is unknown how well this f-factor, being a population average, applies to individual RM masses. It would therefore be useful to measure an SMBH mass with both methods simultaneously to test whether they produce the same black hole mass. However, because the RM and SDM techniques usually apply to galaxies that are not possible for both, this has only been attempted twice before (NGC 3227 and NGC 4151). The purpose of this dissertation is to apply SDM to the SMBH at the center of NGC 6814 for which there already exists an RM mass. This makes it only the third broad-lined AGN for which an SDM mass has been derived. In order to perform SDM accurately, the distance to the galaxy needs to be well-constrained as the error in the SDM mass scales linearly with distance. Because no adequate distance measurements already exist, the first half of this dissertation is devoted to deriving a Cepheid distance to NGC 6814 from V- and I-band HST WFC3 time series photometry. We measure the distance to NGC 6814 to be 17.54 +1.44/-1.33 Mpc. In the second half, we incorporate that distance measurement into our stellar dynamical modeling on Gemini NIFS+Altair IFU data of NGC 6814's central 1.55''x1.55''. We derive a mass of 1.19 +37.57/-1.17 x108 solar masses, and best fit mass-to-light ratio of 0.948 +0.032/-0.208 in solar units. This mass is nearly an order of magnitude larger than the RM mass but has a 3-sigma range spanning nearly three orders of magnitude. We describe possible reasons for our larger-than-expected mass value, such as the existence of a bar, which would not be well-modeled by an axisymmetric dynamical code. Finally, we describe future steps that may be taken to better constrain the mass, such as creating more models to further explore parameter space.

Within the currently well-established ΛCDM cosmological framework we still lack a satisfactory un- derstanding of the processes that trigger, regulate and eventually quench star formation on galactic scales. Gas flows (including inflows from the cosmic web and supernovae-driven outflows) are con- sidered to act as self-regulatory mechanisms, generating the scaling relations between stellar mass, star formation rate and metallicity observed in the local Universe by large spectroscopic surveys. These surveys, however, have so far been limited by the availability of only one spectrum per galaxy. The aim of this dissertation is to expand the study of star formation and chemical abundances to resolved scales within galaxies by using integral field spectroscopy (IFS) data, mostly from the ongoing SDSS- IV MaNGA survey. In the first part of this thesis I demonstrate the ubiquitous presence of extended low ionisation emission-line regions (LIERs) in both late- and early-type galaxies. By studying the Hα equivalent width and diagnostic line ratios radial profiles, together with tracers of the underlying stellar popula- tion, I show that LIERs are not due to a central point source but to hot evolved (post-asymptotic giant branch) stars. In light of this, I suggest a new classification scheme for galaxies based on their line emission. By analysing the colours, star formation rates, morphologies, gas and stellar kinematics and environmental properties of galaxies with substantial LIER emission, I identify two distinct popula- tions. Galaxies where the central regions are LIER-like, but show star formation at larger radii are late types in which star formation is slowly quenched inside-out. This transformation is associated with massive bulges. Galaxies dominated by LIER emission at all radii, on the other hand, are red-sequence galaxies harbouring a residual cold gas component, acquired mostly via external accretion. Quiescent galaxies devoid of line emission reside in denser environments, which suggests environmental effects as a likely cause for the existence of line-less galaxies on the red sequence. In the second part of this dissertation I focus on the study of resolved chemical abundances by characterising the gas phase oxygen and nitrogen abundance gradients in a large sample of star forming galaxies. I analyse the deviations from an exponential profile at small and large radii and the dependence of the gradients on stellar mass. These findings are interpreted in the context of the inside-out paradigm of disc growth. I then demonstrate the necessity of gas flows, which are responsible for the observed flattening of the metallicity and N/O ratio gradients at large radii. Finally, I present a case study based on one nearby galaxy (NGC 628), in which I combine IFS and cold gas data to derive a spatially resolved metal budget and estimate the mass of metals lost by the galaxy throughout its life- time. By using simple physically-motivated models of chemical evolution I infer the average outflow loading factor to be of order unity.

Cette thèse porte sur le rôle des amas de galaxies dans la cosmologie et l'évolution des galaxies. J'utilise des observations photométriques et spectroscopiques multi-longueur d'onde (optiques, mm, proche/moyen-IR) que j'analyse avec des méthodes statistiques. Pour un échantillon d'amas détectés par le satellite Planck et ré-observés avec le télescope optique Gemini, j'étudie la dynamique des galaxies dans les amas afin de déterminer leur masse et de comprendre les erreurs systématiques sur ces estimations, d'une importance cruciale dans la cosmologie à l'heure actuelle. Dans le cadre de la collaboration CARLA (Clusters Around Radio Loud AGN), j’étudie les populations stellaires des galaxies dans les amas et les proto-amas dans leurs premières phases d'assemblage (z>1.4), afin d'étudier la suppression de la formation des étoiles et le rôle de l'environnement sur l'évolution des galaxies. / This thesis focuses on the role of galaxy clusters in cosmology and galaxy evolution. I use multi-wavelenght photometric and spectroscopic observations (optical, mm, near/mid- IR) which I analyse with statistical methods. For a sample of clusters detected by the Planck satellite and re-observed with the Gemini optical telescope, I have studied the dynamics of member galaxies to probe their mass and understand possible systematics affecting such estimates, of crucial importance in cluster cosmology at present. Within the CARLA (Clusters Around Radio Loud AGN) collaboration, I examine morphology and stellar populations of galaxies in clusters and proto-clusters in their first assembly phases (z>1.4), with the aim of shedding light on the quenching of star formation and the role of the environment on galaxy evolution.

Cette thèse a pour objectif de contribuer à comprendre l'histoire de formation de notre Galaxie, la Voie lactée, en utilisant pour traceurs des objets parmi les plus vieux de l'univers que sont les amas globulaires, amas d'étoiles denses liées gravitationnellement, et les étoiles de champ.Selon le modèle de croissance hiérarchique des structures, les galaxies se construisent, en partie, par la fusion de galaxies moins massives. La Voie lactée ne fait pas exception et l’histoire de ses accrétions peut se lire également dans sa population d’amas globulaires qui contient à la fois des amas globulaires formés en son sein et d'autres d'origine extragalactique. Si les amas globulaires les plus distants du centre Galactique sont souvent associés au halo externe, dans les régions plus internes, où se situe la plupart de la masse stellaire de notre Galaxie, l'association d'amas globulaires avec les populations stellaires est encore très largement débattue.Dans ce travail, nous utilisons le lien étroit entre les amas globulaires et les étoiles de champ ainsi que des simulations numériques pour tenter de lever l'ambiguïté sur l'origine in situ ou accrétée de ces objets et reconstruire l'histoire d'accrétion de la Voie Lactée. Dans un premier temps, nous étudions la distribution spatiale, la cinématique et l'abondance chimique des amas globulaires à forte métallicité. Nous montrons que leurs propriétés spatiales, dynamiques et chimiques sont en bon accord avec celles de la population stellaire du disque épais de la Galaxie. Nous suggérons alors une époque commune de formation et d'évolution entre les amas globulaires riches en métaux et le disque épais vieux de la Galaxie. Dans un second temps, nous analysons l'efficacité des diagnostiques cinématiques qui ont été proposés pour identifier les débris d'accrétion parmi les étoiles de champ et nous discutons leurs applications aux amas globulaires galactiques. Pour ce faire, nous utilisons des simulations numériques auto-consistantes qui modélisent l'accrétion d'une ou plusieurs galaxies satellites dans un potentiel galactique. Nous montrons, d'une part, que les intégrales du mouvement ne sont pas conservées durant le processus d'accrétion et qu'ainsi, à l'issue de la fusion, les étoiles et les amas globulaires accrétés ne retiennent pas l'information initiale sur les propriétés orbitales de leurs satellites progéniteurs. D'autre part, l’interaction avec des galaxies satellites chauffe les populations in situ (étoiles et amas globulaires) qui, en réaction, peuplent spatialement le halo galactique et les régions préférentiellement occupées par des objets d'origine extragalactique dans les espaces cinématiques.En conséquence, ce travail montre que, dans le contexte de l'arrivée des données Gaia, l’identification des débris d’accrétion au sein de la Voie lactée à l’aide des seuls diagnostiques cinématiques sera difficile, et nécessitera l’utilisation de mesure d’abondances chimiques détaillées. / The goal of this thesis is to contribute to understand the formation history of our Galaxy, the Milky Way, using as tracers some among the oldest objects in the universe, the globular clusters, and field stars.In the LambdaCDM paradigm, one of the main mechanisms of galaxy growth is by means of satellite accretion. The Milky Way is no exception and the history of its accretions can be read also in its population of globular clusters, containing both in-situ and accreted members. While for clusters at large distances from the Galactic centre an extragalactic origin is often proposed, in the inner regions, where most of the stellar mass of our Galaxy lies, the link between globular clusters and stellar populations is still very widely debated.In this work, we use the close link between globular clusters and field stars, as well as numerical simulations, to try to remove the ambiguity on the in-situ or accreted origin of these objects and to reconstruct the accretion history of the Milky Way. As a first step, we study the spatial distribution, kinematics and chemical abundances of metal-rich ([Fe/H] > -1) globular clusters. We show that their spatial, kinematic and chemical properties are in good agreement with those of the stellar population of the thick disk of the Galaxy. We then suggest that metal-rich globular clusters and Galactic thick disk share the same epoch of formation and evolution. Secondly, we analyze the overall efficiency of kinematic diagnostics that have been proposed to identify merger debris among the field stars and discuss their application to the galactic globular cluster system. To do this, we use self-consistent numerical simulations that model the accretion of one or more satellite galaxies in a Milky Way-like potential. On the one hand, we show that the integrals of motion are not conserved during the accretion process. As a result, after the merger, accreted stars and globular clusters do not retain the initial information about the orbital properties of their progenitor satellites. On the other hand, mergers of small galaxies and tidal interactions may cause the heating of the in-situ populations (stars and globular clusters) which, in response, populate the galactic halo and the regions in the kinematic spaces preferentially occupied by objects with an extragalactic origin.In the context of the arrival of Gaia data, this work shows that the identification of debris of past accretion events experienced by the Milky Way using only kinematic diagnostics will be extremely challenging. Detailed chemical abundances and/or ages will be fundamental to disentangle the accreted or in-situ nature of the Galactic stellar populations.

Nós realizamos um estudo estatístico do comportamento de perfis de cor em bandas largas (UBV) para 257 galáxias espirais do tipo Sbc, ordinárias e barradas, utilizando dados obtidos através de fotometria fotoelétrica de abertura, disponíveis na literatura (Longo & de Vaucouleurs 1983,1985). Nós determinamos os gradientes de cor (B-V) e (U-B) para as galáxias da amostra total, bem como os índices de cor (B-V) e (U-B) de bojos e discos separadamente, utilizando métodos estatísticos robustos. Utilizamos uma técnica de decomposição bi-dimensional para modelar os perfis de brilho de bojos e discos em imagens dos arquivos do ``Digitised Sky Survey' (DSS), obtendo parâmetros estruturais característicos para 39 galáxias. A aquisição de imagens de 14 galáxias no Laboratório Nacional de Astrofísica permitiu-nos realizar um estudo fotométrico comparativo, e atestar a validade dos resultados obtidos neste estudo. Entre os principais resultados obtidos, destacam-se: (i) - 65% das galáxias possuem gradientes de cor negativos (mais vermelhos no centro), 25% possuem gradientes nulos, e 10% apresentam gradientes positivos; (ii) - galáxias que apresentam gradientes de cor nulos tendem a ser barradas; (iii) - os índices de cor ao longo das galáxias com gradientes nulos são similares aos índices de cor dos discos das galáxias com gradientes negativos; (iv) - confirmamos a correlação entre os índices de cor de bojos e discos, já obtida por outros autores; (v) - a ausência de correlação entre os gradientes de cor e de metalicidade sugere que o excesso de galáxias barradas com gradientes de cor nulos ou positivos reflete uma diferença no comportamento da idade média da população estelar ao longo de galáxias barradas e ordinárias; (vi) - galáxias com gradientes de cor nulos ou positivos têm uma leve tendência a apresentar bojos maiores e com maior concentração central de luz; e (vii) - confirmamos a correlação entre as escalas de comprimento de bojos e discos, já obtida por outros autores. Estes resultados são compatíveis e favoráveis ao cenário de evolução secular, no qual barras produzem fluxos radiais de massa para as regiões centrais de galáxias, não somente homogeneizando as populações estelares ao longo de galáxias, produzindo discos e bojos com índices de cor semelhantes, mas também contribuindo para a formação e/ou construção de bojos. / We have done a statistical study of the behaviour of the broadband color profiles (UBV) for 257 Sbc galaxies, barred and unbarred, collecting data obtained through photoeletric aperture photometry, available in the literature (Longo & de Vaucouleurs 1983,1985). We have determined (B-V) and (U-B) color gradients for the total sample of galaxies, as well as (B-V) and (U-B) color indices of bulges and disks separately, using robust statistical methods. Applying a bi-dimensional decomposition technique to model the brightness profiles of bulges and disks in images from the Digitised Sky Survey (DSS), we obtained characteristic structural parameters for 39 galaxies. The acquisition of images for 14 galaxies in the Laboratório Nacional de Astrofísica (Astrophysics National Laboratory) allowed us to do a comparative photometric study, and verify the validity of the results obtained in this work. Among the main results obtained, we point out: (i) - 65% of the galaxies have negative color gradients (reddish inward), 25% have zero gradients, and 10% show positive gradients; (ii) - galaxies that show zero color gradients tend to be barred; (iii) - the color indices along the galaxies with zero color gradients are similar to the color indices of the disks of the galaxies with negative color gradients; (iv) - we confirm the correlation between the color indices of bulges and disks, already found by other authors; (v) - the absence of correlation between color and metallicity gradients suggests that the excess of barred galaxies with zero or positive color gradients reflects a difference in the behaviour of the mean age of the stellar population along barred and unbarred galaxies; (vi) - galaxies with zero or positive color gradients show a slight tendency of having larger bulges, with a greater central concentration of light; and (vii) - we confirm the correlation between the scale lenghts of bulges and disks, already found by other authors. These results are compatible and favourable to the secular evolutionary scenario, in which stellar bars induce radial mass fluxes to the central regions of galaxies, not only turning homogeneous the stellar populations along the galaxies, producing disks and bulges with similar color indices, but also contributing to the formation and/or building of galactic bulges.

Bars are common in disc galaxies along with many associated structures such as disc-like bulges, boxy/peanut bulges, rings, etc. They are a sign of maturity of disc galaxies and can play an important role in their evolution. In this thesis, I investigate the specific role bars play in quenching the star formation in, and shaping of their host galaxies. In order to test how bars affect their host galaxies, I study the discs, bars and bulges of what is currently the largest sample of barred galaxies (~3,500), selected with visual morphologies from the Galaxy Zoo project. I perform multi-wavelength and multi-component photometric decomposition, with the novel GALFITM software. With the detailed structural analysis I obtain physical quantities such as the bar- and bulge-to-total luminosity ratios, effective radii, Sérsic indices and colours of the individual components. I find a clear difference in the colours of the components, the discs being bluer than the bars and bulges. An overwhelming fraction of bulge components have Sérsic indices consistent with being disc-like bulges. I compare the barred galaxies with a mass- and environment-matched volume-limited sample of unbarred galaxies, finding that the discs of unbarred galaxies are bluer compared to the discs of barred galaxies, while there is only a small difference in the colours of the bulges. I suggest that this is evidence for secular evolution via bars that leads to the build-up of disc-like bulges and to the quenching of star formation in the galaxy discs. I identify a subsample of unbarred galaxies that are better fitted with an additional component, identified as an inner lens/oval. I find that their structural properties are similar to barred galaxies, and speculate that lenses might be former bars. Using the decompositions, I identify a sample of 271 late-type galaxies with curious bars that are off-centre from the disc. I measure offsets up to 2.5 kpc between the photometric centres of the stellar disc and stellar bar, which are in good agreement with predictions from simulations of dwarf-dwarf tidal interactions. The median mass of these galaxies is 10^9.6 M_⊙, and they are similar to the Large Magellanic Cloud, which also has an offset bar. Very few high mass galaxies with significant bulges show offsets, thus I suggest that the self-gravity of a significant bulge prevents the disc and bar from getting displaced with respect to each other. I conduct a search for companions to test the hypothesis of tidal interactions, but find that a similar fraction of galaxies with offset bars have companions within 100 kpc as galaxies with centred bars. Since many of these galaxies appear isolated, interactions might not be the only way to produce an offset bar. One suggested alternative is that the dark matter haloes surrounding the galaxies are lopsided, which distorts the potential, and imprints the lopsidedness and offsets onto the galaxy discs. I investigate the asymmetries in the kinematics of a subsample of such galaxies using data from the MaNGA survey, and find that the perturbations in the haloes are ~ 6% for both galaxies with off-centre and centred bars. I also measure the amplitude of non-circular motions in the outer discs due to an oval potential and find only minor departures from circularity, suggesting that the dark matter haloes are consistent with being spherical (axis ratio q ≳ 0.96). Therefore, the lopsidedness of the dark matter haloes cannot be the origin of the offsets. Either small companions are missed due to the incompleteness of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey spectroscopic survey, or interactions with dark matter satellites might explain the offsets. Modeling the kinematics of these galaxies, I find that the Hα gas rotation is centred closer to the centre of the bar than the centre of stellar rotation, suggesting that, in general, the bars are located closer to the dynamical centres of these galaxies than the discs. This implies that the discs are offset in these galaxies, not the bars. If offsets are characteristic of low mass galaxies only, high mass galaxies show vertically extended bars, known as boxy/peanut bulges. I investigate, for the first time, the formation and evolution of these structures associated to bars, from z≈0 to z=1. I compare two samples of moderately inclined galaxies with masses M_* > 10¹⁰ M_⊙, imaged by the Sloan Digital Sky Survey and the Hubble Space Telescope. Using a novel technique to classify bar isophotes, and based on the visual inspection of three expert astronomers, I find an evolving fraction of galaxies having boxy/peanut bulges from 30% at z≈0 to ~ 0% at z=1, and a strong correlation with stellar mass. I find 26 galaxies (15 at higher redshifts) in the phase of bar buckling, the mechanism proposed to form boxy/peanut bulges. The peak redshift of buckling is z≈0.75, where the bar buckling fraction is 4 times higher than in the local Universe. My observations suggest that many, if not all, of the boxy/peanut bulges are formed via buckling, ~ 2 Gyr after bar formation, with the buckling phase lasting for approximately 0.8 Gyr. I discuss my findings in the context of the evolution of barred galaxies and propose ideas for future work - applying similar decomposition techniques to higher redshift, and better resolution datasets, using integral field spectroscopic data to study the stellar populations of barred galaxies in greater detail, as well as a novel project to identify large nuclear discs in galaxies.

The work in this thesis concerns the host galaxies of a class of luminous, yet heavily-obscured, quasars at z$\sim$2 - a peak epoch of both star formation and black hole accretion. Here, we seek to characterise the star-forming properties of these obscured quasars to improve our understanding of galaxy-quasar coevolution. A key issue facing host galaxy studies among populations of the most luminous quasars is being able to disentangle the galaxy emission from that of the quasar. With combined observations from the Dark Energy Survey (DES), the VISTA Hemisphere Survey (VHS) and the UKIDSS Large Area Survey (ULAS), we exploit the quasar dust extinction in our sample to demonstrate that the quasar and galaxy emission can be separated via SED-fitting in these systems. By isolating the galaxy emission in this way, we estimate instantaneous SFRs for the galaxies in our sample, based on the restframe UV emission. In general, we find obscured quasars to reside in prodigiously star forming hosts with 25 $\lesssim$ SFR$_{\rm{UV}}$ $\lesssim$ 365 M$_{\rm{\odot}}$yr$^{-1}$. Furthermore, we show that the most luminous quasars reside in the most actively star-forming galaxies, potentially indicating the same gas supply is fuelling both star formation and accretion on to the black hole. Having isolated the galaxy emission via SED-fitting, we test our ability to model the restframe-UV emission of obscured z$\sim$2 quasar hosts in 2D. Until now, morphological studies of luminous quasar hosts have typically been limited to low redshifts or relied on space-based imaging. By making use of a multi-band modelling code however, we demonstrate that it is possible to accurately infer several galaxy properties (i.e. the position of the galaxy in the image, (X,Y), its radius, R$_{\rm{eff}}$, axis ratio, q$_{\rm{GAL}}$, angle of orientation, $\theta$, and S\'rsic index, $n$), based on current ground-based imaging, accross the full range of galaxy and quasar luminosities considered in our sample. This potentially opens the door to future ground-based morphological studies of obscured quasars at high redshift. At sub-mm wavelengths, thermal emission from cold dust peaks, meaning these wavelengths can be used to probe the dust heating by star formation, effectively giving a measure of the obscured star formation in the galaxy. Using targeted observations from SCUBA-2, we trace the 850$\mu$m emission in a sample of obscured quasars, finding evidence for prodigious star formation $ > $ 2400 M$_$yr$^$ in three of the 19 quasars in our sample. The detection rate of our obscured quasar sample is found to be consistent with that of both more heavily-obscured Hot-DOGs and UV-luminous quasars, once the samples have been matched in luminosity and redshift. Furthermore, we find evidence that several of the obscured quasars lie in overdense regions of the sky ($\sim$ 3 times denser than sub-mm blank fields).

A majority of disk galaxies host stellar bars that regulate and amplify the flow of angular momentum, J, between disks and their parent dark matter (DM) halos. These bars constitute the prime factor driving internal galaxy evolution. Yet, a non-negligible fraction of disks lack this morphological feature, which led to adoption of the Hubble Fork Diagram. The complex evolution of barred galaxies has been studied by means of numerical simulations, complemented by observations. Despite prolonged efforts, many fundamental questions remain, in part because cosmological simulations still lack the necessary resolution to account for resonant interactions and simulations of isolated galaxies have ignored the cosmological spin of halos. The goal of my thesis is to analyze the J-redistribution in barred galaxies embedded in spinning DM halos, and quantify the DM response. Using high-resolution N-body stellar and DM numerical simulations, I model and analyze the dynamical and secular evolution of stellar bars in disk galaxies and their DM counterparts —induced DM bars in spinning halos with a range of cosmological spin parameter λ ~ 0-0.09. Using a novel method to create initial conditions for the self-consistent equilibrium disk-halo systems, and evolving them for 10 Gyr, I follow the basic parameters of stellar and DM bars, including their observational corollaries. My conclusions are based on nonlinear orbit analysis which quantifies the orbit trapping by the resonances. My main results emphasize a new effect: the DM halo spin has a profound effect on the evolution of stellar and DM bars. Specifically, with increasing λ in the prograde direction: (1) stellar bars develop faster dynamically, but (2) experience a reduced growth during the secular phase of evolution, and basically dissolve for λ > 0.06. These disks can represent the unbarred branch of galaxies on the Hubble Fork Diagram; (3) the stellar bar pattern speeds level off and lose less J; and (4) the stellar bars exhibit ratios of corotation-to-bar radii, RCR/Rbar > 2, representing the so-called slow bars without offset dust lanes. Furthermore, I find that (5) the induced DM bars reach maximal amplitudes which strongly depend on λ, while those of the stellar bars do not; (6) efficiency of resonance trapping of DM orbits by the DM bars, their masses and volumes — all increase with λ; (7) contribution of resonant transfer of J to the DM halo increases with λ as well. (8) prograde and retrograde DM orbits play different roles in J-transfer. (9) Finally, I find that dependence of DM response on λ has important implications for a direct detection of DM and of the associated stellar tracers, such as 'streamers.' Additional results relate the above analysis of corotating disks and halos with those of the counter-rotating ones.

The main focus of this thesis is the investigation of an interesting new population of massive passively evolving galaxies found at high redshifts. We use a sample of these galaxies at redshifts 1<z<2 drawn from the Gemini Deep Deep Survey sample and measure their structural parameters based on the Hubble Space Telescope imaging in the rest frame visible and ultraviolet wavelength range. Our analysis shows that a fraction of these systems are very compact, with effective radii of R_e<1 kpc, even when observed in rest frame visible light. The average size of these objects is 2-5 times smaller than the typical size of an early-type galaxy of similar mass found locally. We combine the results from our morphological analysis with data from published spectroscopic samples of quiescent systems with known structural parameters. Analysis of these data for galaxies over the redshift range 0<z<2.5 shows that passively evolving galaxies are continuously and gradually growing in size. We also find smooth evolution of the stellar mass density within the central kiloparsec of these systems. The stellar mass density grows by a factor of 3 from z=0 to z~2.5. None of the models proposed to drive the structural evolution of early-type objects can explain all the observed aspects of this process. Because these massive compact galaxies have such small angular sizes, future studies of these systems will benefit from adaptive optics. In order to compile a large statistical sample of these objects suitable for adaptive optics follow-up, we first need to find a large number of targets with nearby bright natural guide stars. As a first step in this process, we describe the properties of a set of one square degree regions of the sky we have located that have a rare combination of high stellar surface density and low levels of extinction. We demonstrate that the adaptive optics-related properties of these fields are in some cases orders of magnitude better than those of existing deep fields.

The main focus of this thesis is the investigation of an interesting new population of massive passively evolving galaxies found at high redshifts. We use a sample of these galaxies at redshifts 1<z<2 drawn from the Gemini Deep Deep Survey sample and measure their structural parameters based on the Hubble Space Telescope imaging in the rest frame visible and ultraviolet wavelength range. Our analysis shows that a fraction of these systems are very compact, with effective radii of R_e<1 kpc, even when observed in rest frame visible light. The average size of these objects is 2-5 times smaller than the typical size of an early-type galaxy of similar mass found locally. We combine the results from our morphological analysis with data from published spectroscopic samples of quiescent systems with known structural parameters. Analysis of these data for galaxies over the redshift range 0<z<2.5 shows that passively evolving galaxies are continuously and gradually growing in size. We also find smooth evolution of the stellar mass density within the central kiloparsec of these systems. The stellar mass density grows by a factor of 3 from z=0 to z~2.5. None of the models proposed to drive the structural evolution of early-type objects can explain all the observed aspects of this process. Because these massive compact galaxies have such small angular sizes, future studies of these systems will benefit from adaptive optics. In order to compile a large statistical sample of these objects suitable for adaptive optics follow-up, we first need to find a large number of targets with nearby bright natural guide stars. As a first step in this process, we describe the properties of a set of one square degree regions of the sky we have located that have a rare combination of high stellar surface density and low levels of extinction. We demonstrate that the adaptive optics-related properties of these fields are in some cases orders of magnitude better than those of existing deep fields.