Entender como as galáxias se formam e evoluem ao longo do tempo é um dos maiores desafio da cosmologia moderna. Vários processos estão presentes na formação de galáxias, tais como o feedback de supernovas e núcleos galácticos ativos, evolução química e dinâmica, e também efeitos ambientais. Esta tese abrange estes processos, a partir de um ponto de vista observacional. A Via Láctea tem um papel fundamental na compreensão dos vários processos envolvidos na formação de uma galáxia, e começamos nosso projeto estudando nossa própria galáxia. Diferentes processos deixam assinaturas típicas na distribuição de velocidades e metalicidades das estrelas. Por esta razão, combinando cinemática e abundâncias químicas, foi possível determinar a origem de uma amostra de estrelas velhas e ricas em metais. Compreender como e onde essas estrelas se formaram está intimamente relacionado com mecanismos presentes na evolução do disco Galáctico. Apesar de não podermos observar estrelas individuais em galáxias distantes, somos capazes de inferir a história de formação destas galáxias combinando modelos de população estelar simples, de forma a reproduzir o espectro observado. Usando esta metodologia, foi possível traçar a história de formação estelar de galáxias elípticas, e dessa forma restringir os mecanismos de feedback que regulam a formação de estrelas em halos. No cenário Lambda-CDM, as estruturas menores são formadas primeiro, e então elas se agrupam, formando assim estruturas cada vez maiores. As galáxias, ao serem incorporadas à sistemas maiores, sofrem os efeitos de diversos processos que atuam em ambientes de alta densidade, mudando assim suas propriedades. Desta forma, a evolução das galáxias e a formação de estruturas em grande escala andam lado a lado, como mostramos em nosso estudo de propriedades de galáxias em grupos. Exploramos a distribuição espacial das galáxias na vizinhança de grupos, e também usamos a distribuição de velocidades das galáxias para determinar o estágio evolutivo do grupo. Foram encontradas correlações importantes entre o estágio evolutivo do grupo e as populações de galáxias que nestes residem. / Understanding the way galaxies form and evolve throughout the cosmic time remains one of the greatest challenges of modern cosmology. Several processes are known to play a role in the formation of galaxies, such as feedback from supernovae and active galactic nuclei, chemical and dynamical evolution and environmental effects. This thesis encompasses these processes, from an observational point of view. The Milky Way plays a pivotal role in understanding the various processes involved in the formation of a galaxy, and we start our understanding program by studying our own Galaxy. Different formation processes leave typical signatures in the velocity and metallicity distribution of stars. For this reason, we were able to trace the origin of old and metal-rich stars by combining their kinematics and chemical abundances. Understanding how and where these stars were formed is closely related to mechanisms driving the evolution of the Galactic disk. Although we cannot observe individual stars in distant galaxies, only the integrated spectra, we are able to infer the mass assembly history of galaxies by combining single stellar population (SSP) models that reproduce the observed spectrum. Using this methodology, we traced the star formation history of elliptical galaxies and, by studying the signatures left in the star formation history, we were able to constrain the feedback mechanisms regulating the star formation within halos. In the LCDM scenario, small scale structures are formed first, and then they merge forming larger and larger structures. Therefore, galaxies grow into more and more massive systems, and processes operating in these high-density environments change their properties. For this reason, galaxy evolution and formation of large-scale structures go hand in hand, as we show in our study of properties of galaxies in groups. We explored the spatial distribution of galaxies within and in the surrounding of groups, and we also used the velocity distribution of galaxies as a probe of the evolutionary stage of the group. We found important correlations between the evolutionary stage of the group and the population of galaxies residing within it.

<p>Galaxies live in extended, non-luminous haloes of dark matter. How dark matter haloes are affected by environment has been examined using cosmological simulations, and resulting predictions tested for isolated and cluster galaxies. However, predictions have have yet to be tested in the intermediate density environment of galaxy groups. We present a weak galaxy-galaxy lensing analysis of galaxies in groups, with the aim of examining how the group environment affects the dark matter haloes of member galaxies. In particular, we address three questions: 1) whether the dark matter haloes of galaxies in groups are truncated relative to galaxies in the field, 2) how dark matter is distributed within the group environment and 3) whether the halo-to-stellar mass ratio is different between field and group galaxies. We use a basic stacking method and a maximum likelihood technique to parameterize the dark matter haloes of group and field galaxies. Our samples of intermediate redshift group and field galaxies were identified by the Group Environment and Evolution Collaboration in the CNOC2 Redshift Survey. For these data, we measure the average radial extent of a group galaxy dark matter halo to be $s_* = 54^{+114}_{-39}$ kpc, which hints at the possible truncation of galaxy haloes in the group environment. We develop a method of examining the distribution of dark matter within the galaxy group itself, but obtain inconclusive results. Our preliminary analysis of star formation efficiency (halo-to-stellar mass ratio) indicates group galaxies may be less efficient at forming stars compared to galaxies in the field. Larger data samples are required in order to conduct a more rigorous analysis.</p> / Master of Science (MSc)

I have investigated the properties of the large scale structure of the nearby Universe using data from the Galaxy and Mass Assembly survey (GAMA). I generated complementary halo mass estimates for all groups in the GAMA Galaxy Group Catalogue (G³C) using a modified caustic mass estimation algorithm. On average, the caustic mass estimates agree with dynamical mass estimates within a factor of 2 in 90% of groups. A volume limited sample of these groups and galaxies are used to generate the large scale structure catalogue. An adapted minimal spanning tree algorithm is used to identify and classify structures, detecting 643 filaments that measure up to 200 Mpc/h, each containing 8 groups on average. A secondary population of smaller coherent structures, dubbed `tendrils,' that link filaments together or penetrate into voids are also detected. On average, tendrils measure around 10 Mpc/h and contain 6 galaxies. The so-called line correlation function is used to prove that tendrils are real structures rather than accidental alignments. A population of isolated void galaxies are also identified. The properties of filaments and tendrils in observed and mock GAMA galaxy catalogues agree well. I go on to show that voids from other surveys that overlap with GAMA regions contain a large number of galaxies, primarily belonging to tendrils. This implies that void sizes are strongly dependent on the number density and sensitivity limits of the galaxies observed by a survey. Finally, I examine the properties of galaxies in different environments, finding that galaxies in filaments tend to be early-type, bright, spheroidal, and red whilst those in voids are typically the opposite: blue, late-type, and more faint. I show that group mass does not correlate with the brightness and morphologies of galaxies and that the primary driver of galaxy evolution is stellar mass.

The principal observational contribution of this thesis is an innovative technique, using spatially resolved spectroscopy of highly magnified, gravitationally lensed galaxies, to study their internal structure and kinematics at redshift, z≥1 on sub-galactic scales. The scientific objective is to measure the important, but poorly understood, role of star formation and associated feedback on galaxy evolution. With Gemini GMOS-IFU observations of CFRS03+1077, a lensed galaxy at z=2.94, we determined surface brightness and integration time requirements for spatially resolved kinematics with spectra in the visible region (< 1 micron). For reasonable exposure times the presence of a strong emission line is key, limiting the redshift range to < 1.5 for [OII]3727Å. To tackle the lack of suitable lenses for such studies, we designed a lens search algorithm suitable for multi-color photometric data (with a minimum of 2 colors). Our method uses a two-step approach, first automatically identifying galaxy clusters and groups as high likelihood lensing regions, followed by a dedicated visual search for lensed arcs in pseudo-color images of sub-regions centered on these candidates. By using the color-position clustering of elliptical galaxies in high density environments, the algorithm efficiently isolates candidates with a completeness ≥ 80% for z ≤ 0.6 in Monte-Carlo simulations. Implemented on the CFHT Legacy Survey-Wide fields with available g, r and i photometry, the present yield is 9 lenses (8 new and 1 previously known) from 104 deg². With Gemini GMOS, we confirmed two lensed galaxies with strong [OII]3727Å emission suitable for IFU spectroscopy. The follow-up of both systems, the confirmation of remaining lenses and the application of the lens detector to the remaining 91 square degrees of CFHTLS-Wide are ongoing. In a complementary project, we aim to understand non-linear structure formation within the Λ-CDM framework by characterizing the mass distributions and mass/light ratios of galaxy groups; these structures (where 60% of all galaxies reside), have masses representative of the critical break between cluster and field galaxy mass scales. We use strong gravitational lensing to constrain the mass in the inner core, with velocity dispersion measurements from MOS spectroscopy to map the mass distribution up to the scale of the virial radius. The formalism supporting this approach as well as the tools for analysis (including an efficient B-spline based method for flat fielding and sky subtraction of sky limited spectra) are presented in this thesis. The deflectors of 6 lenses in our catalog resemble galaxy groups suitable for this study. One group, for which the observations are complete, is compatible with either NFW or Hernquist profile; these results will be corroborated with observations of other candidates in forthcoming observing programs. The objective is to amalgamate our results with mass measurements from weak lensing and X-ray observations from our Strong Lensing Legacy Survey (SL2S) collaborators to build a comprehensive picture of the dark matter profile and thus constrain theoretical predictions of mass assembly in galaxy groups.