This dissertation presents spectroscopic studies of gas in galaxy halos and large-scale structures through high-resolution quasar absorption lines. The broad goal of this effort is to learn how galaxies acquire their gas and how they return it to the intergalactic medium, or more generally, how galaxies interact with their environment. The study of the absorption lines due to the extraplanar 21cm "Outer Arm'' (OA) of the Milky Way toward two quasars, H1821+643 and HS0624+6907, provides valuable insight into the gas accretion processes. It yields the following results. (1) The OA is a multiphase cloud and high ions show small but significant offsets in velocity and are unlikely to be cospatial with the low ions. (2) The overall metallicity of the OA is Z=0.3-0.5 of the solar abundance, but nitrogen is underabundant. (3) The abundance of N, O, and S derived are roughly consistent with outer-galaxy emission-line abundances and the metallicity gradient derived from H II regions. The similarity of the OA kinematics to several nearby high velocity clouds (HVCs, e.g. Complexes C, G, and H) suggests that these clouds could be detritus from a merging satellite galaxy. To test this hypothesis, we build up a simple model including tidal tripping, ram-pressure stripping, and dynamical friction to consider whether the OA could be debris affiliated with the Monoceros Ring. Our model can roughly reproduce the spatial and velocity characteristics of the OA. Moreover, the metallicity of the OA is similar to the higher metallcities measured in the younger stellar components of the Monoceros Ring and the progenitor candidate, the CMa overdensity. However, both our model and the Galactic warp scenario can not explain other HVCs that are likely to be related to the OA. Instead of acquiring gas, some galaxies have their gas removed through various physical processes. Ram-pressure stripping and tidal interaction are important mechanisms for galaxies to loose their gas. The high-resolution spectrum of Mrk205 combined with H I 21 cm, CO emission, and infrared observations is utilized to study a unique transforming galaxy NGC4319. We find: (1) the object has lost most of its diffuse interstellar H I. (2) molecular hydrogen remains in the disk of the galaxy. The molecular hydrogen column density is low, but the molecular gas fraction is extraordinarily high. CO emission is also clearly detected, but only from the barred central region. (3) There is very little evidence of recent star formation in the galaxy. The results appears to match many of the predictions of Quilis et al. (2000), suggesting NGC4319 is undergoing a transformation from a spiral into an S0 due to ram-pressure stripping, possibly in tandem with tidal stripping. To understand the characteristics of gas (especially warm-hot intergalactic medium) in large scale structures, similar high resolution spectra of 31 quasars were selected based on the galaxy density showing in the 2MASS map. They provide a unbiased sample for the study of the correlation between O VI/H I absorbers and galaxies and 2MASS galaxy groups at low redshift (z<0.04). We totally discover 52 \lya\ absorbers and 7 O VI absorbers, and O VI is clearly detected using the stacking and "pixel optical depth'' techniques for nearby galaxies along the sightlines. It seems that the locations of the O VI absorbers do not correlated with the spacial distribution of large-scale structures manifested by galaxy groups, but more closely associated with individual galaxies. It indicates that the galactic winds and "feedback'' plays important role in polluting the IGM with O VI. Finally, we perform an extra investigation on the variable O VI and N V emission from the black hole binary LMC X-3 in our original absorption line study of the hot Galactic halo and the ISM of the LMC using LMC X-3 as a background source. We observe significant velocity and intensity variation in both O VI and N V emission. Their trends suggest that illumination of the B-star atmosphere by the intense X-ray emission from the accreting black hole creates a hot spot on one side of the B star, and this hot spot is the origin of the O VI and N V emission.

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This thesis focuses on how a galaxy's environment affects its star formation, from the galactic environment of the most luminous IR galaxies in the universe to groups and massive clusters of galaxies. Initially, we studied a class of high-redshift galaxies with extremely red optical-to-mid-IR colors. We used Spitzer spectra and photometry to identify whether the IR outputs of these objects are dominated by AGNs or star formation. In accordance with the expectation that the AGN contribution should increase with IR luminosity, we find most of our very red IR-luminous galaxies to be dominated by an AGN, though a few appear to be star-formation dominated. We then observed how the density of the extraglactic environment plays a role in galaxy evolution. We begin with Spitzer and HST observations of intermediate-redshift groups. Although the environment has clearly changed some properties of its members, group galaxies at a given mass and morphology have comparable amounts of star formation as field galaxies. We conclude the main difference between the two environments is the higher fraction of massive early-type galaxies in groups. Clusters show even more distinct trends. Using three different star-formation indicators, we found the mass--SFR relation for cluster galaxies can look similar to the field (A2029) or have a population of low-star-forming galaxies in addition to the field-like galaxies (Coma). We contribute this to differing merger histories: recently-accreted galaxies would not have time for their star formation to be quenched by the cluster environment (A2029), while an accretion event in the past few Gyr would give galaxies enough time to have their star formation suppressed by the cluster environment. Since these two main quenching mechanisms depend on the density of the intracluster gas, we turn to a group of X-ray under luminous clusters to study how star-forming galaxies have been affected in clusters with lower than expected X-ray emission. We find the distribution of star-forming galaxies with respect to stellar mass varies from cluster to cluster, echoing what we found for Coma and A2029. In other words, while some preprocessing occurs in groups, the cluster environment still contributes to the quenching of star formation.

Formation of globular clusters (GCs), the Galactic bulge, or galaxy bulges in general is an important unsolved problem in Galactic astronomy. Homogeneous infrared observations of large samples of stars belonging to GCs and the Galactic bulge field are one of the best ways to study these problems. We report the discovery by APOGEE (Apache Point Observatory Galactic Evolution Experiment) of a population of field stars in the inner Galaxy with abundances of N, C, and Al that are typically found in GC stars. The newly discovered stars have high [N/Fe], which is correlated with [Al/Fe] and anticorrelated with [C/Fe]. They are homogeneously distributed across, and kinematically indistinguishable from, other field stars within the same volume. Their metallicity distribution is seemingly unimodal, peaking at [Fe/H] similar to -1, thus being in disagreement with that of the Galactic GC system. Our results can be understood in terms of different scenarios. N-rich stars could be former members of dissolved GCs, in which case the mass in destroyed GCs exceeds that of the surviving GC system by a factor of similar to 8. In that scenario, the total mass contained in so-called 'first-generation' stars cannot be larger than that in 'second-generation' stars by more than a factor of similar to 9 and was certainly smaller. Conversely, our results may imply the absence of a mandatory genetic link between 'second-generation' stars and GCs. Last, but not least, N-rich stars could be the oldest stars in the Galaxy, the by-products of chemical enrichment by the first stellar generations formed in the heart of the Galaxy.

In extragalactic astronomy, a central challenge is that we cannot directly watch what happens to galaxies before and after they are observed. This dissertation focuses on linking predictions of galaxy time-evolution directly with observations, evaluating how interactions, mergers, and other processes affect the appearance of elliptical galaxies. The primary approach is to combine hydrodynamical simulations of galaxy formation, including all major components, with dust radiative transfer to predict their observational signatures. The current paradigm implies that a quiescent elliptical emerges following a formative starburst event. These trigger accretion onto the central supermassive black hole (SMBH), which then radiates as an active galactic nucleus (AGN). However, it is not clear the extent to which SMBH growth is fueled by these events nor how important is their energy input at setting the appearance of the remnant. This thesis presents results drawing from three phases in the formation of a typical elliptical: 1) I evaluate how to disentangle AGN from star formation signatures in mid-infrared spectra during a dust-enshrouded starburst, making testable predictions for robustly tracing SMBH growth with the James Webb Space Telescope ; 2) I develop a model for the rate of merger-induced post-starburst galaxies selected from optical spectra, resolving tension between their observed rarity and merger rates from other estimates; and 3) I present results from Hubble Space Telescope imaging of elliptical galaxies in galaxy clusters at 1 < z < 2, the precursors of present-day massive clusters with \(M \sim10^{15}M_{\odot}\), demonstrating that their stars formed over an extended period and ruling out the simplest model for their formation history. These results lend support to a stochastic formation history for ellipticals driven by mergers or interactions. However, significant uncertainties remain in how to evaluate the implications of galaxy appearance, in particular their morphologies across cosmic time. In the final chapter, I outline an approach to build a "mock observatory" from cosmological hydrodynamical simulations, with which observations of all types, including at high spatial and spectral resolutions, can be brought to bear in directly constraining the physics of galaxy formation and evolution. / Astronomy

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No description available.

Les galaxies passives présentent des morphologies et propriétés structurelles différentes des galaxies de masse similaire formant des étoiles. La preuve d'une distribution bimodale dans propriétés des galaxies suggère un lien entre les processus de quenching et les structures des galaxies. Contraindre les mécanismes et la chronologie de la formation du bulbe s'avère fondamental pour comprendre l'origine de cette corrélation. Les bulbes grossissent-ils au cours de la séquence principale? Les galaxies ré-accrètent-elles un disque formant des étoiles? Les galaxies stoppent-elles leur formation d'étoile à partir des régions internes? etc. Répondre de manière pertinente à ces questions nécessite de résoudre les parties internes des galaxies à différentes époques. Grâce aux données de haute résolution en multi-longueur d'onde fournies par CANDELS, j'ai réalisé une décomposition séparant le bulbe du disque à partir des courbes de brillance de surface de 17'300 galaxies (F160W<23,0<z<2) dans 4 à 7 filtres couvrant un intervalle spectral compris entre 430 et 1600 nm. Une approche novatrice, basée sur un deep-learning, nous permet de sélectionner a priori les meilleurs profils et de réduire de fait la contamination. J'ai ajusté la SED (densité spectrale d'énergie) avec des modèles de population stellaires (BC03) de disque et de bulbe de manière indépendante afin d'obtenir les paramètres des populations stellaires (masses stellaires, couleurs). Cette procédure fournit un catalogue contenant à la fois les informations structurelles/morphologiques et les propriétés des populations stellaires d'un vaste échantillon de bulbes et de disques galactiques fournit à la communauté (lerma.obspm.fr/huertas/form_CANDELS). Il s'agit du catalogue le plus grand et le plus complet décomposant le bulbe du disque galactique à des redshifts z>0. J'ai utilisé le catalogue ainsi obtenu pour comprendre comment les galaxies stoppent leur formation d'étoile et déterminer l'impact que le quenching peut avoir sur les composantes internes. Les propriétés structurelles des bulbes et des disques, bien que différentes, dépendent peu de la morphologie globale de la galaxie hôte et de son activité de formation d'étoile. Si il existe un seul mécanisme de formation pour tous les types de galaxie ou plusieurs mécanismes contribuant à l'augmentation de la densité centrale, aucune trace dans la structure de la composante interne n'est gardée. De plus, les bulbes et les disques évoluant dans des galaxies soit éteintes, soit formant des étoiles (SF), bien qu'ils présentent des propriétés structurelles similaires, possèdent des distributions de couleurs différentes. Le processus de quenching ne semble pas avoir un impact significatif sur les propriétés des composantes internes.La seconde question clé est de savoir à quel moment les bulbes se forment. La distribution en morphologie le long du graphe SFR-masse montre un manque de galaxie calme (quiescent) avec B/T<0.3 alors que les galaxies avec B/T>0.3 sont présentes tout au long de la séquence principale. Cela suggère que la formation du bulbe doit commencer au cours de la séquence principale. De plus, nous n'avons aucune preuve d'un quelconque processus quenching sans qu'il y ait grossissement du bulbe. Nous n'excluons cependant pas la possibilité que les bulbes de la séquence principale correspondent à des galaxies ayant ré-accrété un disque formant des étoiles. La connaissance des âges est à ce niveau nécessaire pour réellement contraindre ce scénario. Une analyse élargie qui inclurait de l'imagerie à bande étroite (SHARDS) permettrait d'explorer les âges typiques des bulbes et des disques afin de placer des contraintes sur leur temps de formation. / Passive galaxies have different morphologies and structural properties than star-forming galaxies of similar mass. The evidence of a bimodal distribution of galaxy properties suggests a link between the quenching process and and galaxy structure. Understanding the origin of this correlation requires establishing constraints on the mechanisms as well as on the timing of bulge formation. How are bulges formed?Do bulges grow in the main sequence? Are galaxies re-accreting a star forming disk? Do galaxies start to quench from the inside? etc.Proper answers to these questions require resolving the internal components of galaxies at different epochs.Thanks to the CANDELS high-resolution multi-wavelength data, I performed 2-D bulge-disk decompositions of the surface brightness profile of $simeq 17'300$ galaxies (F160W < 23, 0 < z < 2) in 4-7 filters, covering a spectral distribution of 430-1600 nm. A novel approach, based on deep-learning, allowed us to make an a-priori selection of the best profile. Stellar parameters are computed trough the SED fitting. The final catalog contains structural/morphological informations together with the stellar population properties for a large sample of bulges and disks within galaxies. This is the largest and more complete catalog of bulge-disc decompositions at $z>0$.The catalog is then used to investigate how galaxies quench and transform their morphologies.The size of disks and massive bulge is independent of the bulge-to-total ratio ($M_{*}>10^{10} M_{odot}$). It suggests a unique formation process for massive bulges and also that disk survival/regrowth is a common phenomenon after bulge formation. However pure bulges (B/T>0.8), are ~30% larger than bulges embedded in disks at fixed stellar mass and have larger Sersic indices. This is compatible with a later growth of these systems through minor mergers.Bulges in star-forming galaxies are found to be 30% larger than bulges in quenched systems, at fixed stellar mass. Regarding the disks the systematic difference is only a factor of $sim 0.1$. This can be interpreted as a signature that galaxies experience an additional morphological transformation during or after quenching. However, this result is not free of progenitor bias.Moreover, the vast majority (if not all) of pure disks (B/T<0.2) in our sample lie in the main-sequence. It suggests that quenching without any bulge growth is not a common channel at least in the general field environment probed by our data. Pure "blue" bulges (B/T>0.8) do exist however, suggesting that the formation of bulges happens while galaxies are still star forming.Finally, in order to put constraints on the formation times of bulges and disks I analyzed the UVJ colors rest frame. Almost all galaxies in our sample present negative color gradients. Bulges are always redder than the disks at all redshifts. This is compatible with a scenario of inside-out quenching put forward by previous works. However rejuvenation through disk accretion could lead to similar signatures.

Here, we present the results from our analysis of 6 yr of optical photometry taken by the Siding Spring Survey (SSS). This completes a search for periodic variable stars within the 30 000 deg(2) of the sky covered by the Catalina Surveys. The current analysis covers 81 million sources with declinations between -20 degrees. and -75 degrees. with median magnitudes in the range 11 < V < 19.5. We find approximately 34 000 new periodic variable stars in addition to the similar to 9000 RR Lyrae that we previously discovered in SSS data. This brings the total number of periodic variables identified in Catalina data to similar to 110 000. The new SSS periodic variable stars mainly consist of eclipsing binaries, RR Lyrae, LPVs, RS CVn stars, delta Scutis, and Anomalous Cepheids. By cross-matching these variable stars with those from prior surveys, we find that similar to 90 per cent of the sources are new discoveries and recover similar to 95 per cent of the known periodic variables in the survey region. For the known sources, we find excellent agreement between our catalogue and prior values of luminosity, period, and amplitude. However, we find many variable stars that had previously been misclassified. Examining the distribution of RR Lyrae, we find a population associated with the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) that extends more than 20 degrees from its centre confirming recent evidence for the existence of a very extended stellar halo in the LMC. By combining SSS photometry with Dark Energy Survey data, we identify additional LMC halo RR Lyrae, thus confirming the significance of the population.

L'objectif de cette thèse est d'identifier et d'étudier la population à haut décalage spectral. J'ai utilisé des données dans le proches infrarouge venant du sondage UltraVista associé à des données multi-longueur d'onde disponible dans le champ COSMOS ainsi que le sondage ultra profond de VIMOS utilisé comme un échantillon de contrôle pour la sélection des candidats à grand décalage spectrale. Cette analyse m'a amené à sélectionner des galaxies à z>4.5 en utilisant les décalages spectraux photométriques estimés à partir de la distribution spectrale d'énergie complète ainsi que des limites en magnitudes basés sur la profondeur des données dans chaque bande. Cette sélection a amené à la production d'un catalogue unique de 2036 galaxies dans l'intervalle z~5 et de 330 galaxies dans l'intervalle z~6 faisant de ce catalogue le catalogue le plus grand et le plus complet à ce jour. J'ai trouvé que la fonction de luminosité à z~5 est bien reproduite par une fonction de Schechter. A z~6, j'ai observé que le fin lumineuse de la fonction de luminosité semble être plus peuplée qu'une fonction de Schechter le laisse présager, en accord avec les résultats d'autres études Ceci étant une indication que les processus d'assemblage de la masse ont évolué rapidement. Finalement, j'ai intégré la fonction de luminosité pour en déduire la densité de luminosité et dérivé la densité de formation stellaire entre z=4.5 et z=6.5. Mes résultats montrent une densité de formation stellaire importante, en comparaison des derniers résultats avec les données du télescope Hubble, ainsi qu'une précision plus grande liée aux meilleures contraintes sur la fin lumineuse de la fonction de luminosité. / The main purpose of this THESIS is to identify and study the population of high redshift galaxies in the redshift range (4.5 < z < 6.5). I use the near infrared data from the UltraVista survey conducted with the Vista telescope in combination with multi-wavelength data available in the COSMOS field and use The VIMOS Ultra Deep spectroscopic redshift survey (VUDS) as a control sample for the selection of high redshift candidates. I made a analysis leads me to select galaxies at z ≥ 4.5 using photometric redshifts computed from the full spectral energy distribution (SED) combined with well tuned magnitude limits based on the depth of the data in each band. At the end of this process I produce a unique catalogue of 2036 galaxies with 4.5 ≤ z ≤ 5.5 and 330 galaxies with 5.5 ≤ z ≤ 6.5, the largest and most complete catalogue of sources at these redshifts existing today. I find that the LF at z ∼ 5 is well fit by a Schechter function. At z ∼ 6 I find that the bright end might be more populated than expected from a Schechter function, in line with results from other authors, an indication that the mass assembly processes have evolved quickly in a short 0.5-1 Gyr timescale. Finally I integrate the luminosity functions to compute the luminosity density and derive the star formation rate density (SFRD) in 4.5 ≤ z ≤ 6.5. My results show a high SFRD comparable to the latest results derived from the HST data, with an improved accuracy linked to the better constraints at the bright end of the LF.