Program: GS-2004B-Q-38

Title:Stellar Populations and Kinematics of Near-Infrared Selected Galaxies at z>2
PI:Eric Gawiser
Co-I(s): Pieter van Dokkum, Jose Maza, Marijn Franx, Paulina Lira, Ezequiel Treister, Ryan Quadri

Abstract

Using very deep near-infrared imaging we have recently discovered a new population of high redshift galaxies with red rest-frame optical colors, complementary to the well known UV-bright Lyman break galaxies. Their contribution to the stellar mass density at z=3 is comparable to that of Lyman breaks. As such a large population of red z>2 galaxies had not been predicted by theoretical models it is imperative to better understand their nature and their evolutionary link to Lyman break galaxies. Because these red high redshift galaxies are very faint in the optical (rest-frame UV) they can be studied most effectively in the near-infrared (rest-frame optical). In a pilot NIR spectroscopic study of four objects we found that the red galaxies are more massive and have higher metallicities than Lyman break galaxies. Furthermore, we found strong indications that Tully-Fisher like relations already existed at z ~ 3. Here we propose to continue a joint Chilean/US Gemini program to obtain deep optical and NIR spectroscopy of a substantial sample of near-infrared selected galaxies at z>2 in fields with deep ground- and space-based NIR imaging. The main goals are to measure the Tully-Fisher relation at z ~ 3 and the contribution of UV-faint galaxies to the global star formation rate.

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