Collaborative Research: A Medium-Band K-band Survey with Gemini to Identify the First Quenching Galaxies and Extreme Episodes of Galaxy Formation

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In the early universe, massive galaxies grew rapidly through intense bursts of star formation, and then quenched (abruptly stopped forming stars at high rates). Principal Investigators Papovich and Marchesini will use the Second Florida Multi-Object Imaging Near-Infrared Grism Observational Spectrometer (FLAMINGOS2, F2) on the Gemini-South Telescope to conduct a census of these distant massive galaxies and study the underlying physical processes that transform the galaxies from star forming to quenched. The team will participate in Warrior-Scholar boot camps at Texas A&M University, which assist students as they transition from active military service to higher education. In addition, the team will mentor a summer student selected from the Tufts University Visiting and Early Research Scholars Experience Program. This program has a partnership with Historically Black Colleges.The team are using their custom built near infrared blue filter (centered at 2.0 micron) and red filter (centered at 2.3 micron) in order to be sensitive to the 4000 Angstrom/Balmer break for galaxies at redshifts 3 z 6. The team will conduct the 0.5 square degree F2 Extragalactic Near-IR K-Split Survey (FENIKS). The survey will image three deep legacy fields, the Cosmic Evolution Survey, the Great Observatories Origins Deep Survey – South, and the Ultra Deep Survey. The team will study the stellar populations and supermassive black holes in massive (log(M/Msun) 10.9) galaxies and determine when galaxies first begin to quench. The team will also identify and study hundreds of extreme galaxies with intense nebular emission, which are important in the context of galaxy formation and cosmic reionization.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.