Jeffrey Newman

University of California - Berkeley

From Fine Structure to Large-Scale Structure with the DEEP2 Galaxy 
Redshift Survey

Abstract:

The DEEP2 Galaxy Redshift Survey is the first project to study the 
distant Universe by obtaining a dataset comparable in size and nature 
to recent generations of local surveys.  DEEP2 was designed to measure 
both the properties of galaxies at redshift z~1 and their distribution 
in space, making possible a number of unique tests of both galaxy 
evolution and cosmology.  We have now observed nearly 50,000 galaxies 
using the DEIMOS spectrograph at Keck Observatory, most at redshift 0.7 
< z < 1.4; the survey is more than 95% complete.  In this talk, I will 
first provide an overview of the DEEP2 survey and the multiwavelength 
efforts now underway in one of the four DEEP2 fields, the "Extended 
Groth Strip".  I will then describe tests for both temporal and spatial 
variation in the value of the fine structure constant which we have 
performed using DEEP2 data.  Finally, I will discuss several lines of 
evidence from DEEP2 large-scale structure information indicating that 
galaxy groups are critical to the formation of typical early-type/red 
sequence galaxies seen today, and illustrate ways in which low-redshift 
surveys can help us to understand phenomena observed at z~1.