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In the past decade, our knowledge of high-z galaxies has improved tremendously.  However, it is still difficult to perform detailed studies in high-z galaxies, especially for low mass system, due to the low surface brightness and small angular size. We use a sample of local analogs for high-redshift galaxies selected in SDSS survey to approach this issue.  These analogs are selected based on their rest-frame optical emission line properties to mimic interstellar median (ISM) conditions in high-z galaxies. They share similar physic al properties with high-z galaxies, including high specific star formation rates (SFR/M*), flat UV continuums and compact galaxy physical sizes.  These galaxies provide a unique local laboratory to understand the physical properties of high-redshift galaxies.

In this project, the student would (1) establish a sample of local analogs for high-z galaxies in GAMA galaxy survey, (2) quantify their physical properties, (3) study the spectral energy distribution and calibrate star formation rate indicators with the multi-wavelength coverage the of GAMA data, (4) investigate their environments to test whether these galaxies are in under dense region, (5) comparing the results with cosmological simulations. 

This project requires significant data analysis efforts and some observational and theoretical efforts.