Abstract

We now have a good understanding of most of the modes of galaxy formation for massive galaxies during the past 10 Gyr based on data from space and ground based telescopes. I will discuss how we have just recently measured the role of major and minor mergers, star formation and gas accretion in the formation of massive galaxies down to z = 0. This is possible due to new near-infrared Hubble Space Telescope imaging from NICMOS and WFC3 focused on massive galaxies in the distant universe, coupled with spectroscopy and deep imaging from 8-10m telescopes at all wavelengths to obtain spectral energy distribution information. I will further discuss how galaxy simulations based on CDM are not able to reproduce the properties of distant galaxies or the characteristics of their observed evolution. I will further show how galaxy formation processes can potentially be used as a method for better understanding cosmological features, including the temperature of the dark matter and the underlying cosmological parameters.