My principal research area is galaxy evolution and cosmology, with particular emphasis on rich galaxy clusters. The main focus of this research is the study of clusters at moderate to high redshift to determine how galaxies in this environment have evolved over the last 5-8 billion years and the physical processes responsible for it. This involves detailed photometric, spectroscopic and high resolution imaging observations conducted with the largest ground-based optical telescopes (eg. Gemini and the VLT) and the Hubble Space Telescope. Studies at X-ray wavelengths using the Chandra and XMM satellites are also being pursued. A new major area of investigation is galaxy redshift surveys with key involvement in the 2dF Galaxy Redshift Survey - a joint Australian/UK project to measure the redshifts for 250,000 galaxies using the Two-Degree Field (2dF) facility on the 3.9m Anglo-Australian Telescope. This will provide unprecedented information on the clustering of galaxies on the largest scales, the matter content of the universe, and the dependence of galaxy properties on their environment.

• A low global star formation rate in the rich galaxy cluster AC114 at z=0.32. W.J. Couch, M.L. Balogh, R.G. Bower, I. Smail, K. Glazebrook, and M. Taylor, Astrophys. J., 549, 820 (2001).
• Galaxy threshing and the formation of ultra-compact dwarf galaxies. K. Bekki, W.J. Couch, and M.J. Drinkwater, Astrophys. J., 552, L105 (2001).
• The 2dF Galaxy Redshift Survey: A targeted study of rich clusters. R. De Propris, W.J. Couch, and the 2dFGRS team, Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 329, 87 (2002).

School of Physics
The University of New South Wales
SYDNEY 2052
Australia

w.couch@unsw.edu.au

61 2 9385 4578

61 2 9385 6060