Large Scale Structure and Galaxy Evolution in COSMOS

Galaxy evolution and AGN growth in the early universe are believed to be strongly driven by merging (hierarchical growth) and galaxy dynamical interactions. Thus, a full exploration of the environmental influences is absolutely essential to understanding this early evolution. The Cosmic Evolution Survey (COSMOS; Scoville et al. in Astrophys. J. Suppl. Ser. 172:1, 2007) is specifically designed to probe the correlated coevolution of galaxies, star formation, active galactic nuclei (AGN) and dark matter (DM) large-scale structures (LSS) over the redshift range z > 0.5–3. The survey includes multi-wavelength imaging and spectroscopy from X-ray to radio wavelengths covering a 2 deg^2 equatorial field. Given the very high sensitivity and resolution of these datasets, COSMOS also provide unprecedented samples of objects at z > 3 and will be a fundamental resource for future cosmology studies. I reviewthe characteristics of the COSMOS survey and showexciting initial results mapping large scale structures in galaxies and dark matter.