The Evolution of Massive Galaxies Since z∼2–3

Abstract

Understanding the formation and evolution of massive galaxies provides important keys to constrain the baryon assembly processes in the ΛCDM hierarchical scenario. We review the main results obtained so far with the K20 and other recent near-IR surveys on the redshift distribution, the evolution of the luminosity function and luminosity density, the nature of old and dusty EROs, the evolution of the galaxy stellar mass function and the nature of luminous starbursts at z∼2 which may be the progenitors of the present-day massive spheroidal galaxies.