Evolution of Metals and Stars in Damped Lyman-Alpha Galaxies

Abstract

A unique tool to investigate distant young galaxies is to study the ab- sorption lines they produce in the spectra of background quasars. The damped Lyman- alpha (DLA) quasar absorption line systems allow us to empirically trace galaxy evo- lution. We discuss results of abundance surveys of DLAs and their implications for the evolution of the global metallicity in galaxies. We also describe deep imaging stud- ies with the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) and ground-based facilities, directed at investigating the luminosities and star formation rates of the absorbers. These obser- vations are helping to clarify the absorber-galaxy connection, and shedding light on the evolution of stars and metals in normal galaxies over the past 80% of th'e cosmic history.