A comprehensive view of galaxy growth: using galaxy sizes to examine growth rates and environmental effects

The research in this thesis utilises cutting-edge techniques to study the evolution of galaxies. For the first time, we present a complete and comprehensive analysis of the size growth rate of galaxies going back to the when the Universe was very young. In addition, we study the effects of a galaxy’s local environment on its growth mechanisms. This research is valuable to the community as it offers a complete analysis regarding the effects of environment on both star-forming and non star-forming galaxies at important epochs. Before this analysis, there were only a handful of studies that considered the sizes of star-forming galaxies as a function of environment. Our results are helpful for understanding the relationship between both star-forming and non star-forming galaxies, which has not been considered within the same study at the epochs we consider. The results of this thesis provide a frame work for future studies to continue to understand more about this important aspect of galaxy evolution.