Abstract

Massive galaxies are among the most interesting objects in our Universe, as they are peculiar in many aspects. They are few, but they account collectively for half of the stars ever formed. They are mostly quiescent nowadays but they are believed to have undergone an impressively efficient phase of star formation long ago, when our Universe was a quite different and turbulent place. There is convincing evidence that such behemoths evolve much faster with respect to the lower mass counterparts, reaching quiescence shortly after the powerful starburst. In addition, they live in the most extreme environments, like galaxy groups and clusters where the frequent mergers and the interaction with the hot intra-group- and intra-cluster-medium might seriously affect their properties. They host super-massive black holes (BH) at their center and are likely the most affected by the powerful winds and jets generated by the active galactic nucleus (AGN) accreting disc. How they form and evolve and what’s their relation with their environment and central BH are questions still at the core of modern galaxy evolution studies. The conference will review the most recent observational and theoretical results about the life of such giant systems from their birth to their death.