January 27
Alyson Brooks (CalTech)
Toward the Formation of Realistic Galaxies
Much progress
has been made in recent years in forming realistic disk galaxies in fully
cosmological simulations. Computational advances have allowed for
unprecedented resolution, which in turn allows for a more realistic treatment
of star formation and energy feedback. These improvements have led to a
new examination of gas accretion, consumption, and loss in the formation of
galaxy disks. I will show that a more realistic
treatment of gas in simulated disk galaxies leads to a better match with
observational results as a function of redshift. I will demonstrate that
because star formation (i.e., gas consumption) varies with galaxy mass, the
structure of dark matter within galaxies varies with mass. This leads to
observable scaling relations as a function of galaxy mass, and resolves a
number of long standing challenges within the CDM model. Realistic
simulated galaxies are the necessary starting point for interpreting observations
in light of galaxy formation theory.