Individual galaxies are dynamic evolving systems, but observational astronomers are limited to capturing them at a single point in their lives. To connect observations at different times and to understand what they mean requires a theoretical model. We have built a simple (1 dimensional) but powerful code to simulate how galaxies have evolved over the past 10 billion years. To be really useful, the model needs to be compared to observations. Via this comparison, we can answer questions like ‘Under what circumstances does the model fit the data?’ ‘Where and how does the model fail?’, ‘What does the model predict about observations that haven’t been made yet?’, and eventually, ‘Do we understand how galaxies grow and evolve, or is there something we’re missing?’. In this project, we would like the student to generate simulated galaxies by running the code, calculate observables (“the HI distribution function” in particular), understand what physics determines this function, and compare with both real data and other theoretical predictions.
Mentor: John Forbes, Graduate Student
Secondary Mentor: Prof. Mark Krumholz