Colloquium by Boryana Hadzhiyska, UC Berkeley
For decades, cosmologists have been in pursuit of the mysteries of inflation, dark matter and dark energy, while extragalactic astronomers have been seeking to explain complex astrophysical processes such as galaxy formation and AGN activity. As our observational data sets improve and our measurement error bars continue to shrink, a detailed understanding of one set of these questions will require a deeper knowledge of the other. My research program, positioned at the intersection of astronomy and cosmology, offers a viable path forward, aiming to reveal the nature of dark matter and dark energy and build a complete, multi-scale picture of galaxy formation and evolution. In this talk, I will first give an overview of my past and current work on two such intersectional efforts: baryonic (gas) feedback and the galaxy-halo connection. I will then present my plans for building upon these research directions via a combination of first-principle physics, state-of-the-art simulations and artificial intelligence. Finally, I will connect my proposal to the broader context of upcoming multi-wavelength, multi-component efforts in astrophysics, which my research team would play a leading role in.
Followed by wine and cheese.
Host: Kathryn Johnston