Coloquio IRyA 2020.09.10 - Maarten Baes
Channel: Coloquio IRyA
Date: 2020-09-14

Prof. Maarten Baes, Ghent University, Belgium
https://users.ugent.be/~mbaes/Home.html


Title: Galaxy evolution: an unbiased comparison of cosmological simulations and multi-wavelength observations
Abstract:
The formation and evolution of galaxies is one of the outstanding questions of modern astrophysics. While the cosmological paradigm is firmly established, our understanding of the baryonic physics processes that determine the variety of galaxies observed in the Universe is still rudimentary. Cosmological hydrodynamics simulations are an increasingly popular method to study galaxy formation and evolution. Whether the current simulations and their planned successors will succeed in identifying the drivers of the galaxy evolution depends on whether we can develop an unbiased methodology for the comparison between observations and simulations. Consensus is growing that a forward modelling approach, in which synthetic observations are generated that can directly be compared to observed data, is the way forward. Our team has developed such a framework, based on the 3D Monte Carlo radiative transfer code SKIRT, that can generate synthetic observables from UV to mm wavelengths for any cosmological hydrodynamics simulation. I will present the philosophy, ingredients and status of this framework, and its application to the EAGLE, IllustrisTNG and Auriga cosmological simulations. I will focus on scaling relations and luminosity functions in the UV and infrared, where the effects of interstellar dust attenuation and emission are crucial. I will discuss our current modelling successes and challenges, and the plans we have to improve our modelling and to identify the strengths and weaknesses of cosmological simulations.