Physics Colloquium: Cosmological Hydrodynamical Simulations at the Intersection of Galaxy Formation and Cosmology

Zoom: https://tau-ac-il.zoom.us/j/86789731294

Abstract: 

Cosmological hydrodynamic simulations, which follow the coupled evolution of dark and 'normal' matter from cosmologically-motivated initial conditions, are a primary tool for studying how galaxies form. In addition, since galaxy surveys encode a wealth of information about the basic properties of our Universe, improved modeling of galaxy formation will result in improved constraints on cosmology and fundamental physics. In the first part of this talk, I will review the field of cosmological simulations with a focus on the revolution in scale and fidelity it has undergone over the past decade. In the second part, I will discuss a new direction the field is taking in the past few years, where machine learning is opening new ways to extract cosmological information from the non-linear process of galaxy formation.

Event Organizer: Prof. Amiel Sternberg