From Micro to Macro: Connecting the Physics of Galaxy Formation Across Scales
Speaker: Drummond Fielding, New York University
Abstract:
Galaxy formation is controlled by the cycling of diffuse gas through the ISM, CGM, and larger-scale environment, but predictive models remain limited by unresolved microphysics. I will discuss how sub-pc processesтАФincluding cosmic-ray transport, magnetic reconnection, and turbulent mixingтАФregulate multiphase structure, energy and momentum transport, and the launching of galactic winds. I will then describe how simulations, analytic models, and new multi-scale numerical methods can connect these processes to kpc-scale feedback and Mpc-scale galaxy evolution. The aim is to build physically grounded models of gas cycling that can sharpen our interpretation of observations and move galaxy formation theory beyond phenomenological feedback prescriptions.
