GALAXY ASSEMBLY
The understanding of the channels through which galaxies form is deep but not complete. Many questions remain open, among which the role of the Dark Matter halo properties in shaping the central and satellite objects. The understanding of this correlations can unveil the physical mechanisms that drive galaxy formation as well as provide solid bases for semi-analytical models of galaxy formation. I use hydrodynamical simulations like the ZOMG suite in order to study how galaxies and their satellites are formed inside and accreted by dark matter haloes, their statistical properties as well as their evolution.
Another great conundrum of modern galaxy formation is the origin of magnetic fields. I use advanced numerical simulations to investigate their origin and their impact on the formation of galaxies.
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Link to the papers: ZOMGI - ZOMGII - ZOMGIII - RAR - press release - Magnetogenesis at cosmic dawn
Above: Accretion trajectories of satellites residing in knots (left) and filaments (right). A random subset is coloured for visual clarity.
Above: Radial acceleration relation for the satellites of Milky Way-like galaxies. A full description can be found here.
Above: 3D rendering of a galaxy in one of the simulations. Reddish colours represent the gas whilst blueish colours represnt stars.
Above: 2D projection of dark matter density (left) and gas entropy (right) in a simulated halo.
Above: Face-on (top) and edge-on (bottom) views of the stellar content of simulated Milky Way-like galaxies, color-coded withe the stellar velocity dispersion.
Above: Volume-averaged halo magnetic field as a function of halo mass for four different magnetic seeding mechanisms.