CfA theory seminar

[Kentaro Nagamine <knagamin cfa harvard edu>]

Tue, Dec 16, 12:30pm

Thomas Cox (UC Santa Cruz)

Simulations of Collisional Starbursts

Abstract: There is mounting evidence that galaxy interactions play an
important role in galaxy evolution.  Elliptical galaxies, spiral bulges,
and a significant fraction of all the stars in the universe may be
byproducts of galaxy mergers, especially mergers at high redshift. In
order to better understand the roles mergers play in galaxy evolution we
are using high resolution N-body simulations, including hydrodynamics
and star formation, to sample the large parameter space of pre-merger
galaxy properties and interaction parameters.  We briefly discuss how
this improves upon previous work in this area and demonstrate how our
simulations can be used as inputs to semi-analytic models of galaxy
formation.  Finally, we show how mock observations of our simulations
can provide insight into observations of galaxy spectra and morphologies.

The seminar will be held in A101 class room at CfA.