Understanding the circumgalactic medium is critical for understanding galaxy evolution
Abstract
Galaxies evolve under the influence of gas flows between their interstellar medium and their surrounding gaseous halos known as the circumgalactic medium (CGM). The CGM is a major reservoir of galactic baryons and metals, and plays a key role in the long cycles of accretion, feedback, and recycling of gas that drive star formation. In order to fully understand the physical processes at work within galaxies, it is therefore essential to have a firm understanding of the composition, structure, kinematics, thermodynamics, and evolution of the CGM. In this white paper we outline connections between the CGM and galactic star formation histories, internal kinematics, chemical evolution, quenching, satellite evolution, dark matter halo occupation, and the reionization of the larger-scale intergalactic medium in light of the advances that will be made on these topics in the 2020s. We argue that, in the next decade, fundamental progress on all of these major issues depends critically on improved empirical characterization and theoretical understanding of the CGM. In particular, we discuss how future advances in spatially-resolved CGM observations at high spectral resolution, broader characterization of the CGM across galaxy mass and redshift, and expected breakthroughs in cosmological hydrodynamic simulations will help resolve these major problems in galaxy evolution.
Cite
@article{arxiv.1903.05644,
title = {Understanding the circumgalactic medium is critical for understanding galaxy evolution},
author = {Molly S. Peeples and Peter Behroozi and Rongmon Bordoloi and Alyson Brooks and James S. Bullock and Joseph N. Burchett and Hsiao-Wen Chen and John Chisholm and Charlotte Christensen and Alison Coil and Lauren Corlies and Aleksandar Diamond-Stanic and Megan Donahue and Claude-André Faucher-Giguère and Henry Ferguson and Drummond Fielding and Andrew J. Fox and David M. French and Steven R. Furlanetto and Mario Gennaro and Karoline M. Gilbert and Erika Hamden and Nimish Hathi and Matthew Hayes and Alaina Henry and J. Christopher Howk and Cameron Hummels and Dušan Kereš and Evan Kirby and Anton M. Koekemoer and Ting-Wen Lan and Lauranne Lanz and David R. Law and Nicolas Lehner and Jennifer M. Lotz and Crystal L. Martin and Kristen McQuinn and Matthew McQuinn and Ferah Munshi and S. Peng Oh and John M. O'Meara and Brian W. O'Shea and Camilla Pacifici and J. E. G. Peek and Marc Postman and Moire Prescott and Mary Putman and Eliot Quataert and Marc Rafelski and Joseph Ribaudo and Kate Rowlands and Kate Rubin and Brett Salmon and Claudia Scarlata and Alice E. Shapley and Raymond Simons and Gregory F. Snyder and Jonathan Stern and Allison L. Strom and Erik Tollerud and Paul Torrey and Grant Tremblay and Todd M. Tripp and Jason Tumlinson and Sarah Tuttle and Frank C. van den Bosch and G. Mark Voit and Q. Daniel Wang and Jessica K. Werk and Benjamin F. Williams and Dennis Zaritsky and Yong Zheng},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1903.05644},
year = {2019}
}
Comments
Astro2020 Decadal Science White Paper