CAREER: Galactic Archeology: Understanding the Building Blocks of the Milky Way across Cosmic Time

Wetzel博士和他的学生研究团队正在努力了解像我们的银河系（MW）这样的星系是如何形成的。通过这种分析，他们将深入了解形成MW的基本构建块。 将提供从模拟中得出的目录，以帮助优化MW的观测调查。该团队将开发和传播他们的互动GalaxyLab程序，并使用它来教授本科生计算天体物理学课程。该团队将使用宇宙学模拟来跟踪MW盘中巨型分子云（GMC）中形成的恒星数量，并将其与从伴星矮星系剥离的恒星进行比较。该项目建立在Latte宇宙学模拟套件的基础上，该套件使用了真实环境反馈（FIRE）物理模型。新的模拟将有一个大的动态范围，并将解决GMC和超微弱的卫星矮星系。该团队将调查（1）MW恒星丰度分布中α元素双峰的起源，（2）GMC及其恒星协会的寿命，动力学演化和元素丰度，以及（3）“化学标记”，其中MW的3D形成历史是从恒星元素丰度分布中观察到的趋势重建的。GalaxyLab将作为一系列模块在一个开源的Python笔记本中分发。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Dr. Wetzel and his student research team are working to understand how galaxies like our Milky Way (MW) formed. Through this analysis they will they gain an in-depth understanding of the basic building blocks that formed the MW. Catalogs derived from the simulations will be made available to help optimize observational surveys of the MW. The team will develop and disseminate their interactive GalaxyLab program and use it to teach an undergraduate computational astrophysics class.The team will use cosmological simulations to track the population of stars formed in giant molecular clouds (GMCs) in the MW disk and compare it to stars stripped from companion dwarf galaxies. This project builds on the Latte suite of cosmological simulations, which uses the Feedback in Realistic Environments (FIRE) physics model. The new simulations will have a large dynamic range and will resolve GMCs and ultra-faint satellite dwarf galaxies. The team will investigate (1) the origin of the alpha-element bimodality in the abundance distribution of MW stars, (2) the lifetimes, dynamical evolution, and elemental abundances of GMCs and their stellar associations, and (3) "chemical tagging," where the 3D formation history of the MW is reconstructed from trends observed in the distribution of stellar elemental abundances. GalaxyLab will be distributed as a series of modules in an open-source Jupyter Python notebook.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.