CAREER: The Faint Frontier of Galaxy Formation

科学的计算机模拟和理论模拟将更好地理解低质量恒星系统是如何形成和随时间变化的。将这些模拟与哈勃太空望远镜以及后来的詹姆斯·韦伯太空望远镜的数据进行详细比较，将回答关于暗物质和宇宙中最暗的恒星系统的基本问题。PI将与麦当劳天文台的教育专家合作开发两个研讨会，其中包括来自S模拟项目的数据和科学可视化程序，为高中教师提供培训和材料，以积极参与他们的学生？对科学的兴趣。拟议的研究将在近场宇宙学的前沿提供理论框架。它将开发精确的数值方法和星系模型，其中包含对恒星形成反馈的显式处理。其中一个结果将是单个矮小星系的超高分辨率放大图像。另一个将是对局部体积的高分辨率模拟，以与现有和未来的数据集进行比较，例如用哈勃太空望远镜、詹姆斯·韦伯太空望远镜和大型天气观测望远镜获得的数据。这将极大地提高对局部体积内和周围星系形成的理解，以及如何将附近宇宙中微弱的恒星系统与它们的祖先连接起来，最早可以追溯到宇宙黎明时代。这一奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

AbstractSophisticated computer simulations and theoretical modeling will be provide better understanding of how low mass stellar systems form and change with time. Detailed comparison of these simulations with data from the Hubble Space Telescope, and later the James Webb Space Telescope, will answer fundamental questions about dark matter and the faintest stellar systems in the universe. The PI will collaborate with education experts from McDonald Observatory to develop two workshops that incorporate data and scientific visualization procedures from this project?s simulations to provide high school teachers with training and materials to actively engage their students? interest in science.The proposed research will provide theoretical framework at the frontier of near-field cosmology. It will develop accurate numerical methods and galaxy models that contain explicit treatment of star formation feedback. One result will be ultra-high-resolution zoom-in images for individual dwarf galaxies. Another will be high-resolution simulations of the Local Volume to compare with existing and future data sets, such as those obtained with Hubble Space Telescope, the James Webb Space Telescope, and the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope. This will dramatically improve the understanding of galaxy formation in and around the Local Volume and how to connect faint stellar systems in the nearby Universe to their progenitors as far back as the cosmic dawn era.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.