The Environmental Dependence of Gas-Phase Metallicities

Abstract:
Chemical abundance measurements in the stars and interstellar medium provide a powerful diagnostic of the star formation and mass assembly history of galaxies across cosmic times. Atoms, ions, or molecules of different chemical species trace different thermodynamical phases and evolutionary stages of the matter distribution in the cosmos. Furthermore, different chemical elements are also sensitive to different dynamical processes within galaxies and their environment. In this PhD project, the
student will analyse the largest cosmological hydrodynamical simulation of the Universe that has ever been run (Horizon Run 5) to (i) quantify how the overall metal content within structures and substructures of different cosmic web environments can be used to trace the mass assembly history of galaxies at high redshift; and (ii) understand the origin of the observed
mass-metallicity relation, its evolution with redshift, and the origin of its scatter from a cosmological perspective, by characterizing in detail the evolution of the metallicity within structures and substructures of different cosmic web environments at high redshift. This PhD project might provide a theoretical framework for upcoming observations from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) and the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument
(DESI), and future NASA space missions like the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope and SPHEREx.