3:00–4:00 pm ERC 501
Mandy Chen "Toward a Physical Understanding of the Dynamic Circumgalactic Medium"
The circumgalactic medium (CGM) is the outermost, gaseous envelope of a galaxy, spanning beyond the visible stellar disk and dominates the galalxy's baryonic mass. This expansive gas reservoir plays an influential role in cosmic structure formation, and records critical information about a galaxy’s past and ongoing interactions with the surrounding environment. Understanding the detailed physical properties of the CGM is a vital step to Unveiling the Drivers of Galaxy Growth, a priority area identified by the 2020 Decadal Survey of Astronomy and Astrophysics. Leveraging the magnifying power of strong gravitational lensing and the exquisite sensitivity of the latest generation of integral-field spectrographs, I present observational studies that provide key constraints on CGM dynamics across a wide range of redshifts between z≈0.5 and z≈4, including the steep velocity gradient of star-formation driven outflows and the subsonic turbulent energy cascade in active halos.
