Evolution of Galaxies in large-scale structures

I propose the project ELATE (Evolution of galaxies in LArge-scale strucTurEs) to be carried out at the Kapteyn Astronomical Institute, University of Groningen (RUG; Groningen, the Netherlands), under the mentorship of Prof. Reynier F. Peletier.

ELATE aims to significantly enhance our understanding of the role of the environment in shaping galaxies by exploring all regions in the large-scale structure.

The main scientific goals are to (i) robustly define the true location of galaxies in the Fornax-Eridanus complex; (ii) identify the processes responsible for their morphological transformation in the LSS; (iii) provide a comprehensive view of the growth of this supercluster, which will serve as a precursor for future studies concerning the evolution of galaxies in the cosmic web.

The workflow of this project is a combination of computer science, observational astrophysics, and cosmological simulations, thereby bridging the gap between these fields to maximise scientific output.

The objectives will be addressed by: (i) employing novel tools to define filaments of the Fornax-Eridanus complex from the 2MASS redshift survey and study their structure and overall galactic properties in 3D; (ii) detect low-surface brightness features in the outskirts of galaxies from the Dark Energy Survey multi-band deep images, using recently developed tools and thereafter map the assembly history of galaxies in the Fornax Supercluster.

My supervisor, Prof.

Peletier at the Kapteyn Institute, is an expert in studying galaxy evolution and interdisciplinary techniques and will guarantee the success of this project, with his strong network in Groningen and Europe.

Given my expertise in deep photometry and technical skills to execute this project and along with the prospective training that this MSCA-EF will bring, I will be competent to lead future research groups of my own, paving the way for ground-breaking scientific results with upcoming surveys (e.g. Euclid, Rubin LSST)