Research Division Seminar
A Multi-Wavelength, Three-Dimensional View into Protocluster Environments

Abstract

Galaxies are embedded within a network of interconnected filaments, essential for their formation and growth. Simultaneously, they emit radiation and enriched matter back into their environment, influencing the evolution of the cosmic gas. Recent advancements in wide-field spectrographs offer a unique perspective, allowing us to probe the spatial distribution and properties of the circumgalactic medium at high redshift, particularly the Lyman-alpha line emitted by cold hydrogen gas. These insights are especially valuable in overdense regions, like protoclusters and groups, where we can explore most of the physical mechanisms at play. By combining data from instruments such as KCWI, MOSFIRE, IRAC, LRIS, and HST, we aim to decipher the various mechanisms that steer the evolution of galaxies and protocluster environments around the Cosmic Noon epoch, unveiling how mergers, AGN feedback, and galactic outflows influence both the large-scale gas distribution and the general properties of the galaxies themselves. Nonetheless, several degeneracies persist among the observed properties of the gas and the potential physical mechanisms responsible, underscoring the necessity for improved models of these cosmic phenomena and a larger statistical sample of protocluster environments.