Institute for Advanced Study / Princeton University Joint Astrophysics Colloquium

Abstract: Astronomy's current model of galaxy evolution is built on a foundation of hierarchical growth, in which small galaxies merge together to form larger ones.  In addition to the simple accrual of mass, this merging process is predicted to fundamentally change the galaxies’ properties, such as dramatic morphological transformations, the triggering of bursts of star formation and high rates of accretion onto the central supermassive black hole.  In this talk I will explain the physical processes behind these predictions, present the observations that we are performing in order to test the theory and show how machine learning is taking the field into a regime that has been previously impossible.