High-resolution simulations of galaxy formation predict that young, low-mass galaxies undergo bursty star formation, with star formation rates that vary by an order of magnitude on timescales of tens of millions of years. Over the last few years, largely thanks to the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), observational evidence has mounted that such bursty galaxies are common in the early universe. In this talk, I will summarize predictions from the FIRE ("Feedback In Realistic Environments") simulations on how galaxies evolve from bursty, dispersion-dominated systems — in which gas motions are random — into steady, rotating disk galaxies like the Milky Way. I will argue that the early bursty phase of galaxy evolution can explain several key JWST observations, including the abundance of bright galaxies in the first few hundred million years after the Big Bang. Motivated by the central role of bursty star formation in shaping early galaxies, I will outline a new theoretical framework to analytically model these galaxies and their surrounding gas reservoirs. Our results suggest that many basic properties of bursty galaxies can be understood in terms of universal properties of supersonic turbulence — a connection that opens a new window into the physics of early galaxy formation, including what determines how efficiently these galaxies convert gas into stars.
Claude-Andre Faucher-Giguere, Professor, Northwestern University
Joan West
(847) 491-3645
Email