High-Redshift Science in the Local Group
Michael Boylan-Kolchin (UT Austin)
The Local Group affords us the opportunity to study the low-mass extremes of galaxy formation and cosmology. In this capacity, it presents some of the most enduring challenges to the very successful LCDM cosmology. I will discuss to what degree standard theoretical models of the local Universe match the growing volume and diversity of observations in the Local Group and beyond, with an emphasis on what these data may reveal about the nature of dark matter and the low-mass threshold of galaxy formation. These observations also have important implications for cosmic reionization, which is expected to play a central role in determining the abundance of low-mass galaxies around the Milky Way. I will argue that, even in the JWST era, the local Universe may be our best probe of low-mass galaxies at high redshift that are expected to be crucial for reionization.
Coffee & Donuts will be served in MP4054 at 3:30pm.
