Cosmic Web Dynamics and Galaxy Formation
Summary
The cosmic web is the grand architecture of the Universe, shaped by gravitational collapse into a complex network of voids, sheets, filaments and nodes. Dark matter haloes form at the intersections of matter flows, drawing baryons into deep potential wells where gas cools and condenses to form stars. Filaments act as highways that channel gas and satellites into galaxies, feeding star formation and driving morphological transformation. Within this dynamic environment, angular momentum arises through large-scale tidal interactions, influencing galaxy spin and orientation relative to the surrounding web. As haloes and galaxies evolve, processes such as mergers, feedback from stars and active galactic nuclei, and interactions with the filamentary medium can quench star formation, deplete gas reservoirs or trigger bursts of activity. Understanding the interplay between cosmic web dynamics and baryonic physics is crucial both for interpreting galaxy properties across cosmic time and for using galaxy distributions as probes of fundamental cosmological parameters, including the nature of dark energy and dark matter.
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Cosmic Web Dynamics and Galaxy Formation publication trend
The graph below shows the total number of articles in cosmic web dynamics and galaxy formation across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).
Technical terms
Cosmic web: The large-scale network of matter in the Universe, comprising voids, sheets, filaments and nodes formed by gravitational collapse.
Filament: A thread-like structure of elevated matter density that connects galaxy clusters and channels gas and dark matter flows.
Galaxy quenching: The process by which a galaxy’s star formation is suppressed or ceases, often linked to environmental and internal mechanisms.
Tidal torque theory: A framework describing how proto-galactic clouds acquire angular momentum through gravitational interactions with surrounding mass.
Connectivity: The number of filaments attached to a given node or cluster within the cosmic web, reflecting the structural complexity of the network.
References
- Evolution of cosmic filaments in the MTNG simulation⋆. Astronomy & Astrophysics (2024).
- Filaments of the Slime Mold Cosmic Web and How They Affect Galaxy Evolution. The Astrophysical Journal (2024).
- The effect of cosmic web filaments on galaxy properties in the RESOLVE and ECO surveys. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society (2024).
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