Dear all,

Our next SAC Seminar will be given by Robert Grand, who will be visiting us from the Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics.

Title: Unravelling the formation history of the Milky Way with Galactic surveys and cosmological hydrodynamical simulations

Abstract: The confluence of large-scale, precision Galactic surveys such as Gaia, APOGEE and Kepler and state-of-the-art cosmological hydrodynamical simulations of Milky Way formation provides a unique opportunity to combine detailed observations with ab-initio theoretical predictions. I present results from the Auriga simulations - a large, high-resolution suite of Milky Way-mass galaxies ran with a comprehensive model for galaxy formation, including AGN feedback and magnetic fields. These simulations enable us to make predictions for the effects of secular and external processes on the chemo-dynamical structure of the Milky Way, for example, the formation of a chemical thick/thin disc dichotomy, the amount of radial migration from spiral arms and the formation of the recently discovered “Gaia sausage” stellar halo component. For a fair comparison to Gaia data, we have generated synthetic Gaia mock catalogues using forward modelling techniques - the first generated from cosmological simulations - and demonstrate how they can be used for Galactic archeological studies.

All are welcome to join the seminar.

Sincerely,

The SAC Seminar Team