abstract fits on cover page Assigned ID: 812 ----- Attempting Submission 1 (Fri Feb 25 23:59:29 GMT 2011) ----- Error is word count on abstract: abstract fits on cover page. The mammoth challenge for contemporary studies of galaxy formation and evolution are to establish detailed models in the cosmological context in which both the few parsec scale physics within galaxies are self-consistently unified and made consistent with the observed universe of galaxies. They key diagnostics reside with the gas physics, which dictate virtually every aspect of galaxy formation and evolution. The small scale physics includes stellar feedback, gas cooling, heating, and advection and the multiphase interstellar medium; the large scale physics includes intergalactic accretion, local merging, effects of supernovae driven winds, and the development of extended metal-enriched gas halos. Absorption line data have historically proven to be (and shall in the future) virtually the most powerful tool for understanding gas physics on all spatial scales over the majority of the age of the universe- the key to success. Simply stated, absorption lines are one of astronomy's most powerful observational windows on the universe (galaxy formation, galaxy winds, IGM metal enrichment, etc.). The high quality and vast numbers of absorption line data (obtained with HST and FUSE) probe a broad range of gas structures (ISM, HVCs, halos, IGM) over the full cosmic span when galaxies are actively evolving. We propose to use LCDM hydrodynamic cosmological simulations employing a Eulerian Gasdynamics plus N-body Adaptive Refinement Tree (ART) code to develop and refine our understanding of stellar feedback physics and its role in governing the gas physics that regulates the evolution of galaxies and the IGM. We aim to substantially progress our understanding of all possible gas phases embedded within and extending far from galaxies. Our methodology is to apply a series of quantitative observational constraints from absorption line systems to better understand extended galaxy halos and the influence of the cosmological environment of the simulated galaxies: (1) galaxy halos [quasar absorption line systems], (2) high-velocity clouds and the disk, halo, and corona gas of the Milky Way, and (3) starburst galaxies and Lyman-break galaxies. Our proposed work promises to increase the value of existing and future HST observations by providing a theoretical framework on which they can be deeper interpreted and understood.

QUASAR ABSORPTION LINES AND IGM 12 Medium false 0.0 0.0 false false true false SUPPORTED