Probing the Hot Circumgalactic Medium with Simulations and the SZ Effect

Understanding how galaxies exchange matter and energy with their surroundings is a central question in galaxy formation. The circumgalactic medium (CGM) acts as the interface between galaxies and the larger-scale intergalactic medium (IGM), regulating gas accretion, feedback, and ultimately star formation. Because much of this baryonic reservoir is diffuse and difficult to observe directly, sensitive millimeter-wave observations provide a valuable probe of its thermal properties.

Our work focuses on the hot CGM that can be probed through the thermal Sunyaev–Zel'dovich (tSZ) effect. Using cosmological simulations, we study how feedback and halo mass shape the density, temperature, and pressure structure of gas around galaxies and how these signatures can be tested with millimeter-wave observations. This approach connects the baryon cycle around galaxies to observable quantities and helps place galaxy formation in a broader cosmological context.

Related Publications

• NEW-MUSIC: The Next-generation Extended-Wavelength Multiband Sub/millimeter Inductance Camera [ADS] [arXiv]

Golwala, S. R. et al., including Kim, J., 2024, Proceedings of SPIE, 13102, 1310202

• Probing Hot Gas Components of the Circumgalactic Medium in Cosmological Simulations with the Thermal Sunyaev-Zel'dovich Effect [ADS] [arXiv]

Kim, J., Golwala, S., et al., 2022, ApJ, 926, 179