Title:How Gas Flows in Barred Galaxies

Speaker:Zhi Li(online)

Institute: Shanghai Jiao Tong University

Time:14:30-16:30, Thursday, April, 14

Location:Physics Building 552

Tencent ID:870-3829-2588

Abstract:

The galactic bar plays a key role in regulating the secular evolution of the host galaxy by redistributing stars and gas. However, it remains unclear howis gas transported to different regions by the bar,due to both theoretical and numerical difficulties. In this talk, I will briefly review a series of our work on modeling gas flows in barred galaxies. We first systematically investigate the properties of gaseous structures in a simple barred potential, clarifying their formation mechanism and linking them with the bar properties. Then we apply the results to the Milky Way and demonstrate how to use gas flow patterns to constrain the formation history of the Galaxy. In particular, the gas kinematics in the center of the Milky Way is a nature probe to test the predictions of the Fuzzy Dark Matter theory, and I will show our gas model can provide independent constraints. We also study the correlations between bars and supermassive black holes using sophisticated hydrodynamical simulations.In the end, I will highlight a few open questions and directions for future research.

Bio:

Dr. Zhi Li obtained his Ph.D degree in astrophysics from Shanghai Astronomical Observatory in 2018. After that, he then worked in Tsung-Dao Lee Institute as a postdoc and now is a postdoc in the Department of Astronomy at Shanghai Jiao Tong University. He is mainly interested in studying the secular evolution of barred galaxies, including the Milky Way, by high-resolution hydrodynamical simulations. He also studied fuzzy dark matter theory and the formation of supermassive black holes.