The Computational Modeling of Galaxies
How do galaxies and many of their properties evolve over cosmic history? Which processes determine their sizes, regulate their star formation rates, or shape their morphology? Nobody really knows for sure. What makes this research so challenging is the large range of scales (from the cosmic web to individual molecular clouds) and the complexity of the physical processes operating in the interstellar and circumgalactic medium. However, compared with just 10 years ago, we are now much closer to answering those questions. The continuous increase in computing power enables astrophysicists to develop and evaluate increasingly sophisticated computational models of galaxy evolution, mitigating the dynamic range problem. These model building efforts were greatly helped by the advent of large, digital galaxy surveys that resulted in the quantitative analysis of millions of galaxies -- a development that is still revolutionizing our understanding of galaxy evolution.
About me
I am a computation- and data-science-oriented astrophysicist with research interests in the formation and evolution of galaxies, in structure formation, and in the physical processes that take place in the interstellar medium. A significant part of my research relies on state-of-the-art high-performance computing and data analysis.
Contact
You can contact me at feldmann[at]physik.uzh.ch. The Department of Astrophysics is located at the Irchel campus, building 11, floor F.
Selected Recent Publications
The Nature of Post-Starburst Galaxies: Real Deal or Masquerading Impostors?
Cenci, Elia; Feldmann, Robert; Wellons, Sarah; et al. MNRAS submitted; ADS
EMBER-2: emulating baryons from dark matter across cosmic time with deep modulation networks
Bernardini, Mauro; Feldmann, Robert; Gensior, Jindra; et al. 2025, MNRAS; ADS
Elevated UV luminosity density at Cosmic Dawn explained by non-evolving, weakly mass-dependent star formation efficiency
Feldmann, Robert; Boylan-Kolchin, Michael; Bullock, James S.; et al. 2025, MNRAS; ADS
Inflow and outflow properties, not total gas fractions, drive the evolution of the mass–metallicity relation
Bassini, Luigi; Feldmann, Robert; Gensior, Jindra; et al. 2024, MNRAS; ADS
FIREbox: simulating galaxies at high dynamic range in a cosmological volume
Feldmann, Robert; Quataert, Eliot; Faucher-Giguère, Claude-André; Hopkins, Philip F., Çatmabacak, Onur et al. 2023, MNRAS; ADS