Publications 2007

• Finlator, K., Dave, R., & Oppenheimer, B. D., 2007
  Constraints on physical properties of z ~ 6 galaxies using cosmological
  hydrodynamic simulations
  MNRAS 376, 1861 (Extragalactic, Theoretical)
  

Ongoing Research

K. Finlator, in collaboration with R. Dave (Arizona) and B. D. Oppenheimer
(Arizona), investigated whether the scenario of hierarchical structure formation
within a LCDM cosmology can account for the range of observed properties of
galaxies at redshifts beyond 5.  They used a Bayesian technique to compare the
photometric properties of an observed sample with galaxies derived from
cosmological hydrodynamic simulations.  They found that, in general, the colors
and magnitudes of the observed galaxies are completely consistent with
expectations of theoretical models.  (Theoretical Astrophysics, Extragalactic)

K. Finlator, in collaboration with R. Dave (Arizona), showed that the observed
relationship between the stellar mass and gas-phase metallicity of star-forming
galaxies at z~2 is completely consistent with the predictions of cosmological
hydrodynamic simulations if the models assume that galactic-scale outflows
follow the scalings expected for momentum-driven winds.  They then undertook a
detailed study of the key drivers of star formation and chemical enrichment
within the simulation in order to understand what the observed relation "tells
us" about galaxy evolution.  In contrast to previous work, they found that
gas-phase metallicities primarily reflect an equilibrium between the rates of
enrichment due to star formation and dilution owing to inflows of fresh gas, and
further that the star formation rate reflects an equilibrium between the gas
accretion and gas processing rates. (Theoretical Astrophysics, Extragalactic)

K. Finlator, in collaboration with R. Dave (Arizona), Feryal Ozel (Arizona), and
Rainer Wehrse (Heidelberg), is developing a treatment for continuum radiative
transfer that will be used to study radiative feedback during the reionization
epoch. (Theoretical Astrophysics, Extragalactic)