[Colloquium] Core formation, burstiness and morphology in dwarf galaxies as sensitive probes of the Cold Dark Matter model

Speaker: Laura Sales

Title: Core formation, burstiness and morphology in dwarf galaxies as sensitive probes of the Cold Dark Matter model.

Abstract: Dwarf galaxies are often depicted as ideal probes of the Lambda Cold Dark Matter model due to their large dark matter content. However, large uncertainties are still present in our understanding of the baryonic physics shaping these small galaxies. In this talk, I will discuss the formation of dark matter cores in the inner halos of dwarf galaxies and how that is directly coupled to the modeling of physical processes like star formation and feedback in hydrodynamical simulations. I will also summarize some of the predictions necessarily linked to the formation of such dark matter cores. This includes, for example, bursty star formation histories and dispersion-dominated morphology in low mass galaxies, highlighting a critical challenge for current cosmological simulations to match the observed number of thin/flat dwarf galaxies observed in catalogs such as GAMA and DESI.