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Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche FakultätAstrophysik I.Physik

Theoretical Astrophysics group Cologne - TAC

Our research deals with the numerical modelling of the star formation process by means of high-performance, 3D, magneto-hydrodynamical (MHD) simulations. The simulations cover large spatial scales from ISM physics on kpc scales over molecular clouds on scales of 10 - 100 pc to star forming filaments on (sub-) pc scales and finally to protostellar discs and jets on scales of 10 - 1000 AU.

In our research group we use several tools like the (M)HD codes FLASH, GADGET, GANDALF, the astrochemical code KROME, 3D-PDR or radiative transport codes like RADMC-3D and POLARIS.

Prof. Dr. Stefanie Walch-Gassner is the head of the SILCC project (SImulating the life Cyle of molecular Clouds), a collaboration of several European astrophysical institutes, which has set the aim to model the formation, evolution, and dispersal of molecular clouds in 3D, MHD simulations with particular focus on a detailed astro-chemical modelling and the inclusion of various feedback processes.

Contact information:

  • Phone: (+49|0) 221 / 470 - 3497
  • Fax: (+49|0) 221 / 470 - 5162
  • Email: walch [at] ph1.uni-koeln.de

Consultation hours

upon agreement in Room 1.14, Building 312 

Monthly Highlight

Simulating [CII] emission in high-redshift galaxies and their halos

Fig. 1) Comparison of [CII] surface brightness (SB) profiles from different models and observations. The red line shows our SB profile (averaging high- and low-SFR results) derived from 75 TNG50 halos (z~ 4 - 6) populated with [CII] emission values from the SILCC subgrid model. The blue line represents the SB profile obtained using TB simulations applied to the same sample of TNG50 halos (Masterthesis Buhlmann 2022). Black squares show the averaged observational data from the ALPINE survey (Ginolfi et al. 2020). Shaded areas represent the 2.5-97.5 percentiles of the profile distribution across all galaxies and rotations in our sample.