Letters of Intent received in 2019

LoI 2021-2107
GA Symposium: Rise and Fall of Star Formation in Galaxies

Topics

* Relations between gas, stars, and star formation, as a function of scale & environment
* Dependence of star formation rate on ISM conditions and galaxy structure
* Regulation, maintenance, and triggering of star formation
* Mechanisms of star formation quenching and suppression
* Star formation histories of galaxies and galaxy populations
* Interpreting the fossil record: structure, dynamics and metallicity

Rationale

The past decade has seen rapid growth in our ability to examine star formation in significant samples of galaxies, thanks to ever larger observational surveys (including those based on integral field spectroscopy) and groundbreaking new facilities such as ALMA. At the same time, our understanding of the Milky Way is being revolutionized by the fossil history of past star formation revealed by projects such as Gaia and APOGEE. The consensus model of galaxy evolution is one of steady, inside-out growth of disks with rapid aging of high-mass galaxies due to internal and/or external processes. Still, the interplay of various factors in the aging process - e.g. mergers, gas consumption, nuclear activity - remains poorly understood.

As we enter the 2020's, the scientific community will still be assessing the results of ALMA's first systematic surveys of gas and star formation in galaxies, alongside new results from the major IFU surveys (CALIFA, SAMI, MaNGA) and MUSE. Meanwhile, JWST and LSST will be approaching operational capability, and on the horizon will be powerful new spaced-based (e.g. SPICA, OST) and ground-based (e.g. GMT, ELT, ngVLA, SKA) facilities. On the computational side, the increasing realism of cosmological simulations and the use of intelligent algorithms to confront them with observations promise dramatic new advances. The goal of this meeting is to synthesize our knowledge of how star formation is regulated within individual galaxies and leverage it to understand the rise and fall of star formation on cosmological timescales.

We plan several invited reviews from experts in different methodologies - including observation, theory, and data science - addressing star formation at both low and high redshift, along with a program of talks highlighting the youth and diversity of the field, and a vigorous poster session that stimulates discussion and collaboration among the participants.