Subject:  Insights into the formation of galaxies from the 
OverWhelmingly Large Simulations project
Speaker:  Joop Schaye, Leiden University

My research focuses on the formation of galaxies and the intergalactic 
medium (IGM). Recently, my group has been working mostly on the OWLS 
(OverWhelmingly Large Simulations) project. We are preparing a very 
large set of cosmological, hydrodynamical simulations to study the 
history of galaxies and the IGM.   Our research includes the chemical 
enrichment of the IGM, simulations of the formation of galaxies, 
numerical radiative transfer, the thermal history of the IGM, Ly-alpha 
emission from the diffuse IGM, star formation in galaxies, reionization, 
the Ly-alpha forest, damped Ly-alpha absorption systems, gravitational 
lensing, and testing alternatives to dark matter