Chemical evolution of galaxies: bridging the gap between simulations and observations
Mechanisms that govern the complex gas flows within the galactic disk and across the disk-halo interface are a crucial ingredient for understanding the evolution of galaxies and their star-formation histories. An important diagnostic for such flows is the spatially resolved gas-phase metallicity distribution. Using the FOGGIE cosmological zoom-in simulations I will demonstrate that a high output cadence (~few Myr) is indispensable for accurately tracking the metallicity gradient evolution, particularly at high-redshift (z). FOGGIE galaxies spend ~50% of their time up to z=1 outside the typical observational uncertainty away from the temporally smooth (~50 Myr) behaviour — which would be difficult to capture with lower cadence. I will then highlight the current tensions between theory and observations regarding metallicity gradient studies, and describe our efforts with FOGGIE to bridge that gap. Finally, I will present preliminary results of applying the insights from the simulations on JWST/NIRISS observations. These observations are part of the JWST-PASSAGE survey program, where we study the spatially resolved signatures of baryon flows and how that impacts assembly of stellar mass in galaxies at z ~ 2.
