Masaryk University/ESO, 9/2022 - 6/2024

Supervision: Mgr. Pavel Jáchym, Ph.D. (CAS), Dr. Alice Concas (ESO), Dr. Eric Emsellem (ESO)

Master's thesis: Molecular gas outflows in local galaxies

Abstract:

Galactic outflows driven by active galactic nuclei and/or star formation are a fundamental ingredient of the state-of-the-art galaxy evolution models based on the Lambda CDM cosmology. They are thought to play a key role in regulating galaxy star formation efficiency, shaping the galaxy's stellar mass function, the chemical enrichment of its environment and the dark matter distribution in galaxies. Despite their pivotal importance in galaxy evolution, a complete observational picture is still missing. For example, it is not clear which gas phase (ionized, molecular or atomic) dominates the outflow mass budget. The main goal of this thesis is to statistically investigate the presence and properties of galactic-scale molecular gas outflows in local galaxies (z~0), filling in the current observational picture. To achieve this goal, sub-millimeter spectroscopic observations of the xCOLD GASS sample of local galaxies will be studied, CO (1-0) line being a common tracer of the molecular phase. These observations will be analyzed by incorporating a combined stacking technique and disc-decomposition line modeling to search for evidence of non-circular motions in galaxies, as proposed in Concas et al. 2022. Understanding the presence and amount of molecular gas in outflows across different stellar masses of their hosts is key information for constraining galaxy evolution and cosmological models to better represent our universe.

Masaryk University, 9/2019 - 6/2022

Supervision: Mgr. Pavel Jáchym, Ph.D. (CAS)

Bachelor's thesis: Galaxy evolution with ALMA - Effects of ram pressure stripping on the kinematics of cluster galaxies

Abstract:

The galactic evolution is greatly affected by the surrounding environment. This thesis explores effects of ram pressure stripping (RPS) on the galaxy ESO137-001 as it is moving through the dense intra-cluster medium of the Norma cluster. We used detailed observations of the CO(2-1) emission line made by ALMA, tracing the distribution of molecular gas in the galaxy. Visualization of the effects was produced by implementing several methods widely used to study galactic kinematics.