Abstract: Understanding galaxy evolution is among the most important objectives of modern astrophysics, as galaxies bridge the gap between small scale astrophysics and large scale cosmology. Despite significant advances in both theoretical models and observations, our understanding of the processes driving star formation, galaxy mergers, and quenching remains incomplete. In this talk, I will present a novel data-driven framework to study galaxy evolution, designed to reconstruct key galaxy properties directly from the data. Using this approach, I will derive star formation rates, merger rates and quenching timescales solely guided by recent observations, without relying on theoretical assumptions. This model-independent approach offers several advantages: (1) it enables the rapid incorporation of new observational data, (2) it allows to construct mock catalogs of galaxies as close as possible to current observations, and (3) it provides empirical relations that can be used to calibrate and constrain theoretical models and simulations.
Biography: Dr. Lumen Boco received his bachelor's degree in 2015 and master's degree in 2017 from University of Trento. In 2021, he obtained his PhD degree in Astrophysics and Cosmology from SISSA (International School for Advanced Studies). He then joined SISSA, from 2021 to 2024, as postdoctoral researcher. In 2024, he moved to Heidelberg University as Walter Benjamin postdoctoral fellow.