"Revolutionizing our Understanding of Galaxy Evolution using the Circumgalactic Medium"
Cosmological hydrodynamics simulations are increasingly able to reproduce galaxies like those we observe in nature. However, the detailed structure of the circumgalactic medium (CGM), the tenuous gas distributed throughout the galactic halo, remains an unresolved challenge. As the interface between star formation, feedback, galactic gas accretion, and acting as a reservoir hosting half the baryons in a galaxy, the CGM is crucial for understanding what drives galactic evolution. I will discuss why the CGM is historically so difficult to model, how novel approaches are now beginning to shed light on its small scale structure, and what these models tell us about galactic feedback, accretion, thermal instability, cosmic ray diffusion, and turbulence.