Galaxy formation and evolution is a difficult problem due to the large range of scales involved. In this (solar physicists friendly) talk, I will give an overview of this problem which is sourced by the need of capturing both the cosmological boundary conditions as well as various forms of feedback correctly. In particular, I will focus on the phenomenon of galactic winds which are large-scale outflows from galaxies and crucial for the galactic ecosystem but still not well understood theoretically. During my talk, I will show some analytical estimates and results from recent (magneto-)hydrodynamics simulations which suggest a solution to the classical "entrainment problem". I will conclude by discussing potential implications for larger scale galactic simulations.
Videos of a cloud of cold (~10^4K) plasma being hit by a hot (~10^6K)
wind showing a density slice, and a 3D rendering in the top and
bottom, respectively. Note that although the destruction timescale of
the cloud is much smaller than the acceleration time, the cold gas is
not destroyed but recollects in the tail of the cloud until it is
eventually moving at the same velocity as the wind. Credits: Max Grönke, https://arxiv.org/abs/1806.02728