Dust and PAHs: a window on galaxy evolution
Massimiliano Parente (University of Florida)
Tuesday 09/06/2026 @ 14:00, Sala Antonio Sollima (IV piano Battiferro)
Cosmic dust and Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) account for less than 1% of the interstellar medium by mass, yet they shape the observability of galaxies. Modeling them self-consistently in cosmological simulations is one of the main challenges in the ALMA and JWST era. After reviewing recent progress in dust modeling, I will present the first cosmological galaxy formation simulation to jointly follow the evolution of the physical grain size distribution and the luminous properties of PAHs across a large volume and cosmic time. I will show how the PAH–metallicity relation emerges naturally from grain shattering in the ISM, and how PAH emission can be used to trace physical properties of galaxies such as star formation rate and molecular gas content. These results provide a physical framework to interpret recent JWST observations at cosmic noon and will help guide future missions such as PRIMA.