Heidelberg Joint Astronomical Colloquium

Speaker Matteo Viel
Title Cosmological spectroscopy of the high-redshift Universe: status and perspectives
Abstract

The Intergalactic Medium (IGM) – diffuse matter filling the space between galaxies – is a powerful cosmological tool since it probes a unique range of redshifts, scales and environments. I will review the role of the IGM as: i) a tracer of the large scale structure of the Universe; ii) a laboratory for fundamental physics; iii) a record of the galaxy formation processes. The study of the IGM is based on state-of-the-art hydrodynamical simulations that include the relevant physical processes and on high and low resolution spectroscopic data (VLT/UVES, Keck and SDSS quasar spectra).