The formation and evolution of galaxies are among the most complex challenges in astrophysics. Recent advancements with instruments like JWST and ALMA have shed light on high-redshift galaxies – those that existed billions of years ago. However, most theoretical models are tuned to match galaxies in the local universe. Researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics and the University of Bonn now comprehensively evaluated the Munich semi-analytical model L-GALAXIES using the latest observations and found that while the model aligns well with the properties of local galaxies, it struggles with key aspects of high-redshift galaxies. Particularly, the study highlights critical issues with the model’s predictions of quenched galaxies, those that have ceased star formation. Their results suggest a need to revise the implementation of processes driving star formation quenching, including supermassive black hole feedback and galaxy mergers.
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