Denija Crnojevic- University of Tampa

Near-Field Cosmology with wide-field surveys of resolved galaxies

The widely accepted Lambda Cold Dark Matter cosmological paradigm faces important challenges at the scales of individual galaxies, primarily linked to the implementation of baryonic physics in cosmological simulations. The study of resolved stellar populations in the nearest galaxies, or “near-field cosmology”, provides key constraints on the physics underlying galaxy formation and evolution. In this talk, I will present ongoing panoramic imaging surveys of galaxies in the Local Volume, performed with ground-based wide-field imagers and extensively followed-up with a multiwavelength approach. Such surveys constitute the first accurate characterization of the past and ongoing accretion processes shaping the halos of these nearby galaxies and their satellite populations: they do not only quantitatively inform theoretical models of galaxy formation and evolution, but also represent a necessary testbed in preparation for the next generation of ground-based and space-borne telescopes (JWST, VRO, Roman, TMT).