The role of AGN feedback on the evolution of dwarf galaxies from cosmological simulations
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In this talk, I presented the main results of my first-author paper Arjona-Gálvez et al. (2024), which investigates the impact of active galactic nucleus (AGN) feedback on the evolution of dwarf galaxies using a modification of the AURIGA suite of cosmological simulations. The study provides one of the first systematic analyses of how supermassive black holes influence the star formation histories, gas content, and dark matter of low-mass galaxies within a fully cosmological context. My results demonstrated that even relatively low-supermassive black holes can substantially suppress star formation in dwarf galaxies, thereby offering new insights into the physical mechanisms that regulate their baryonic evolution. As the principal author, I led all aspects of this project — from simulation analysis and data processing using Pynbody and Python-based pipelines, to the interpretation of the physical trends and the manuscript preparation. The work bridges the gap between theoretical modeling and observational efforts to detect AGN activity in dwarf galaxies, showing that feedback from supermassive black holes may play an underestimated role in shaping their observable properties. Presenting this research at the CLUES meeting allowed me to engage directly with an international audience of experts in galaxy formation and the local universe. The discussions following my talk were particularly valuable for contextualizing my findings within broader questions of feedback efficiency and environmental dependence. --- title: "A new galaxy size definition across different state-of-art hydrodynamical simulations" collection: talks type: "Talk" permalink: /talks/CLUES2024 venue: "CLUES colaboration meeting" date: 11/06/2024 location: "Warsav, Poland" --- This talk presented the work that became Arjona-Gálvez et al. (2025), analyzing a new, physically motivated definition of galaxy size applicable across multiple cosmological simulation suites. This work provides a consistent framework for comparing galaxy structure and morphology between simulations with differing numerical resolutions and feedback prescriptions. The methodology was applied to large datasets from the AURIGA, HESTIA, NIHAO and FIRE-2 simulations, revealing that traditional size metrics can bias interpretations of galaxy growth. By basing the definition on star formation thresholds rather than surface brightness profiles, the study improves the connection between simulated and observed galaxies. Presenting this work at the CLUES meeting, which brings together leading experts in cosmological simulations and local universe studies, provided an invaluable platform to discuss the implications of this new approach. The audience feedback contributed to refining the statistical framework and validating the robustness of the definition across environments. This was one of two talks I gave at the conference, reflecting the relevance and visibility of my research within the computational astrophysics community.
