My name is Braedyn Kim and I am an undergraduate student at University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in the Dept. of Physics and the Dept. of Astronomy, going into my final year.

My current research focuses on studying galaxy evolution, both through observations and simulations. At UIUC, I analyze JWST and ALMA data to understand more about the correlation between particular emission lines, Carbon Monxide (CO) and Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon (PAH). There is found to be a CO-PAH correlation, which is crucial for mapping the molecular gas in galaxies, acting as a proxy for star formation and interstellar medium (ISM) conditions. I analyze the CO and PAH of a z=0.77 galaxy, to further understand the CO-PAH correlation. By doing so, PAHs can be used as a tracer of molecular gas mass, which would allow mapping of molecular gas across much larger surveys, particularly with sensitive instruments on JWST.

I also participated in the Northwestern CIERA REU, with my project focusing on analyzing CGM emission from FIRE simulations. The CGM is found to virialize from the outside in, eventually leading to a process called inner CGM virialization. The virialization of the inner CGM coincides with central galaxy properties, such as the pre-virialized state connecting to bursty, dwarf galaxies and the virialized state connecting to steady, thin disk galaxies. We study the CGM emission of pre-virialized and virialized haloes using FIRE-2 cosmological zoom-in simulations, including Hα and [O III] surface brightnesses, which can be compared to future telescope observations that plan to map out the CGM in the nearby universe. By doing so, we are able to test predictions about the connection between the virialization of the inner CGM and central galaxy properties.