Galaxy Formation Group

In the last few years, a standard model of cosmology has emerged, called the LCDM model. Ordinary luminous matter (baryons) makes up only a small fraction (about 4 percent) of the total mass density.  The remaining part of the universe is dark and made up of two different ingredients: Dark Matter and Dark Energy.

Visual comparison of real (left) and simulated (right) galaxies of different morphologies. Credit: T. Buck (PhD thesis), based on NIHAO simulations (PI: Andrea V. Macciò).

The theory of cold dark matter (CDM) provides now a successful framework for understanding structure formation in the universe. In a universe dominated by CDM and a cosmological constant galaxy formation and evolution is a complex combination of hierarchical clustering, gas dissipation, merging events and secular evolution

NYU Abu Dhabi's Galaxy Formation Group uses state of the art numerical cosmological simulations to study galaxy formation and evolution during cosmic times with the aim to use the visible part of the Universe to unveil its dark side.

Research Fields

  • Hydro-Dynamical Cosmological Simulations of Galaxy Formation
  • Nbody and Hydro Simulations of Non-Standard Dark Energy Models
  • Nbody and Hydro Simulations of Different Dark Matter Models (WDM, WCDM, etc.)
  • Galaxy - Dark Matter Connection
  • Numerical Modeling of Feedback Processes
  • Gravitational Lensing
  • Simulations of Galaxy Mergers and Galactic Dynamics 

Research Team

Andrea Valerio Macciò Professor of Physics
Moe Abbas Research Associate
Moaz Abdelmaguid PhD student
Leen Alrawas PhD student
Shubhan Bhatia Capstone student
Daniel Bramich Research Scientist
Carlo Cannarozzo Postdoctoral Associate 
Changhyun Cho PhD student
Mitale Damle Postdoctoral Associate
Benjamin Davis Research Associate
Honey Htun  Capstone student
Zehao Jin PhD student
Fazeel Khan Research Associate
Saakshi More Capstone student
Ahmad Nemer Research Associate
Sarah Were Capstone student