Oscar Agertz : Early Galactic Disks and Their Connections to Present-Day Galaxies

Speaker : Prof. Oscar Agertz (Lund University) Date : 19th May 2026 Title : Early Galactic Disks and Their Connections to Present-Day Galaxies Abstract : Recent JWST and ALMA observations have revealed that a substantial fraction of galaxies at very high redshift are rotationally supported disks. Many of these systems host kinematically cold, or “settled,” gaseous disks, a finding that stands in tension with the expectations of many galaxy-formation models. In this seminar, I will present an overview of cosmological simulations of disk-galaxy formation. I will discuss the properties of gas-rich, high-redshift disks, their turbulent nature, and how these early phases of disk assembly connect to spectroscopic and astrometric observations of the Milky Way. Finally, I will show new results indicating that turbulent, early-Universe galaxies are more susceptible to global gravitational instabilities, such as bar formation, than previously thought. These results carry important implications for the rapid buildup of galactic bulges and the fueling of central black holes.