Star formation in cosmological simulations of Milky Way-like galaxies

This thesis investigates how the large-scale cosmological environment around galaxies in combination with the properties of the local star-forming regions within them contribute to shape the galactic-scale star formation history. To this aim, I use high-resolution cosmological zoom-in simulations of Milky Way-like systems based on the VINTERGATAN galaxy formation and evolution model.

Astronomers are like time travelers, we use telescopes to capture the light emitted billions of years ago by galaxies far away. We can therefore study populations of galaxies at different ages of the Universe. In this thesis, I instead use theoretical simulations of our galaxy, the Milky Way, to understand if we can reproduce the star formation properties of observed galaxies across cosmic time.