IAU00562
Presentation type requested: ORAL
SIMULATIONS OF THE INTERGALACTIC MEDIUM
Romeel Dave
Steward Observatory

I will describe recent progress in understanding the physical state and governing processes in the intergalactic medium from the reionization epoch to the present day. Cosmological hydrodynamic simulations have yielded new insights into the nature and evolution of Lyman alpha forest absorbers, the presence and detectability of a "warm-hot" intergalactic medium, the physics governing intragroup and intracluster media, and the implications of metals seen in very diffuse gas. I will summarize important developments in these areas, and present key questions to be addressed with future observations and ever-improving simulations. I will also look towards the emerging field of correlating galaxies and intergalactic gas as a way to probe details of galaxy formation processes, and highlight early results from some promising yet puzzling studies at high and low redshifts. Finally, I will discuss some crucial numerical modeling issues that are currently limiting our ability to understand the details of baryonic processes, along with possible avenues for solution.

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