Star-forming main sequence in IllustrisTNG
Origin of star formation main sequence in TNG Universe using symbolic regression.
The “star-forming main sequence” (SFMS) — the tight relation between stellar mass and star-formation rate of star-forming galaxies — is one of extragalactic astronomy’s most-cited results, but its scatter, slope, and evolution remain contested. Why is there a star-formation main sequence? Why do star forming galaxies remain in the main sequence?
In my second project at ASIAA, I’m using IllustrisTNG — the largest cosmological hydrodynamical simulation in production — as a controlled laboratory. In this project, I am exploring the star formation variables in the TNG Universe – I quantify which physical quantities play the crucial role in keeping galaxies in the main sequence that result in the well-defined SFMS boundary. The output is a symbolic regression model of the star-formation.
Project at ASIAA · 2026–present.