Description
Cosmic filaments—shaped by 13.7 billion years of structure growth—play a fundamental role in galaxy evolution. At least half of all galaxies reside in filaments, the bridges of matter that channel them into clusters while exposing them to diverse environments. These large-scale structures regulate gas flows, linking galaxies to the intergalactic medium and influence their ability to accrete fresh gas or undergo environmental quenching. As a result, key galaxy properties such as colour, star formation rate, morphology, and spin strongly correlate with their position in the web.
What drives these correlations? Are they shaped by the interplay of large-scale structure formation, local density physics, fine-scale gas processes, or internal mechanisms? Despite the observed global trends, the underlying physical explanations remain an active area of research and debate.
For one, it is notoriously difficult to map such a complicated structure, given the incomplete, noisy, and biased nature of observational data. In addition, the processes at play are likely subtle and cumulative rather than dominated by a single factor.
As we enter an era of large-scale, multi-wavelength surveys and high-resolution simulations, we have an unprecedented opportunity to synthesize observations, simulations and theory into a global framework.
I will provide a high-level review of our current understanding of how galaxies and the cosmic web co-evolve, focusing on the role of filaments and clusters in shaping galaxy transformation, as well as how we map the multi-scale structure of the cosmic web.
