Pearls of Wisdom:
Galaxy Clusters in Zhuhai

Exploring physics of galaxy clusters in Zhuhai

It is our great pleasure to welcome you to the 2020 "Wisdom of Pearls: Zhuhai Clusters" Meeting, hosted by the School of Physics and Astronomy (SPA), Sun Yat-sen University (SYSU).

Galaxies are the visible constituent of our Universe and the study of their formation and evolution forms one of the key windows into our understanding of how the Universe works. Many key questions remain largely unanswered although great strides have been made in recent years. This workshop aims to address some of these issues, in particular:
- What do the first galaxies look like?
- What kind of physical processes are responsible for the various phases of galaxy evolution?
- How well do our theoretical tools (e.g. semi-analytical models, HOD model, full physics simulations) work?
- How can we best synergise the information provided by current observations to inform theoretical studies?

As the largest gravitationally bound objects in the Universe, galaxy clusters provide the ideal host enviroment for testing both cosmological models and theories of galaxy formation and evolution. Their formation and evolution depends on both the underlying cosmological framework as well as the detailed interplay between the baryonic material they contain which forms stars and active galactic nuclei and the gravitationally dominant dark matter component. These interactions regulate, for example, the structure of the intra-cluster medium, the size of the central brightest cluster galaxy, and the number of orbiting satellite galaxies. Clusters of galaxies are large cosmological laboratories within which theories of structure and galaxy formation can be simultaneously and self-consistently tested.

At this meeting we will discuss and access data from to initiate and continue collaborative science project "THE 300 PROJECT" to address these and related science questions. THE 300 PROJECT has already simulated a complete mass-limited sample of over 300 large galaxy clusters from a cosmological volume 1Gpc/h on a side using a range of full-physics and semi-analytical models. The workshop will be targetted at discussion and establishing ongoing effective collaborations.

In Chinese, Zhuhai(珠海) means a sea fertile with pearls. We sincerely wish our meeting will bring all our attendees pearls of wisdom. Wishing you all a good week in Zhuhai!