Large observational surveys have compiled substantial galaxy samples with an array of different properties across cosmic time. While we have a broad understanding of how galaxies grow and build their observable properties, the details of galaxy growth and evolution pose a fundamental challenge to galaxy evolution theories. Nonetheless, galaxy evolution is ultimately regulated by the properties of the gas reservoir. In this thesis I use numerical simulations to answer key questions related to the galactic gas reservoir, and galaxy mergers: a major transformational process. In Chapter 2 I present an analysis of 28 simulated L* galaxies to understand the physical processes that shape the massive gas reservoir surrounding galaxies (i.e. the circum-galactic medium; CGM). I show that (1) the gas and metal content of the CGM is driven by galaxy growth and the strength/presence of feedback processes, and (2) the ionisation and internal structures of the CGM are shaped by galactic outflows, and active galactic nucleus luminosity. Albeit dependent on internal galactic properties and the physical processes that shape them, the CGM remains greatly diverse, thus posing a challenge for observational surveys. As a follow-up to my study of normal L* galaxy gas halos, in Chapter 3 I present a theoretical study of the effect of galaxy mergers on the CGM. I demonstrate that galaxy mergers can leave a strong imprint on the CGM's gas and metal content, metallicity, and size. The merger can increase (1) the CGM's metallicity by 0.2-0.3 dex within 0.5 Gyr post-merge, and (2) the metal covering fractions by factors of 2-3. In spite of the increase in the CGM's metal content, the hard ionising field during the merger can drive a decline in the covering fractions of commonly observed ions. In Chapter 4 I shift focus to star formation, particularly the effects of galaxy mergers on star formation. While the effects of galaxy mergers have been proven observationally, theoretical predictions are limited to small binary merger suites and cosmological zoom-in studies. I present a statistical study of 27,691 post-merger galaxies from IllustrisTNG to quantify the effect of galaxy mergers on galactic star formation. I report a dependence in the merger-induced star formation rate (SFR) on mass ratio, stellar mass, gas fraction, and galaxy SFR. I also track the evolution of the effects of galaxy mergers demonstrating their decay over ~500 Myr. In Chapter 6, I leverage galactic scaling relations to extend my work on the effects of galaxy mergers to resolved scales. However, before using the simulated resolved scaling relations, I first examine their existence and robustness. In Chapter 5, I demonstrate the emergence of the kpc-scale star forming main sequence (rSFMS) in the FIRE-2 simulations. Nonetheless, the slope of the rSFMS is dependent on the (1) star formation tracer's timescale, and (2) observed resolution, which I propose is caused by the clumpiness of star formation. I develop a toy model that quantitatively captures the effects of clumpy star formation. I then illustrate how the model can be used to characterise the mass of star-forming clumps. Having demonstrated the existence and robustness of known scaling relations in numerical simulations, I explore the effects of galaxy mergers on resolved scales in Chapter 6. I generate synthetic observations for 1,927 post-mergers in IllustrisTNG and examine the radially-dependent merger-driven SFR enhancement, and metallicity suppression in post-mergers. Galaxy mergers preferentially boost star formation in the centres and suppress metallicities globally. The effects of the merger depends on galaxy properties such as stellar mass, SFR, mass ratio, and gas fraction.

Awarded the American Astronomical Society (AAS) Rodger Doxsey Travel Prize, and with a foreword by thesis supervisor Professor Shardha Jogee at the University of Texas at Austin, this thesis discusses one of the primary outstanding problems in extragalactic astronomy: how galaxies form and evolve. Galaxies consist of two fundamental kinds of structure: rotationally supported disks and spheroidal/triaxial structures supported by random stellar motions. Understanding the balance between these galaxy components is vital to comprehending the relative importance of the different mechanisms (galaxy collisions, gas accretion and internal secular processes) that assemble and shape galaxies. Using panchromatic imaging from some of the largest and deepest space-based galaxy surveys, an empirical census of galaxy structure is made for galaxies at different cosmic epochs and in environments spanning low to extremely high galaxy number densities. An important result of this work is that disk structures are far more prevalent in massive galaxies than previously thought. The associated challenges raised for contemporary theoretical models of galaxy formation are discussed. The method of galaxy structural decomposition is treated thoroughly since it is relevant for future studies of galaxy structure using next-generation facilities, like the James Webb Space Telescope and the ground-based Giant Magellan Telescope with adaptive optics.

One of the most important questions in modern astrophysics is how galaxies form and evolve. There are numerous processes involved in galaxy evolution, but the stellar mass buildup and supermassive black hole growth are two main drivers in galaxy evolution. Those activities are heavily obscured by dust, so we need another tracer without dust attenuation: low-frequency radio continuum observation. We understand the galaxy evolution through the deep radio continuum observations on the Great Observatories Origins Deep Survey (GOODS)-North, -South, and the COSMOS HI Large Extragalactic Survey (CHILES) fields. Exploiting the multi-wavelength dataset, we define the radio populations such as star-formation (SF) dominated, active galactic nuclei (AGN)-dominated, and passive galaxies by applying new selection criteria. Populations are defined according to the relative contributions of SF and AGN luminosities to the bolometric luminosities of host galaxies and star formation properties. We explore the physical properties of radio populations, interpret their properties in the context of galaxy evolution, and show that our results of radio populations are consistent with the galaxy evolution scenarios. These results are the same for the GOODS and CHILES fields. Our investigation of the radio spectral index and radio-FIR correlation for the GOODS fields show that the radio spectral index is characteristic of each population and the radio-FIR correlation is a robust tracer of star formation activity. The analysis of radio spectral index shows the prominence of steep spectrum sources at faint flux density first as expected in the Euclidean normalized number counts. We also show that the radio spectral index should be calculated by matching the beam sizes of images. The evolution of the radio-FIR correlation in SF-dominated galaxies is not found significantly with our data. On the other hand, the analysis of radio spectral index for the CHILES is not consistent with the result of the GOODS due to the larger difference of beam area. This inconsistency gives important implications for the future works.

This book contains the elaborated and updated versions of the 24 lectures given at the 43rd Saas-Fee Advanced Course. Written by four eminent scientists in the field, the book reviews the physical processes related to star formation, starting from cosmological down to galactic scales. It presents a detailed description of the interstellar medium and its link with the star formation. And it describes the main numerical computational techniques designed to solve the equations governing self-gravitating fluids used for modelling of galactic and extra-galactic systems. This book provides a unique framework which is needed to develop and improve the simulation techniques designed for understanding the formation and evolution of galaxies. Presented in an accessible manner it contains the present day state of knowledge of the field. It serves as an entry point and key reference to students and researchers in astronomy, cosmology, and physics.

One of the primary concerns in galaxy evolution is how galaxies form their stars: what keeps that star formation going over cosmic time, and what causes it to stop in a processes called "quenching". Galaxies with mass similar to our own Milky Way occupy a sweet spot between abundance and brightness that makes them easy to find in the sky, and such galaxies also populate a transitionary regime in behavior that make them interesting for studying galaxy evolution. Numerical modeling-from semi-analytic models to numerical simulations-are valuable tools for understanding the multiple intersecting physical processes that drive galaxy evolution. These processes act both within and around individual galaxies such that numerical models must necessarily encompass a range of spatial and temporal scales. Multiple approaches are commonly used in order for this modeling to be physically insightful. In this dissertation I will present my efforts to unravel the mechanisms of galaxy evolution affect Milky Way-like galaxies using a variety of numerical models.Addressing the issue of what causes galaxies to stop forming stars, I first investigate an unusual population of galaxies called the "break BRDs" (Tuttle and Tonnesen 2020). Within the dominant framework for galaxy quenching, galaxies first stop forming stars in their centers and later in their outskirts. This is the "inside-out" quenching paradigm. The break BRD galaxies possess observational markers that run counter to this narrative. We used the Illustris TNG cosmological simulation(Pillepich et al. 2018b) to find a set of simulated galaxies that are analogous to the observed breakBRDs in order to better understand their evolution. We found that the breakBRD analogues are galaxies that ultimately become fully quenched, but found no clear cause for the "outside-in" modality. This is not the dominant channel for quenching in the IllustrisTNG simulation, but roughly 10% of quiescent galaxies with 10