Abstract
Baryons play a fundamental role in shaping the evolution of the Universe. Gas accretion fuels the formation of stars and the growth of supermassive black holes, while energetic feedback from young stars and active galactic nuclei (AGN) redistributes baryons across the interstellar, circumgalactic, and intergalactic media (ISM/CGM/IGM). This cosmic baryon cycle governs key astrophysical processes, including star formation efficiency, chemical enrichment, and the thermal and kinematic properties of gas. Over the past decade, observations using state-of-the-art instruments have significantly advanced our ability to characterize these gas flows. In this talk, I will present insights from various recent large-scale surveys conducted with Keck, JWST, Herschel, and SOFIA, offering a comprehensive view of the baryon cycle in star-forming galaxies. These surveys provide an unprecedented dataset—spanning from the epoch of reionization to the present-day universe and probing scales from Mpc-scale IGM dynamics to sub-pc-scale temperature fluctuations in the ISM. The findings challenge some conventional understandings of galaxy formation, revealing unexpected properties of gas distribution and kinematics. Finally, I will discuss the future prospects of baryon cycle studies and how next-generation telescopes will further refine our understanding of galaxy evolution in the coming decade.