Collaborative Research: Dark Matter in Galaxy Halos

University Of California-Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz CA

Investigators

Abstract

The team will investigate the enigmatic "dark matter" in nearby galaxies. Dark matter does not radiate but its gravity tugs at the stars in a galaxy. Observations of such tracer stars provide clues about the dark matter. The team will use forefront facilities to study the starlight at optical wavelengths. They will focus on the faint outskirts of giant galaxies and on some just-discovered dwarf galaxies. The team will compare their observations to simulations of the dark matter in these diverse -- thus challenging -- settings. Senior team members will train junior members recruited from underrepresented groups. The team will continue its successful partnership with Science Buddies, an on-line resource for increasing K-12 science literacy. For the giant early-type galaxies, the team will use chemodynamics to map out their dark matter distributions and to study their assembly histories. For the dwarf ultra-diffuse galaxies, the team will use spectroscopy to study their dark matter distributions and their star formation histories.