CAREER: Tracing the Birth and Growth of Galaxy Clusters with the South Pole Telescope 3rd Generation Survey

Massachusetts Institute Of Technology, Cambridge MA

Investigators

Abstract

Clusters of galaxies, cosmic cities hosting thousands of individual galaxies like our Milky Way, are the most massive collections of matter in the Universe. In the same way that the biggest cities on Earth host the tallest buildings, these massive clusters host the largest galaxies and the most massive black holes in the Universe. These nested structures (supermassive black holes, inside giant galaxies, at the centers of rich clusters) share a common evolution, influencing the growth of one another in complex and largely unknown ways. Using the South Pole Telescope, along with supporting data from a variety of ground- and space-based telescopes, the PI will build the largest ever sample of distant galaxy clusters, spanning 10 billion years of cosmic history. The specific goals of this program are to understand the formation of the very first clusters of galaxies, to witness the assembly of the most massive galaxies within these clusters, and to determine the long-term importance of the central supermassive black hole in governing the evolution of both the cluster and its host galaxies. In parallel to this research, we are developing an on-site "observational techniques" school for undergraduate and graduate students at an active, world-class telescope, while also helping to grow the STEM initiative for the Warrior Scholar Project, a program that aims to provide 1-week STEM bootcamps to enlisted veterans in preparation for a 4-year university program. Over the 5 years of this project, the combination of the research program and two outreach programs will provide research and education opportunities for four graduate and postgraduate researchers at MIT, and over 100 students and enlisted veterans from around the country. Galaxy clusters, the most massive objects in the Universe, represent an extreme environment where studies of galaxy evolution, black hole feedback, and growth of structure are more easily carried out. In the next 5-10 years, tens of thousands of new galaxy clusters will be discovered via a variety of "next-generation" surveys, such as the South Pole Telescope 3rd Generation survey (SPT-3G). This huge increase in the number of known clusters, coupled with a necessary improvement in analysis tools to handle such large data quantities, will allow the PI to address the following critical questions: (i) When did the first clusters separate from the cosmic web, collapse, and dynamically relax? (ii) When did the central, most massive galaxy assemble and settle into the bottom of the gravitational potential? (iii) When did the black holes in these massive galaxies transition from rapidly-accreting quasars to radio-loud galaxies capable of regulating cooling of the hot intracluster medium on 100 kpc scales? Our proposed program will address each of these questions in a statistically rigorous way using a variety of new data and tools developed over the course of 5-year grant timeline. In parallel to this research, the PI is developing an on-site "observational techniques" school for undergraduate and graduate students at an active, world-class telescope, while also helping to grow the STEM initiative for the Warrior Scholar Project, a program that aims to provide 1-week STEM bootcamps to enlisted veterans in preparation for a 4-year university program. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.