Investigations on Dark Matter and Dark Energy

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Cosmological observations using of a variety of different techniques have provided consistent measurements of the density of mass and energy in our Universe. These observations support a model of the universe in which the present amount of nucleons (or baryons) accounted for is only a fraction of the total amount of nucleons, the nucleons are only a part of the total amount of matter, and matter is only a part of the total mass-energy of the universe, most of it being in a mysterious form. Where are the missing nucleons? What is the non-baryonic matter? What constitutes the rest of the energy? These questions are the so-called dark matter and dark energy problems. The identification of dark matter and the understanding of dark energy are among the major open questions in physics, astrophysics, and cosmology. The research outlined in this proposal addresses theoretical and phenomenological aspects of these two problems using several tools: finding new models to explain the nature of the dark energy and ways to discriminate among them, studying the prospects of detecting non-baryonic dark matter in the light of recent astrophysical progress in the theory of galaxy formation, examining the formation of high concentrations of dark matter around galactic black holes, and using gravitational microlensing of unresolved stars to search for compact baryonic objects in nearby galaxies. The dark matter and dark energy problems provide abundant educational opportunities outside the traditional university setting. First, cosmology has always been of great appeal to the general public. Second, the research outlined in this proposal will use results from the largest galaxy surveys and will deal with modelsof black holes. Both topics can be used to produce attractive but scientifically sound visualizations of our location in the Universe and of a journey into a black hole, respectively. Such visualizations will then be in planetariums.