CAREER: Combining HI and Optical Galaxy Surveys: A Census of Baryons in the Local Universe

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This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5).Dr. Jessica Rosenberg (George Mason University) will use two large overlapping surveys which probe the galaxy population at optical and 21-cm (HI) wavelengths to study the baryons in galaxies. The nature and distribution of the baryons in galaxies can test predictions of the Lambda-Cold Dark Matter (Lambda-CDM) model while also providing a probe of the astrophysical processes that affect the state of the baryons in galaxies. Ultimately, this project will address two of the most important questions in extragalactic astronomy and cosmology today: (1) is the Lambda-CDM model correct? and (2) how do the astrophysical processes governing star formation and galactic feedback affect the evolution of galaxies? This can be done because there are now large area surveys in both optical and radio (21-cm) wavelengths, so that studying the stars and gas simultaneously in a statistically significant sample of galaxies in a single volume of space is finally possible.This study will break new ground in our understanding of the fundamental components of galaxies in the local universe, and will have a legacy value to the entire astronomical community in the form of readily available catalogs containing the combined optical and HI data for more than 30,000 galaxies in the overlap region between the Arecibo Legacy Fast Arecibo L-band Feed Array (ALFALFA) survey and the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS). There will also be a longer term impact on the recruitment, training, and mentoring of the next generation of scientists and science teachers. In addition, Dr. Rosenberg will work to increase the number of women and minority physics majors at George Mason University as one of the goals of this project.