Collaborative Research: Searching for Dark Matter Subhalos in Distant Strong Gravitational Lenses

该项目旨在将美国国家科学基金会的设施阿尔马，阿塔卡马大型毫米/亚毫米阵列，转化为暗物质的基本物理和星系形成的天体物理学的强大探测器，使用一种被称为引力透镜的效应，爱因斯坦在世纪前首次预测。 该项目的主要目标是量化暗物质的性质，暗物质是我们宇宙的神秘组成部分，其引力将星系结合在一起，但在我们最先进的加速器的对撞机实验中却无法检测到。 暗物质代表了40多年前发展起来的基础物理学标准模型之外的新物理学最令人信服的证据，因此几十年来一直是理论和实验的深入研究的主题。 这项资助支持的研究将被纳入一个将天文学融入伊利诺伊州五年级课堂的计划，来自代表性不足群体的本科生将参加斯坦福大学该项目下的研究活动。该研究计划涉及一套理论，数值，和观测研究，为将阿尔马对透镜尘埃星系的观测转化为对微物理的约束奠定基础。暗物质的性质。 引力透镜星系的阿尔马观测将用于寻找透镜物体质量分布的子结构。 考虑到阿尔马数据集的规模和检测低质量子结构的极其微妙的影响所需的透镜建模的复杂性，这种分析将在千万亿次计算设施上进行，如NSF的蓝色沃茨，使用由调查小组开发的新型分析管道。 数值模拟将用于量化各种暗物质模型中预期的子结构丰度，这些模型探索暗物质的不同物理特性，包括各种自相互作用，温度和康普顿波长，使用由调查小组编写的新型模拟软件。 此外，对探测到的暗物质暗晕的叠加光学/红外观测将提供迄今为止最严格的最小星系中平均恒星质量-晕质量关系的界限，这是所有星系形成模型的关键输入。

This project aims to transform the NSF facility ALMA, the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array, into a powerful probe of the fundamental physics of dark matter and the astrophysics of galaxy formation, using an effect known as gravitational lensing first predicted by Einstein over a century ago. The main goal of the project is to quantify the properties of dark matter, the mysterious component of our Universe whose gravity binds galaxies together but which has eluded detection in collider experiments at our most advanced accelerators. Dark matter represents the most compelling evidence for new physics beyond the Standard Model of fundamental physics developed over 40 years ago and has therefore been the subject of intensive study, both theoretical and experimental, for many decades. Research supported by this grant will be incorporated into a program for integrating astronomy into 5th grade classrooms in Illinois, and undergraduates from underrepresented groups will participate in research activities under this project at Stanford.The research program involves a suite of theoretical, numerical, and observational research to lay the groundwork needed to translate ALMA observations of lensed dusty galaxies into constraints on the microphysical properties of dark matter. ALMA observations of gravitationally lensed galaxies will be used to search for substructure in the mass distributions of the lensing objects. Given the scale of ALMA data sets and the complexity of the lens modeling required to detect extremely subtle effects of low-mass substructure, this analysis will be performed on petascale computing facilities like NSF's Blue Waters using a novel analysis pipeline developed by the investigating team. Numerical simulations will be used to quantify the abundance of substructure expected in a variety of dark matter models that explore different physical characteristics of dark matter including various self-interactions, temperatures, and Compton wavelengths, using novel simulation software written by the investigating team. In addition, stacked optical/IR observations of detected dark matter subhalos will provide the most stringent bounds to date on the mean stellar mass - halo mass relation in the smallest galaxies, a crucial input for all models of galaxy formation.