CAREER: Constraining the Nature and Distribution of Dark Matter in the Era of High-Precision Astrometry

如果星系只由正常物质组成，如恒星和气体，那么星系中的恒星被观察到的运动速度比预期的要快。多个研究领域的科学家一直在努力寻找这些高速的解释。主要的观点是，存在着看不见的“暗物质”，它构成了星系内部的大部分物质。这些额外的物质大大增加了恒星的引力，使它们的运动速度比预期的要快。然而，天文学家和物理学家仍然不知道这种“暗物质”的确切性质。 该计划将建立我们银河系的新模型，这些模型将使用即将到来的调查来测量有多少“暗物质”并测试其属性。这些模型将是第一个包含有关附近星系（如麦哲伦云）的新知识的模型。麦哲伦星云在南半球是肉眼可见的，并且正在为我们的银河系添加大量的“暗物质”。 该计划将使这些模型可供整个社区使用。这将使公众和科学家能够为自己模拟银河系中恒星的运动。图森少数民族参与科学技术计划（TIMESTEP）。 调查员将扩大TIMESTEP计划，创造新的活动，以支持学生的职业道路在科学政策，外联，研究人员将在暗物质粒子的自然冷暗物质（CDM）与模糊暗物质（FDM）和自相互作用暗物质（SIDM）。研究人员将使用基本场扩展技术（自洽场方法; SCF）来分析量化银河系+ LMC的CDM暗物质分布。这种技术将在御夫座CDM宇宙学模拟中使用类似的银河系+大质量卫星系统的宇宙学变焦来验证。通过这些模拟和分析实现，将为当前/即将到来的高精度晕示踪剂（卫星，恒星流，球状星团和晕星）的运动学数据建立一个新的框架。特别是，这个项目将解决天体物理学中的基本问题：1）我们能观察到动态摩擦吗？这可能告诉我们暗物质粒子的性质？2)银河系中暗物质的分布是怎样的？该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并被认为是值得通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估的支持。

Stars in galaxies are observed to be moving faster than expected if galaxies are only made up of normal material, like stars and gas. Scientists across multiple areas of research have been working to find the explanation for these high speeds. The leading idea is that there exists unseen, “dark matter” that makes up most of the material inside galaxies. This extra material greatly increases the gravitational pull on stars, making them move faster than expected. However, astronomers and physicists still do not know the exact nature of this “dark matter”. This program will build new models of our Galaxy that will use upcoming surveys to measure how much "dark matter" there is and test its properties. These models will be the first to include new knowledge about nearby galaxies, like the Magellanic Clouds. The Magellanic Clouds are visible to the naked eye in the Southern Hemisphere and are adding a lot of “dark matter” into our Milky Way. This program will make these models accessible to the entire community. This will allow the public and scientists to model the motions of stars in our Milky Way for themselves. The investigator created the Tucson Initiative for Minority Engagement in Science and Technology Program (TIMESTEP). The investigator will expand the TIMESTEP program by creating new activities in support of student career paths in the areas of Science Policy, Outreach, and Communication.The investigator will calibrate the properties of the dark matter wake induced by the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) under different assumptions of the dark matter particle’s nature—cold dark matter (CDM) vs. fuzzy dark matter (FDM) and self-interacting dark matter (SIDM). The investigator will use a basis field expansion technique (Self-Consistent Field Method; SCF) to analytically quantify the CDM dark matter distribution of the Milky Way + LMC. This technique will be validated using cosmological zooms of analogous Milky Way + massive satellite systems in the Auriga CDM cosmological simulations. With these simulations and analytic realizations, a new framework will be established for current/upcoming high-precision kinematic data of halo tracers (satellites, stellar streams, globular clusters, and halo stars). In particular, this project will tackle fundamental questions in astrophysics: 1) Can we observe dynamical friction in action and what might this tell us about the nature of the dark matter particle? 2) What is the distribution of dark matter in the Milky Way?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.