Mapping Dark Matter with Light: Stellar Bar Driven Substructure in the Milky Way Dark Matter Halo

安吉拉科利尔被授予美国国家科学基金会天文学和天体物理学博士后奖学金，在科罗拉多大学进行研究和教育项目。科利尔将进行理论计算，以预测暗物质在银河系中心附近的结构和通量。这个项目的结果将使天文学家了解暗物质如何影响棒星系中的重子物质。对于这个项目的教育部分，Collier将开发一个天文馆节目，以提高学前班和幼儿园学生的科学成果和社会情感发展，她将为本科生提供研究经验。该项目将研究恒星条形驱动的子结构在暗物质中的作用及其对银河系暗物质探测的影响。在这个项目中进行的分析计算和数值模拟将预测困在恒星条中的暗物质对银河系晕中的暗物质的影响。由此产生的对晕条耦合和动力学的洞察将允许对间接特征进行准确的预测，以帮助未来在银河系中心附近对暗物质的天文搜索。更一般地说，它将推进我们对星系中暗物质棒是如何形成的理解。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并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，被认为值得支持。

Angela Collier is awarded an NSF Astronomy and Astrophysics Postdoctoral Fellowship to conduct a program of research and education at the University of Colorado. Collier will perform theoretical calculations to predict the structure and flux of dark matter in the bar and near the center of the Milky Way. Results from this project will allow astronomers to understand how dark matter influences baryonic matter in barred galaxies. For the education component of this project, Collier will develop a planetarium show to improve the science outcomes and social-emotional development of pre-kindergarten and kindergarten students, and she will provide research experiences to undergraduate students.This project will investigate the role of stellar bar-driven substructure in dark matter and its consequences for the detection of dark matter in the Galaxy. Analytical calculations and numerical simulations undertaken in this project will predict the impact of dark matter trapped in the stellar bar on dark matter in the Galactic halo. The resultant insight into halo-bar coupling and dynamics will permit accurate predictions of indirect signatures to aid future astronomical searches for dark matter near the Galactic Center. More generally, it will advance our understanding of how dark matter bars are formed in galaxies.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.