Dark Matter Annihilation Feedback and Cosmic Structure Formation

即将到来的高红移星系和它们形成的中性氢的调查将提供一个前所未有的宇宙黎明时代的一瞥。这些调查提供了一个机会，可以在宇宙历史上一个以前未被探索的时代发现或至少限制新的物理现象。这个项目利用了这个机会，展示了宇宙黎明号观测的潜力，使其成为一个独特有效的暗物质粒子物理探测器。虽然人们普遍认为暗物质是我们宇宙环境的基本元素，但它作为一种物理现象的基本性质仍不为人所知。对高红移星系光度函数和21cm功率谱的建模将使我们能够对暗物质的性质设定新的限制。为了提高这个项目的公众影响力，研究人员将启动一个“视频摘要”制作计划，让学生向非技术观众描述他们发表的作品。这些视频摘要将由学生自己制作，并将发布在专门的公共YouTube频道上。本项目将对高红移星系光度函数和21cm功率谱这两个再电离时代天体物理学的互补探测器进行建模，为暗物质的性质设定新的约束条件。这些结果将解决一种可能性，即暗物质可能在高密度区域自我湮灭，这种可能性是由广泛的理论模型提出的。在这个项目的过程中，将发表新的半解析和数值代码，将暗物质湮灭物理纳入星系形成和再电离。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。

Upcoming surveys of high-redshift galaxies and the neutral hydrogen from which they formed will offer an unprecedented glimpse into the epoch of Cosmic Dawn. These surveys offer an opportunity to discover, or at least constrain, new physical phenomena in a previously unexplored era in the history of the cosmos. This project takes advantage of this opportunity by demonstrating the potential for observations of Cosmic Dawn to be a uniquely effective probe of dark matter particle physics. While dark matter is broadly understood to be an essential element of our cosmic environment, its fundamental nature as a physical phenomenon is still not yet known. Modeling the high-redshift galaxy luminosity function and 21cm power spectrum will allow us to set new constraints on the properties of dark matter. To enhance the public impact of this project, the researchers will initiate a program of “video abstract” productions for students describing their published work for a non-technical audience. These video abstracts will be produced by the students themselves and will be posted on a dedicated public YouTube channel.This project will model the high-redshift galaxy luminosity function and 21cm power spectrum, two complementary probes of reionization-era astrophysics, to set new constraints on the properties of dark matter. The results will address the possibility, suggested by a wide range of theoretical models, that dark matter might self-annihilate in regions of high density. In the course of this project, novel semi-analytic and numerical codes to incorporate dark matter annihilation physics in galaxy formation and reionization will be published.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.