Investigating the Nature of Dark Matter throughout Cosmic History

基础物理学中最突出和最令人兴奋的挑战之一是理解暗物质的性质，暗物质占已知宇宙中所有物质的85%。暗物质通过对普通粒子的引力作用，在形成星系、星系团和更大的物质结构方面发挥着至关重要的作用。一个关键的问题是暗物质是否经历了任何超越引力的力。致力于寻找新的暗物质物理学的实验努力迄今为止没有产生任何结果，这促使了新的理论思想和探测技术的发展。PI的研究计划将在宇宙学和粒子物理学的交叉点解决暗物质问题，使用宇宙学和天体物理学观测来研究暗物质的微观特性。由于近年来精度和灵敏度的提高，这些观测已经成为暗物质的强大探测器。PI的研究将为未来的暗物质分析提供基础性工作，为下一代仪器和调查开始在未来十年的操作中潜在的新发现做准备。与研究相结合，该计划包括对学生和博士后的指导和培训，他们有望成为该领域未来的科学领导者。这项研究将研究暗物质与整个宇宙时间的普通粒子相互作用的影响。这些相互作用会影响宇宙微波背景和小尺度结构的形成，从而有机会利用宇宙学和天体物理学观测来寻找新的暗物质物理学。这项研究将寻求新的途径来弥合理论模型和观测技术，以研究暗物质。该奖项反映了NSF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。

One of the most prominent and exciting challenges in fundamental physics is understanding the nature of dark matter, which accounts for 85% of all matter throughout the known Universe. Dark matter plays a crucial role in forming galaxies, galaxy clusters, and larger structures of matter through its gravitational effects on ordinary particles. A key question is whether or not dark matter experiences any forces beyond gravity. Dedicated experimental efforts to search for new dark matter physics have thus far produced null results, prompting the development of new theoretical ideas and detection techniques. The PI's research program will tackle the dark matter problem at the intersection of cosmology and particle physics, using cosmological and astrophysical observations to study the microscopic properties of dark matter. Such observations have emerged as a powerful probe of dark matter, due to their increase in precision and sensitivity over recent years. The PI's research will provide foundational work for future dark matter analyses, in preparation for potential new discoveries as next-generation instruments and surveys begin operations in the upcoming decade. In conjunction with research, this program incorporates the mentoring and training of students and postdocs, who are poised become the future scientific leaders of the field.This research will study the impact of dark matter interactions with ordinary particles throughout cosmic time. These interactions affect the formation of, for example, the cosmic microwave background and small-scale structure, enabling the opportunity to search for new dark matter physics using cosmological and astrophysical observations. This research will pursue new avenues to bridge theoretical models and observational techniques to study dark matter. It will involve the development of sophisticated tools to perform joint analyses using multiple datasets.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.