Collaborative Proposal: Measuring the Physical Properties of Dark Matter with Strong Gravitational Lensing

引力透镜是由一个巨大的物体产生的，比如一个星系或星系团，它位于遥远的天文光源和观察者之间。这个物体可能无法被直接探测到，但当光线向观察者传播时，它会使来自远处光源的光线发生弯曲。这个项目将提供一种新的测量暗物质性质的方法，其数量是目前强引力透镜数量的四倍，极大地增强了我们对暗物质本质的理解。此外，该计划将提高暗物质测量方法的稳健性，为预计将在遗留时空调查（LSST）中发现的数千个引力透镜做准备。研究结果将提供新的建模技术，减少与现有暗物质模型相关的不确定性，并为各种理论上的暗物质模型提供一个测试参数的框架。该项目还涉及加州大学桥项目，该项目旨在帮助历史上代表性不足的群体的本科生进入物理学和天文学研究生院。调查人员还将支持山猫夏季STEM学院，这是一个为期一周的课程，向默塞德地区的K-12学生教授暗物质和引力透镜的基础知识，这是一个极度缺乏服务的人口，只有14%的大学学历。该项目还包括公开演讲和为在线“可持续能源物理学”课程制作新的YouTube材料。本项目将实现以下目标：(1)显著增加已知引力透镜的样本，在冷暗物质（CDM）模型的情况下，将光晕质量函数的半模质量约束提高10倍；(2)利用透镜活动星系核的多重成像宿主星系来约束偏转器宏观模型，将我们对晕质量函数翻转的约束提高0.5个指数；(3)测试各种理论上的暗物质模型，包括几种热暗物质和自相互作用暗物质，以及原始黑洞。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。

A gravitational lens is created by a massive object, such as a galaxy or cluster of galaxies, that lies between a distant astronomical source and an observer. The object might not be directly detectable, but it will bend the light from the distant source as the light travels toward the observer. This project will provide a new measurement of the properties of dark matter in quadruple the current number of strong gravitational lenses, significantly enhancing our understanding of the nature of dark matter. In addition, the program will improve the robustness of the dark matter measurement method in preparation for the thousands of gravitational lenses expected to be discovered in the Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST). The results will provide new modeling techniques that will reduce the uncertainty associated with the existing dark matter models, and provide a framework to test parameters for a variety of theoretically motivated dark matter models. This project also involves the Cal-Bridge program, which prepares undergraduates from historically under-represented groups for admission to graduate school in physics and astronomy. The investigators will also support the Bobcat Summer STEM academy, a weeklong course which teaches the basics of dark matter and gravitational lensing to K-12 students in the Merced region, an extremely under-served population with only 14% college attainment. This project also involves public talks and the production of new YouTube material for the online “Physics of Sustainable Energy” course.This project will achieve the following objectives: (1) Significantly increase the sample of known gravitational lenses, improving constraints on the half-mode mass of the halo mass function by a factor of 10 in the case of a Cold Dark Matter (CDM) model; (2) Use the multiply-imaged host galaxy of the lensed active galactic nucleus to constrain the deflector macromodel, which will improve our constraints on a turnover in the halo mass function by 0.5 dex; (3) Test a variety of theoretically motivated dark matter models, including several flavors of warm and self-interacting dark matter, and primordial black holes.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.