RUI: Implications of Non-Minimal Dark Sectors

这些研究活动的一个主要目的是更好地了解我们宇宙中“暗物质”的起源和性质-一种神秘的物质形式，既不发射也不吸收光，但仍然通过对正常可见物质的引力来感受它的存在。 在接下来的十年里，一系列最先进的实验室实验和望远镜将为我们提供丰富的新数据。 托马斯教授将研究新的方法，使我们能够从即将到来的数据中收集有关暗物质的信息--以及其他尚未发现的暗物质可能相互作用的粒子。 这些研究活动的另一个主要目的是解决有关我们宇宙历史的基本问题。 如果宇宙在我们看来没有明显的不同，那么这段历史与经典的图景有多大的不同呢？ 如果宇宙的历史事实上确实偏离了规范图景，我们又如何能够判断呢？ 这些问题的答案将为我们提供有关物质的基本性质和性质的线索。 托马斯教授将研究这种偏离的可能范围，以及它们将如何影响星系的大小和形状，时空连续体中的涟漪特性，即引力波（涟漪在不到十年前被发现，现在被天文学家用作了解黑洞和其他天体物理现象的工具），以及依赖于其历史的可观测宇宙的其他方面。 该奖项的很大一部分将用于支持本科生参与这些研究课题，从而培养下一代科学家的兴趣并磨练他们的计算技能。用更专业的术语来说，该奖项支持的研究活动有两个主要目标。第一个是促进我们对宇宙黑暗部分性质的集体理解。 这一目标涉及开发探测和限制暗区结构的新方法，同时考虑到暗区固有的各种可行的可能性。 这些调查的结果将为暗物质和暗扇区模型的建立和实验暗物质探测策略的理论研究提供信息。 该项目的第二个目标是推进我们对宇宙如何随着时间的推移从宇宙膨胀后的再加热期结束到现在的时代演变的理解。 这一目标涉及根据观测数据-例如，关于物质功率谱或宇宙微波背景特性的数据-开发区分宇宙可能的膨胀历史的方法。 这些调查的结果将为早期宇宙学的理论和观测研究工作提供信息。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 principal aim of these research activities is to better understand the origin and properties of the "dark matter" in our universe --- an as-yet mysterious form of matter that neither emits nor absorbs light, but nevertheless makes its presence felt via its gravitational pull on normal, visible matter. Over the next decade, a host of state-of-the-art laboratory experiments and telescopes will provide us with a wealth of new data. Professor Thomas will investigate novel ways in which we might be able to glean information about the dark matter --- and about other as-yet-undiscovered particles with which the dark matter might interact --- from this forthcoming data. The other principle aim of these research activities is to address fundamental questions concerning the history of our universe. To what extent could that history have differed from the canonical picture without the universe looking markedly different to us? If the history of the universe does in fact depart from the canonical picture, how could we tell? Answers to such questions would provide us with clues about the fundamental nature and properties of matter. Professor Thomas will investigate the scope of possible such departures and how they would impact the sizes and shapes of galaxies, the properties of ripples in the spacetime continuum known as gravitational waves (ripples which were discovered less than a decade ago and are now being used by astronomers as a tool to learn about black holes and other astrophysical phenomena), and other aspects of the observable universe which depend on its history. A significant portion of this award will be used to support undergraduate involvement in these research topics, thereby cultivating interest among the next generation of scientists and honing their computational skills.Stated in more technical terms, the research activities supported by this award have two principal goals. The first is to advance our collective understanding about the properties of the dark sector of our universe. This goal involves developing new methods of probing and constraining the structure of the dark sector, taking into account the full range of viable possibilities inherent within that sector. The results of these investigations will inform both theoretical efforts in dark-matter and dark-sector model-building and strategies for experimental dark-matter detection. The second goal of the project is to advance our understanding of how our universe evolved over time from the end of the reheating period following cosmic inflation to the present epoch. This goal involves developing methods for distinguishing between possible expansion histories for the universe on the basis of observational data --- data concerning, for example, the matter power spectrum or the properties of the cosmic microwave background. The results of these investigations will inform both theoretical and observational research efforts in early-universe cosmology.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.