The Orbits and Interactions of Satellite Galaxies: A Fundamental Test of Cosmology

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Recent studies of the satellite galaxies of the Milky Way and Andromeda have revealed that they orbit their host galaxies in narrow planes, significantly at odds with our understanding of how galaxies form. Using state-of-the-art supercomputer simulations, the project will investigate the predicted orbital histories of satellite galaxies in the standard cosmological model and in non-standard, yet physically driven, alternatives. Combining these predictions with innovative statistical modelling, it will determine the conditions under which observed satellite properties can be reproduced in the standard cosmology and its non-standard alternatives. In this way, the project will reveal the potency of satellite galaxies as a fundamental test of cosmology.