CAREER: Combining HI and Optical Galaxy Surveys: A Census of Baryons in the Local Universe

该奖项是根据2009年美国复苏和再投资法案（公法111-5）资助的。杰西卡·罗森博格（乔治梅森大学）将使用两个大型重叠调查，在光学和21厘米（HI）波长探测星系人口，研究星系中的重子。星系中重子的性质和分布可以测试λ -冷暗物质（λ - cdm）模型的预测，同时也为影响星系中重子状态的天体物理过程提供了一个探测。最终，这个项目将解决当今星系外天文学和宇宙学中最重要的两个问题：(1)Lambda-CDM模型正确吗？(2)控制恒星形成和星系反馈的天体物理过程如何影响星系的演化？这是可以做到的，因为现在有了光学和无线电（21厘米）波长的大面积调查，因此，在一个空间体积内同时研究具有统计意义的星系样本中的恒星和气体终于成为可能。这项研究将为我们对当地宇宙中星系的基本组成的理解带来新的突破，并将以现成的目录的形式对整个天文界具有遗产价值，该目录包含阿雷西博遗产快速阿雷西博l波段馈电阵列（ALFALFA）调查和斯隆数字巡天（SDSS）之间重叠区域的30,000多个星系的光学和HI数据。这也将对下一代科学家和科学教师的招聘、培训和指导产生长期影响。此外，作为该项目的目标之一，罗森伯格博士将努力增加乔治梅森大学（George Mason University）女性和少数族裔物理专业学生的数量。

This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5).Dr. Jessica Rosenberg (George Mason University) will use two large overlapping surveys which probe the galaxy population at optical and 21-cm (HI) wavelengths to study the baryons in galaxies. The nature and distribution of the baryons in galaxies can test predictions of the Lambda-Cold Dark Matter (Lambda-CDM) model while also providing a probe of the astrophysical processes that affect the state of the baryons in galaxies. Ultimately, this project will address two of the most important questions in extragalactic astronomy and cosmology today: (1) is the Lambda-CDM model correct? and (2) how do the astrophysical processes governing star formation and galactic feedback affect the evolution of galaxies? This can be done because there are now large area surveys in both optical and radio (21-cm) wavelengths, so that studying the stars and gas simultaneously in a statistically significant sample of galaxies in a single volume of space is finally possible.This study will break new ground in our understanding of the fundamental components of galaxies in the local universe, and will have a legacy value to the entire astronomical community in the form of readily available catalogs containing the combined optical and HI data for more than 30,000 galaxies in the overlap region between the Arecibo Legacy Fast Arecibo L-band Feed Array (ALFALFA) survey and the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS). There will also be a longer term impact on the recruitment, training, and mentoring of the next generation of scientists and science teachers. In addition, Dr. Rosenberg will work to increase the number of women and minority physics majors at George Mason University as one of the goals of this project.