Testing the Lambda Cold Dark Matter Model with Dwarf Galaxies around the Milky Way and beyond

Burcin Mutlu被授予美国国家科学基金会天文学和天体物理学博士后奖学金，在芝加哥大学进行研究和教育项目。她将使用新的和现有的观测资料来研究环绕银河系和附近星系的被称为“矮星系”的微弱小星系。因为最微弱的矮星系含有最大比例的暗物质，它们是研究暗物质对星系形成和成长影响的绝佳实验室。这个项目的结果将使天文学家了解星系是如何从最小的结构形成和成长的。在进行这项研究的同时，穆特鲁大学还将开展一项指导计划，以增加在科学领域代表性不足的学生的留用率。这个项目将推进我们对星系如何在最低质量尺度下形成的理解。通过探测近24个新的矮星系，它将扩大对银河系中最微弱的矮卫星群的普查，以及类似的附近星系，允许对矮星系的特性进行调查，作为环境和主晕质量的函数。这项研究的观测趋势将使天文学家能够评估Lambda冷暗物质模型是否适用于最低质量尺度，以及该模型是否需要对重子物理进行更详细的处理。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。

Burcin Mutlu is awarded an NSF Astronomy and Astrophysics Postdoctoral Fellowship to conduct a program of research and education at the University of Chicago. She will use new and existing observations to study faint small galaxies known as "dwarf galaxies" orbiting the Milky Way and nearby galaxies. Because the faintest dwarf galaxies contain the largest fraction of dark matter by mass, they are excellent laboratories in which to study the influence of dark matter on the formation and growth of galaxies. Results from this project will allow astronomers to understand how galaxies form and grow from the smallest structures. Along with this research, Mutlu will conduct a mentoring program to increase the retention of underrepresented students in science.This project will advance our understanding of how galaxies form at the lowest mass scales. By detecting nearly two dozen new dwarf galaxies, it will extend the census of the faintest dwarf satellite population of the Milky Way, as well as similar nearby galaxies, allowing an investigation of the properties of dwarf galaxies as a function of the environment and primary halo mass. Observational trends from this study would allow astronomers to assess whether the Lambda Cold Dark Matter model holds at the lowest mass scales, and whether a more detailed treatment of baryonic physics is required in the model.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.