Project description
Uncovering the nature of dark matter with stellar streams
Dark matter has never been detected, yet gives itself away by its gravitational pull on stars and galaxies. Stellar streams, remnants of smaller galaxies that have been torn apart by the gravitational force of the Milky Way, are particularly susceptible to the effects of dark matter. The EU-funded project GREATDIGINTHESKY will develop analysis techniques to enable scientists to combine data from all relevant astronomical surveys with Gaia’s future data releases. The aim is to identify 100 galactic star streams throughout the project duration. These ground-breaking studies will help scientists test gravity and dark matter theories and probe dark matter substructure and distribution in our galaxy.
Objective
Why most of the matter in the Universe appears to be dark, and constituted of some unknown particles, is one of the most important open questions in physics today. Here we propose to investigate the relative merits of different possibilities for the nature of this dark matter, as well as alternative proposals for the nature of the gravitational interaction, by comparing their predictions to new high spatial resolution measurements of the 3D acceleration field in the Milky Way. These measurements will be achieved primarily by finding and analysing the many stellar streams that criss-cross our Galaxy. We have already built a stream-finding prototype that we have used with the Gaia mission’s second data release (DR2) to detect 13 new beautiful phase-space streams in the Milky Way. This project aims to develop analysis techniques that will allow us to combine data from all relevant sky surveys together with future Gaia releases to identify many other Galactic star streams. It is plausible that 100 or more streams may be identified by the end of our project. The conjoint analysis of these interwoven structures will provide us with the means to derive, for the very first time, the three-dimensional acceleration field on scales of 1-100 kpc. The streams will be used to probe the granularity of the dark matter distribution, testing whether their kinematics and sub-structure are consistent with interaction with the expected sub-halos of the standard Λ Cold Dark Matter (ΛCDM) paradigm. We will also simulate star streams in several alternative scenarios, including fuzzy dark matter, dipolar dark matter, superfluid dark matter, and modified Newtonian dynamics, and quantify their relative merits to simulations in ΛCDM. Together, these studies will test theories of gravity and dark matter theories, place the best constraints on the distribution of dark matter in our Galaxy, and probe the substructure of the dark matter, thereby setting the state of the art for the next decade.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
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Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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H2020-EU.1.1. - EXCELLENT SCIENCE - European Research Council (ERC)
MAIN PROGRAMME
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Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
ERC-ADG - Advanced Grant
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Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) ERC-2018-ADG
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Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
75794 PARIS
France
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.