MAss RAtio evolution in Clusters between HAlos and Sub-halos

Projektbeschreibung

Die Geheimnisse dunkler Materie von Galaxienhaufen mit Hilfe von Gravitationslinsen aufdecken

Galaxienhaufen sind die größten Strukturen, die wir im Universum beobachten können. Sie können Hunderte oder Tausende Galaxien umfassen. Der größte Teil der Masse eines Galaxienhaufens und das, was ihn gravitativ gebunden hält, kommt nicht von den Sternen, sondern von dunkler Materie. Das EU-finanzierte Projekt MARACHAS wird den Gravitationslinseneffekt nutzen, um grundlegende Fragen zur Evolution von Komponenten dunkler Materie zu beantworten, die den größten Teil von Galaxienhaufen bilden. Insbesondere sollen damit die Sub-Halos – eine Teilmenge der Halos dunkler Materie, die sich weit über den Rand der sichtbaren Galaxiekomponenten hinaus erstrecken, untersucht werden – lose Masse während ihrer Evolution in Galaxienhaufen.

Ziel

Structure in our universe grow hierarchically, where small structures (stars and galaxies) assemble first and later on galaxies group together in large potential wells to form clusters. Clusters of galaxies are the largest structure observable in our Universe, and can contain more than hundreds of galaxies. Nonetheless, the stars in the galaxies contribute to only a little of its mass. Indeed, the main matter component is dark matter. Little is known about dark matter besides that it interacts through gravity with ordinary matter. For instance, we believe that every galaxy carry their own small halo of dark matter, and when they fall in a cluster part of that halo is stripped and diffused in the larger halo of the cluster.
In this study, I will be using the gravitational lensing effect to answer questions on the evolution of dark matter components that make the majority of clusters. In my case, gravitational lensing refers to the bending of the light emitted by a galaxy located far behind the cluster, due to the mass of the cluster itself. I will study the galaxies and their dark matter falling in the cluster and losing their dark matter to the profit of the cluster, also called the sub-halos mass loss. This will bring new insights to the overall structure evolution in our Universe, and answer fundamental questions about dark matter properties.
Based on my experience gained during my PhD and postdoc at the University of Michigan, returning to the EU to conduct this study will allow me to increase my ability to design, program and develop large analyses of observational data. The experienced contributors will greatly promote such challenging observational analysis and have the expertise to link this work to the latest theoretical predictions thanks to Durham’s state-of-the-art cosmological simulations. This will broaden my skills, giving me an (important) opportunity to work with theorists.