Friday, February 16, 2024 at 12:15 pm

JILA Foothills Room

Hayden Foote, University of Arizona

"Constraining dark matter with dynamics in the Milky Way’s stellar halo "

Abstract:

Although dark matter (DM) is widely successful at explaining a broad range of galaxy properties, the precise nature of the DM particle is still unclear, with multiple models of DM remaining viable (e.g., cold DM, fuzzy DM, warm DM, and self-interacting DM). The synthesis of astrometric and spectroscopic surveys of the MW’s stellar halo is providing a growing picture of the dynamical state of the halo, laying the groundwork for studies aimed at discriminating between competing DM models with the kinematics of halo stars. In this talk, I will discuss the state of current efforts to constrain the nature of DM with dynamics in the MW’s halo, using the recent infall of the Large Milky Cloud (LMC) as a case study. I will conclude with an overview of the outlook for DM science in the Local Group with upcoming facilities such as the Rubin Observatory and Roman Space Telescope.

Back to Speakers