UCLA Dark Matter 2018

Session

Session 5

22 Feb 2018, 07:30

UCLA Faculty Center

Conveners

Session 5: Dark matter and structure in the Universe

• Laura Sales (UC Riverside)

148. Anna Nierenberg (UCI): The nature of dark matter with narrow-line lensing

Dr Anna Nierenberg (UCI)

22/02/2018, 07:30

Talk

Strong gravitational lensing provides a means of measuring the halo mass function into regimes below which baryons are reliable tracers of structure. In this low mass regime (M_vir<10^9 M_sun), the microscopic characteristics of dark matter affect the abundance of dark matter halos.Strong gravitational lensing has been limited by the small number of systems which can be used to detect dark...

149. Marcel Pawlowski (UCI): Phase-space structures in satellite galaxy systems

Marcel Pawlowski (University of California Irvine)

22/02/2018, 07:50

Talk

Our ever-increasing observational knowledge of satellite galaxy systems now allows us to identify structures in the phase-space distribution of satellites belonging to a common host, by studying their distribution and motion. This can potentially reveal connections in the formation and evolution history of different satellite galaxies, but can also be used to test cosmological models. One...

150. Simeon Bird (UC Riverside): Did LIGO Detect Dark Matter?

Simeon Bird (UC Riverside)

22/02/2018, 08:10

Talk

I will discuss the possibility that the black-hole binary detected by LIGO may be a signature of primordial black hole dark matter. If two BHs in a galactic halo pass sufficiently close, they radiate enough energy in gravitational waves to become gravitationally bound. Curiously, the expected merger rate from these objects overlaps with that predicted by LIGO. Although a PBH dark matter...

151. Michael Boylan-Kolchin (U of Texas, Austin): Testing Dark Matter Models with Dwarf Galaxies

Mike Boylan-Kolchin (U. of Texas at Austin)

22/02/2018, 08:30

Talk

Dwarf galaxies are among the best laboratories for exploring the nature of dark matter: their high dark matter content, coupled with the large number of dwarfs in close proximity to us, enable a variety of tests that are not possible with other astrophysical systems. I will discuss our efforts to understand unique signatures of both standard cold dark matter and various alternatives (including...

152. Katherine Freese (U Michigan): Dark Stars

Katherine Freese (University of Michigan)

22/02/2018, 08:50

Talk

The first phase of stellar evolution in the history of the Universe may be Dark Stars (DS), powered by dark matter heating rather than by nuclear fusion. Weakly Interacting Massive Particles which are their own antipartners can collect inside the first stars and annihilate to produce a heat source that powers the stars. A new stellar phase results, a Dark Star, which lasts as long as there is...

154. Daniele Gaggero (GRAPPA, Amsterdam): Primordial black holes as Dark Matter candidates?

Daniele Gaggero

22/02/2018, 09:04

Talk

The idea that primordial black holes (PBHs) of O(10) solar mass can account for all the dark matter has been recently reconsidered after the discovery of a gravitational wave signal.  We present a robust bound on this scenario based on a novel approach: We model in a conservative way the accretion of gas and the subsequent radio and X-ray emission originating by a population of PBHs in our...