Speaker
Description
Uncovering the nature of dark matter (DM) is one of the most pressing pursuits in modern physics and cosmology. Astronomical observations are the key to understand the nature of DM and have been revealing the possibility that DM particles interact non-gravitationally with each other. It began with observations of the collision of nearby galaxy clusters. More recently, measurements of large DM densities at the center of the Milky Way’s galaxy satellites are indicating that DM-DM interactions can potentially induce gravothermal core collapse, an effect where frequent DM-DM interactions heat the central DM halo core, causing it to rapidly contract and raise in density. Is dark matter self-interacting? Can observations from cluster-size galaxies combined with measurements of local satellite galaxies dynamics be used to prove/or alternatively rule out this scenario? In this talk I will answer these questions and review the latest constraints of self-interacting dark matter (SIDM) on small and large scales. I will also introduce the TangoSIDM project, a simulation suite project that models cosmological hydrodynamical simulations of structure formation in a SIDM universe. I will show how the TangoSIDM simulations are used to derive robust constraints of the DM scatter cross section on dwarf galaxy scales. Finally, I will discuss the next steps for the astronomical-particle physics connection.
