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Dark Energy

The Quest to Understand the Nature of Dark Energy and Dark Matter with Large Astronomical Surveys

Event Type
Seminar/Symposium
Sponsor
Department of Astronomy
Location
134 Astronomy Building
Virtual
wifi event
Date
Feb 15, 2024   3:45 - 4:45 pm  
Speaker
Alexie Leauthaud
Contact
Daniel Franco
E-Mail
danielf9@illinois.edu
Phone
217-300-6769
Views
40
Originating Calendar
Astronomy Colloquium Speaker Calendar

The  nature of dark energy and dark matter are two of the most outstanding questions in modern physics . I will begin this talk by presenting the DESI (Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument, https://www.desi.lbl.gov) survey which is currently collecting data and will provide the strongest constraints on the nature of dark energy in the next 5 years. I will present results from my group based on measurements of gravitational lensing that suggest intriguing differences between the low and the high redshift universe that  could have profound implications for  our understanding of dark energy and the Lambda Cold Dark Matter (LCDM) model. I will also present new results suggesting that the light from central galaxies is a much better tracer of halo mass than previously recognized and I will discuss how this effect might be used to improve optical cluster finding algorithms and to further tighten constraints on dark energy. In the second half of this talk, I will present the Merian survey (https://merian.sites.ucsc.edu), a 60 night program on the Blanco telescope in Chile to probe the nature of dark matter in dwarf galaxies.

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