Collaborative Proposal: Measuring the Physical Properties of Dark Matter with Strong Gravitational Lensing

合作提案：用强引力透镜测量暗物质的物理特性

• 批准号: 2206315
• 负责人: Anna Nierenberg
• 金额: $ 28.64万
• 依托单位: University of California - Merced
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2022
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2022-09-01 至 2025-08-31
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2206315&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Collaborative; Proposal; Measuring; Physical; Properties

A gravitational lens is created by a massive object, such as a galaxy or cluster of galaxies, that lies between a distant astronomical source and an observer. The object might not be directly detectable, but it will bend the light from the distant source as the light travels toward the observer. This project will provide a new measurement of the properties of dark matter in quadruple the current number of strong gravitational lenses, significantly enhancing our understanding of the nature of dark matter. In addition, the program will improve the robustness of the dark matter measurement method in preparation for the thousands of gravitational lenses expected to be discovered in the Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST). The results will provide new modeling techniques that will reduce the uncertainty associated with the existing dark matter models, and provide a framework to test parameters for a variety of theoretically motivated dark matter models. This project also involves the Cal-Bridge program, which prepares undergraduates from historically under-represented groups for admission to graduate school in physics and astronomy. The investigators will also support the Bobcat Summer STEM academy, a weeklong course which teaches the basics of dark matter and gravitational lensing to K-12 students in the Merced region, an extremely under-served population with only 14% college attainment. This project also involves public talks and the production of new YouTube material for the online “Physics of Sustainable Energy” course.This project will achieve the following objectives: (1) Significantly increase the sample of known gravitational lenses, improving constraints on the half-mode mass of the halo mass function by a factor of 10 in the case of a Cold Dark Matter (CDM) model; (2) Use the multiply-imaged host galaxy of the lensed active galactic nucleus to constrain the deflector macromodel, which will improve our constraints on a turnover in the halo mass function by 0.5 dex; (3) Test a variety of theoretically motivated dark matter models, including several flavors of warm and self-interacting dark matter, and primordial black holes.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

引力透镜是由位于遥远天文源和观察者之间的巨大物体（例如星系或星系团）产生的，该物体可能无法直接检测到，但它会将来自遥远源的光弯曲为远距离光源。该项目将提供一种新的暗物质特性测量方法，其数量是目前强引力透镜的四倍，显着增强我们对暗物质本质的理解。此外，该项目还将提高暗物质的鲁棒性。这暗物质测量方法为预计在遗留时空巡天（LSST）中发现的数千个引力透镜做准备，其结果将提供新的建模技术，减少与现有暗物质模型相关的不确定性，并提供新的模型。该项目还涉及加州大学桥项目，该项目为历史上代表性不足的群体的本科生进入物理学和天文学研究生院做好准备。山猫夏季 STEM学院，为期一周的课程，向默塞德地区的 K-12 学生讲授暗物质和引力透镜的基础知识，该地区的教育资源极其匮乏，只有 14% 的大学学历。该项目还涉及公开演讲和新 YouTube 的制作。在线“可持续能源物理学”课程材料。该项目将实现以下目标：（1）显着增加已知引力透镜的样本，将晕质量函数的半模质量约束改善一倍在冷暗物质（CDM）模型的情况下为10；（2）使用透镜活动星系核的多重成像宿主星系来约束偏转器宏观模型，这将改善我们对晕质量函数周转的约束0.5 dex；（3）测试各种有理论依据的暗物质模型，包括几种暖暗物质和自相互作用暗物质以及原始黑洞。该奖项反映了 NSF 的法定使命，并被认为是值得的通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估来获得支持。

项目成果

Constraints on Sterile Neutrino Models from Strong Gravitational Lensing, Milky Way Satellites, and the Lyman- α Forest

强引力透镜、银河系卫星和莱曼-α森林对惰性中微子模型的约束

• DOI: 10.1103/physrevlett.129.191301
• 发表时间: 2022-11
• 期刊: Physical Review Letters
• 影响因子: 8.6
• 作者: Zelko, Ioana A.;Treu, Tommaso;Abazajian, Kevork N.;Gilman, Daniel;Benson, Andrew J.;Birrer, Simon;Nierenberg, Anna M.;Kusenko, Alexander
• 通讯作者: Kusenko, Alexander

Pushing the limits of detectability: mixed dark matter from strong gravitational lenses

突破可探测性的极限：来自强引力透镜的混合暗物质

• DOI: 10.1093/mnras/stad2251
• 发表时间: 2023-07
• 期刊: Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
• 影响因子: 4.8
• 作者: Keeley, Ryan E.;Nierenberg, Anna M.;Gilman, Daniel;Birrer, Simon;Benson, Andrew;Treu, Tommaso
• 通讯作者: Treu, Tommaso