NSF-BSF: Dark-Matter Interactions at Cosmic Dawn

NSF-BSF：宇宙黎明时的暗物质相互作用

• 批准号: 2307354
• 负责人: Julian Munoz Bermejo
• 金额: $ 44.46万
• 依托单位: University of Texas at Austin
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2023
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2023-09-01 至 2026-08-31
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2307354&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: NSF; BSF; Dark; Matter; Interactions

Decades after its discovery, dark matter remains one of the longest-standing puzzles in astrophysics. This project will use observations from the cosmic-dawn epoch, when the first galaxies formed, to advance our understanding of dark matter. Scientists at the University of Texas and Ben Gurion University in Israel will develop a theoretical framework to model the 21-cm signal of hydrogen in the presence of different dark-matter scenarios, and use it to analyze data from the Hydrogen Epoch of Reionization Array (HERA). Even before a clear detection of the 21-cm signal is reached, this proposal will deliver new insights on the interactions between dark matter and our sector during cosmic dawn. It will also further our study of velocity-induced acoustic oscillations (VAOs), and their usefulness as a unique probe of the dark sector. As part of this project, the team will provide mentoring for several graduate students and postdocs. In addition, in an effort to promote inclusion of Hispanic and Latinx students in scientific research, the team will initiate and lead a Spanish-language journal club focused on astrophysics and cosmology. This project is supported by both the National Science Foundation and the US-Israel Binational Science Foundation to further collaborations between the astrophysical communities in the two countries, Cosmological constraints on the nature of dark matter (DM) are dominated by data from either the cosmic microwave background (CMB, from z~1000) or the late Universe (z~0). By comparison, little is known about dark matter from the intermediate epoch of cosmic dawn at z~5-25. Cosmic dawn saw the first structure formation and was the time when the gas was coldest in cosmic history. As such, it is an ideal place to look for new processes that may heat up the gas, such as decaying or annihilating DM; or cool it down, such as electrically charged DM. The PIs will use 21-cm fluctuations, where foregrounds are limited to a “wedge”, to place new limits on DM that are robust to systematics and foregrounds. This includes using HERA data and the public code to be developed to thoroughly test the models suggested to explain the claimed 21-cm detection from the Experiment to Detect the Global EoR Signature (EDGES). This project will additionally develop and implement novel tools to search for other phenomenologically interesting models in data, including how they affect the amplitude and shape of VAOs at cosmic dawn. The public software suite is an important deliverable of this project, as it will interface with public Boltzmann solvers, allowing for joint analyses of 21-cm data with the CMB and large-scale structure.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.

暗物质被发现几十年后，仍然是天体物理学中最古老的谜题之一，该项目将利用第一个星系形成时的宇宙黎明时期的观测结果，来增进我们对暗物质的理解。和以色列本古里安大学将开发一个理论框架，对不同暗物质场景下氢的 21 厘米信号进行建模，并用它来分析来自氢时代的数据。再电离阵列（HERA）。即使在清晰检测到 21 厘米信号之前，该提案也将为宇宙黎明期间暗物质与我们区域之间的相互作用提供新的见解，它也将进一步推进我们对速度引起的声学的研究。作为该项目的一部分，该团队将为几名研究生和博士后提供指导，以促进西班牙裔和拉丁裔学生的融入。在科学研究方面，该团队将发起并领导一个专注于天体物理学和宇宙学的西班牙语期刊俱乐部。该项目得到美国国家科学基金会和美国-以色列两国科学基金会的支持，以进一步促进两国天体物理学界之间的合作。各国，对暗物质（DM）性质的宇宙学限制主要由来自宇宙微波背景（CMB，从 z~1000）或晚期宇宙（z~0）的数据主导。在 z~5-25 的宇宙黎明中期，人们对暗物质知之甚少。宇宙黎明见证了第一个结构的形成，也是宇宙历史上气体最冷的时期，因此，它是观察的理想地点。对于可能加热气体的新过程，例如衰变或湮灭 DM；或冷却气体，例如带电 DM，PI 将使用 21 厘米波动，其中前景仅限于。一个“楔子”，对 DM 施加新的限制，使其对系统学和前景具有鲁棒性，这包括使用 HERA 数据和要开发的公共代码来彻底测试建议的模型，以解释实验中声称的 21 厘米检测。该项目还将开发和实施新的工具来搜索数据中其他有趣的现象学模型，包括它们如何影响宇宙黎明时 VAO 的振幅和形状。该套件是该项目的一个重要交付成果，因为它将与公共玻尔兹曼求解器接口，允许对 21 厘米数据与 CMB 和大型结构进行联合分析。该奖项反映了 NSF 的法定使命，并被认为值得通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估。