EXPLORE 2021 Workshop: Astrophysical Laboratories of Dark Matter

Contribution List

1. Welcome

Laura Sagunski (Goethe University Frankfurt), Sean Tulin (York University)

25/08/2021, 16:00

15. EXPLORE project: "The Life and Death of Dark Matter Halos"

Darren Singh (York University), Hannah Vormann (Goethe University), Megan Gran (York University), Tobias Raum (Goethe University)

25/08/2021, 16:15

• Chair: Niklas Becker
• Co-Chair: Saeed Rastgoo

Mentor: Sean Tulin
Junior mentor: Reuben Blaff

Dark matter halos are a fundamental unit of structure in the Universe: from the very first stars born in small mini-halos, all the way up to the supermassive halos that hold together clusters of thousands of galaxies. This research will study how dark matter's particle dynamics – its...

2. Plenary talk: "Detecting Dark Matter in Celestial Bodies"

Rebecca Leane (Massachusetts Institute of Technology)

25/08/2021, 17:30

• Chair: Laura Sagunski
• Co-Chair: Nassim Bozorgnia

Stars and planets can be ideal playgrounds to discover dark matter. In this talk, I will review a range of dark matter searches using celestial objects, including neutron stars, exoplanets, solar-system planets, and our Sun. I will discuss different search strategies, their opportunities and limitations, and the interplay of regimes...

4. Get together

25/08/2021, 18:15

6. EXPLORE project: "Probing Dark Matter with Gravitational Waves " (Dark Matter Team)

Keiwan Jamaly (Goethe University), Lukas Hölker (Goethe University), Natey Kübler (Goethe University), Tarnem Afify (York University)

26/08/2021, 16:00

• Chair: Y. Fabian Bautista
• Co-Chair: Nassim Bozorgnia

Mentors: Laura Sagunski, Saeed Rastgoo
Junior mentors: Niklas Becker, Julia Lienert

Supermassive black holes at the centers of galaxies are surrounded by gigantic dark matter halos. Near these black holes, the dark matter density is extremely high and forms a so-called dark matter density spike. Due to its extremely high...

7. EXPLORE project: "Probing Dark Matter with Gravitational Waves" (Gravity Group)

Diego Montalvo (York University), Ida Schmidt (Goethe University), Nour Khalil (York University)

26/08/2021, 17:10

• Chair: Alejandro Cruz-Osorio
• Co-Chair: Jürgen Schaffner-Bielich

Mentors: Laura Sagunski, Saeed Rastgoo
Junior mentors: Niklas Becker, Julia Lienert

Supermassive black holes at the centers of galaxies are surrounded by gigantic dark matter halos. Near these black holes, the dark matter density is extremely high and forms a so-called dark matter density spike. Due to its extremely...

13. Discussion session for EXPLORE students

Jürgen Schaffner-Bielich (Frankfurt University), Laura Sagunski (Goethe University Frankfurt), Nassim Bozorgnia, Saeed Rastgoo (York University), Sean Tulin (York University)

26/08/2021, 18:15

14. Plenary talk: "Constraining Dark Matter Self-interactions with Galaxy Clusters"

Andrew Robertson

27/08/2021, 15:00

• Chair: Nassim Bozorgnia
• Co-Chair: Sean Tulin

As the objects with the largest dark matter densities and velocity dispersions, galaxy clusters are an ideal laboratory in which to search for evidence of dark matter self-interactions. I will discuss how self-interacting dark matter (SIDM) is implemented within cosmological simulations, and then how comparing these simulations with...

9. EXPLORE project: "The Galactic Distribution from Dark Matter Simulations"

Elham Rahimi (York University), Jasmin Hartmann (Goethe University), Lukas Arda (Goethe University)

27/08/2021, 16:05

• Chair: Reuben Blaff
• Co-Chair: Sean Tulin

Mentor: Nassim Bozorgnia
Junior Mentor: Yilber Fabian Bautista

In this project, we will use cosmological simulations of self-interacting dark matter (including baryons) to study the dark matter distribution in Milky Way–like galaxies. The complicated interplay between astrophysical processes and dark matter self-interactions can result in...

10. EXPLORE project: "Dark Stars"

Alex Brisebois (University of Toronto), Marie Cassing (Goethe University), Muhammad Azeem (York University)

27/08/2021, 17:05

• Chair: Julia Lienert
• Co-chair: Laura Sagunski

Mentor: Jürgen Schaffner-Bielich
Junior mentor: Alejandro Cruz-Osorio

In this project, we explore the properties of astronomical objects which can be formed by dark matter and the properties of neutron stars in the presence of a dark matter component. First, we will get ourselves acquainted with the properties of interacting bosons...

11. Social event

27/08/2021, 17:50

8. Break-out session

12. Feedback event

5. Plenary talk 2

3. Project 1: Dark stars