The International Research Fellowship Program enables U.S. scientists and engineers to conduct nine to twenty-four months of research abroad. The program's awards provide opportunities for joint research, and the use of unique or complementary facilities, expertise and experimental conditions abroad.
This award will support a twenty-four month research fellowship by Dr. Molly Swanson to work with Dr. Sarah Bridle at University College London in the UK.
In this project, the PI will research two deep mysteries of physics ? dark energy and neutrino mass ? using large galaxy surveys. Differences in fundamental physics lead to changes in the clustering patterns in the galaxy distribution. These patterns are measured by surveys that catalog vast numbers of galaxies, thus the universe as a particle physics laboratory. However, the complicated physics of galaxy formation impacts the clustering patterns as well, leading to systematic uncertainties in measuring the properties of dark energy and neutrinos. This project focuses on developing a detailed understanding of these uncertainties.
The approach being used consists of three main steps: First, build theoretical models that encode the galaxy formation physics and test them by comparing to data from current galaxy surveys and from simulations. Next, use these models to compute the precision and systematic uncertainties for dark energy and neutrino properties expected from future galaxy surveys. Finally, develop analysis methods that can be applied to future survey data that will optimize the results for these science goals. The expected outcome of this project is an analytical framework that can be used to account for galaxy formation physics when extracting information about dark energy and neutrinos from survey data.
Additionally, the PI will be actively involved in UCL Astrophysics public outreach activities: giving talks at local schools, assisting with tours and special events for the general public at the University of London Mill Hill Observatory, and developing materials for classroom observational projects.
