Speaker's Night: Searching for the mysterious dark matter with Prof. Nassim Bozorgnia (ONLINE)

The dark matter problem is one of the most exciting puzzles in our understanding of the Universe. The atoms in our bodies, planets, and stars make up only about 15% of the total matter content of the Universe. The mysterious dark matter makes up the other 85%. All evidence for dark matter comes from its gravitational interaction with ordinary matter. However, the nature and distribution of dark matter in the Universe still remain unknown. A variety of experiments are currently operating around the globe and searching for the dark matter particle. To interpret the results of these experiments, we need to know how dark matter is distributed in our Galaxy. Prof. Nassim Bozorgnia will describe how we can use astronomical data and cosmological simulations of galaxy formation to map the dark matter content in our Galaxy, and utilize this map to unravel the particle nature of dark matter.

Prof. Bozorgnia is an assistant professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at York University. She obtained her PhD from the University of California, Los Angeles in 2012, and has held postdoctoral positions at the Max Planck Institute in Heidelberg, GRAPPA Institute at the University of Amsterdam, and the Institute for Particle Physics Phenomenology at Durham University. Her research is in the field of astro-particle physics and focused on the dark matter problem. More specifically, she has been developing various strategies to significantly improve our knowledge of the dark matter distribution in our Galaxy, with the aim of studying its prospects for dark matter searches.

Who can attend: Everyone
Fee: Free
Registration: Not required
Organized by: RASC, Toronto Centre
Link: https://www.youtube.com/rasctoronto/live