Cosmology and theories of gravity

Observational Cosmology

Rita Tojeiro

Alternative gravity

Keith Horne

Dark Matter

Anne-Marie Weijmans

According to the standard model of cosmology, galaxies are embedded in massive haloes of dark matter. Although we cannot observe the dark matter directly (it’s called dark for a reason!), we can infer its presence from the motions of stars and gas in the galaxies. Using integral-field data from e.g. the MaNGA survey we measure the kinematics of stars and gas, and build dynamical models to map their dark matter content. We then investigate what role dark matter plays in galaxy evolution processes, by comparing with simulations and galaxy formation theories.