Dwarf galaxies as dark matter laboratories

Dwarf spheroidal galaxies are key objects in the current
cosmological paradigm: first, they are the least luminous galaxies, likely
signaling the minimum halo mass at which gas can be accreted and converted
into stars. Second, they all have ancient stellar populations, providing
clues on star formation/feedback processes at early stages of the
Universe. Third, they are the most numerous satellites about the Milky Way
and M31, helping us to uncover the hierarchical formation of galaxies. And
fourth, they appear to be the most dark matter dominated galaxies in the
known Universe, which allow us to directly test a number of different
cosmological predictions. In this talk I will present the results of two
recent papers where we use observational data to constrain the presence
(or the lack thereof) of (i) dark matter cusps and (ii) dark substructures
(also called "dark galaxies") in the haloes wherein dwarf galaxies are
embedded.

Date: 
19/01/2012 - 13:00
Speaker: 
Jorge Peñarrubia
Filiation: 
IAA (CSIC)


Seminars