Seyeon Hwang   (South Korea)

 sehwang @ mpia.de

Dark Matter constraints from the Lyman-alpha forest

Studying dark matter properties and its underlying features is one of the main remaining tasks in the current field of cosmology. A significant fraction of dark matter resides in the intergalactic medium, and by studying it we can confirm or further develop our knowledge of dark matter and cosmic history. One of the most powerful observational tools for the intergalactic medium is the analysis of the Ly-α forest. By comparing it with simulations, we can constrain not only the properties of dark matter but also the reionization history.

In my PhD, I work on warm dark matter simulations with varying reionization parameters. By comparing them with observed Ly-α data, I aim to constrain the mass of dark matter particles in the Universe and explore cosmological history. Also, I aim to use deep learning techniques to emulate unexplored parameter spaces when running simulations, which gives us more opportunities to examine different dark matter universes.

Supervisors:    Bosman  (ITP/MPIA), Davies (MPIA)