Weighing the Most Massive Structures in the Universe

Abstract

Record ID: 72

Presenter Award: Excellence in Research Communication

Type: Podium Presentation (in-person)

Advisor: Matthew Bayliss

Abstract: The universe is ever-changing. The universe at a given age has a given abundance of matter and an expansion rate that limits the grandness of structure that can be gravitationally bound or formed. The further we look in space, the further backward in time we see the universe. So, we can test a cosmological model, a model for the composition/abundance of matter and expansion rate of the universe, by measuring the largest structures that formed at different epochs of the universe. Galaxy clusters are the largest gravitationally bound structures in the universe. The fundamental properties of the universe such as the expansion speed, fraction of dark matter, strength of dark energy, etc. affect how galaxy clusters form and evolve. Thereby, studying galaxy clusters lets us put constraints on the properties of the early universe and lets us study the evolution of the universe.